Bereshit 5773 - English

By Rabbi David Cohen-Henríquez
Kol Shearith Israel Congregation

The Word light appears five times in the first chapter of the Torah.  According to our sages, this provides a reference to the five books of Moses. The first use appears as “God said, „Let there be light‟" referring to Bereshit, which enlightens us on the origins of Creation.  The next, “… and there was light,” refers to the book of Shemot, which contains the story of Israel‟s transition, from the darkness of slavery to the light of freedom. Then we read, “God saw that the light was good,” which represents the book of Va-yikra, which through its mitzvot and ritual services helps the people to become more benevolent and better people.  The fourth reference, “…and God separated the light from the darkness,” refers to Bemidbar, the story which gives us a division between the Israelites who departed from Egypt and those who entered the land of Israel.   And the final reference, “God called the light Day,” refers to the book of Devarim, which we just finished reading in Simchat Torah.  The fact that the word light and the word day appear together, even though they are synonyms, means that this book is a general repetition of the first four books. 

The idea of what we gain from light continues throughout the Torah and our sages‟ commentaries through the centuries.  In the words of King Solomon in Proverbs: “For the mitzvah is a lamp, Torah is light…”

In his commentary to Pirkei Avot, the Maharal of Prague writes: 

“All of the Divine commandments are One, a single unity. This idea finds expression in the verse, "A commandment is like a flame..." – i.e., each commandment is an individual flame.  However, the Torah is not the mere sum total of many individual flames; rather, „the Torah is light.‟  The Torah, which contains all of the individual commandments, is a single unified light.  The flames unite to form one great light, for the Torah is a single unit..."  

Few visions are as powerful for the soul as that of a burning flame.  Although it is a physical phenomenon, the flame is ethereal.  It is the half-way point between what appears concretely and what is not actually there.  We, the children of Adam, are somehow like that:  spiritual beings trapped in a material world. 

Every time that the Shabbat candles are kindled in a home, that initial moment when God gave light to the universe is recalled.  The purpose of the Sabbath candles is shalom bayit, “peace in the home”, to create a pleasant and quiet ambience at home, an ambience of spiritual enlightenment and increased awareness of our existence.  The Shabbat candles represent the role of the Torah, the five lights that are a single unity and that lead to a life of harmony and perfection.

Every mitzvah generates light.  May this new cycle of Torah reading we begin this week, and the candles we kindle in this Shabbat Bereshit, illumine our eyes and hearts, so that we may spread light all over the world and pass the burning flame from generation to generation.