Selected Sermon/Article
2009-10-16 Parshas Beraishis by Rabbi Zeev Smason
Beyond Twelve Gates - BTG
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Beyond Twelve Gates -- Parshas Beraishis -- Rabbi Ze'ev Smason -- October 16, 2009

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Welcome to Beyond Twelve Gates.  Learning is the result of asking questions.

 

      Isador Isaac Rabi (with a name like that, you're wondering if he was Jewish?)  was one of the world's most renowned physicists. Rabi related that when he came home from school every day his mother would ask, "Did you ask any good questions today, Isador?"  You'll notice that she didn't ask "What did you learn today?"     In some families it is standard practice to have a baby's first pair of shoes bronzed.   However, in traditional Jewish families, a child's first question is even more highly prized than the baby's first shoes. . As the age-old saying goes, "When you have all the answers, you haven't asked all the questions."

 

Parshas Bereishis   Genesis 1:1 -- 6:8

 

     This first portion of the Torah begins with G-d's creation of the world in six days and His 'resting' on the seventh.    Some suggest that an allusion to baseball can be found in the Torah's first verse -- In the Big Inning (Beginning).  All was created during this first week;   from the separation between light and darkness,  to the establishment of the sun, moon and stars,  to the creation of Man (Adam) and Woman (Eve) in G-d's image and their placement in the Garden of Eden.

 

     Adam and Eve are given one command -- to refrain from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.  Eve is enticed by the snake to eat of the forbidden fruit, and she offers some to her husband as well. G-d punishes them for their transgression, and they are banished from the paradise of Eden.

 

   After the expulsion their first two sons, Cain and Abel,  each bring an offering to G-d.  In jealousy Cain kills his brother, and G-d sends him into exile to wander the face of the earth.. The Torah then gives a genealogy of the first ten generations of the world, beginning with Adam and leading up to the birth of Noah and his three sons.

 

Rabbinic Ruminations

 

Genesis 4:15   "....and G-d placed a sign upon Cain.."

 

    The Oral Torah teaches that the sign placed upon Cain's forehead was the Hebrew letter vav -- one of the letters found in G-d's Holy four-letter name.  What did the letter vav represent to Cain?

 

    One function of a vav in Biblical Hebrew is to change a verb tense from past to future. For example, a vav before the word  'was' may change it to ' will be.'  In other words, the letter vav represents .....transformation.

 

    G-d's message to Cain was that just as a vav can transform past into future, so too Cain could do tshuva (return to G-d) and literally transform himself into a better human being.  This timeless message applies to each of us.  A past mistake or even a previous lifestyle can become a stepping stone to a better 'us', and to a closer relationship with G-d.

 

Quote of the Week

 

Outside of the killings, we have one of the lowest crime rates in the country -- former Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry

 

Joke of the Week

 

Hilarious True Headlines:

 

FITNESS CLUB CLOSES, GOING BELLY UP

BAN ON RUNNY YOLKS NOT GOING OVER EASY

INCLUDE YOUR CHILDREN WHEN BAKING COOKIES

NO SQUEEZE EXPECTED IN CORSET INDUSTRY

FATHER OF TEN SHOT; MISTAKEN FOR RABBIT

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