Weekly Torah Portion

For millennia Jews have come together in synagogues every Shabbos morning and turned toward the most important work of our people, the holy Torah. At the center of the Shabbos morning service is when we remove the scroll from the ark and publicly read at least one of the Torah’s 54 portions. This week is special because we start that cycle again.

On Friday we will observe the holiday of Simchas Torah, which celebrates the completion of last year’s cycle of Torah reading, reading with fanfare the last portion of Devarim (Deutoronmy). Immediately afterward we will read a segment of the first portion of Bereshis (Genesis). On Saturday we will read the whole portion, rich in beginnings, of the world, of humanity, and of Jewish wisdom.

The Bible’s opening words describe the creation of Heaven and Earth, of stars and galaxies, of plant and animal life, and of mankind. Then begin the stories, first about Adam and Eve, then Cain and Abel, and more. The Torah is filled with stories. But even in the opening chapters describing Creation, there is much to notice.

The landmark rabbinic Midrash Rabbah notes the original language used describing when G-d formed man. The Hebrew word used includes two letters where one would have sufficed. The reason, we are taught, is mystical, connoting that man himself features a duality. Humanity comprises a blend of two parts, the first hybrid machine, if you will. A human being is earthy yet Heavenly, coarse flesh and bones combined with cognition, intellect, a soul.

The saintly Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (d. 1933) observes an evident, yet powerful dimension of this teaching. After we die, the part of us that is sublime, our souls, ascends to Heaven and is ensconced in eternity. Our other half, the earthy part of us that enjoyed physical and material pleasure, remains behind. Much like one’s reputation and legacy endures with those who remember us, our noble achievements also live on in the world that mortals cannot see. But our bodies stay back, returned to the ground from which all of mankind first derived.

Into which part of us do we want to invest most of our energies while these two halves are joined? Which element of our individuality do we want to refine and develop most as our essential self? Which activities can help make us truly great?