A Beginning With No End

Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.

Each year we begin the reading of the Torah all over again. The lesson is quite simple: There is no end to learning. We think, as we read, that having read it before we cannot learn anything new and then a new thought, a new understanding of the same sentence enables us to forge a new concept or idea. Isn’t that what learning is all about?

In the first Book of the Torah we begin to realize the depth of experiences during our lifetime. We journey from Creation to destruction and then creation again. God talks and the world comes into being. God regrets and the world descends once more into the same abyss that was there at the very start of this encounter with time.

Noah is left to carry-on so that this beginning will result in a different future. No longer are we innocent strays wandering aimlessly with no purpose or meaning. The master plan is taking shape as directed by the Master builder.

Imperfections exist in the human story. We are told of these failings because life is not perfect and our partnership with the Creator is the eternal quest for perfection. Perhaps it is an unattainable goal, but it is part of our pursuit for connection.

We float to Abraham who, with all his shortcomings is determined to maintain that bridge to eternal salvation through a chain of events that result in the creation of a ladder of evolving climbing to greater heights filled with awe and fulfillment.

The chain of tradition remains the link of all the generations that will follow until this very day.

The first story of humanities formation and existence teaches us very valuable lessons: We are born, we live, we laugh, we cry, we die, and then we are re-born because as Creation teaches us, this is an evolutionary process that, like learning, has no end, just a continuing journey.

If we take anything away from the lessons of these chapters it is that we know where we came from, we know where we have been and perhaps, if we are lucky enough, we will learn where we are going. But through it all we need to remember that we are human and as such there are trials and tribulations that go with that understanding.

And just as we are born, we are born with instincts that sometimes make no sense; we live with frailties and infirmities; we laugh when, sometimes, nothing makes sense; we cry uncontrollably when we lose someone we love or something precious has been taken from us; we die, because all things die and we are not picked for this in answer to some mistaken belief that we were destined for punishment; we are re-born as a testament to the eternalness of Creation.

Perhaps the next time we read the beginning of everything we will remember that this is but one way to comprehending our purpose and meaning. If you think of more, then you have accomplished the ultimate learning example.

Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.