Parshat Bereshit 5767

Those are, of course, the opening words of the Torah. It is with these words that some of our deepest religious controversies begins. It’s so easy to get bogged down in debate, questions and doubts when it comes to recounting the biblical story of creation. But to do so is to miss the whole point of Genesis. Judaism and all western religions begin with the idea that our God is the God of creation. But what does this really mean? And where did those pesky dinosaurs fit into God’s creation?

When our oldest son, Dani, was in elementary school at the Yeshiva Academy of Harrisburg, his class went to see an exhibit about dinosaurs at the State Museum. This was a big deal since the dinosaurs in the exhibit were mechanical replicas with moving parts like the ones in Jurassic park. On the day of the exhibit the boys and girls were understandably excited. Everyone showed up for school that day except one little girl. She was the daughter of the local Chabad rabbi. He believed that for his daughter to see such an exhibit would cast doubt on her faith and make her question the account of creation in the Torah. So he chose to keep her home that day rather than send her to school and expose her to such heresy.

Since that time I’ve often reflected on this brief encounter with Jewish fundamentalism. Is it really possible to shelter one’s children from ideas that contradict one’s faith beliefs in today’s world? Or was it a matter of waiting until she was old enough to make informed faith decisions for herself? I never had a chance to discuss this matter with my fellow rabbi and parent. I suspect that he believed that the world was five thousand seven hundred and some odd years old, and that the so called evidence of dinosaur bones that were millions of years old was simply an attempt to test our faith. He believed in the account of creation in Genesis, plain and simple.

In some ways I am not so different from him. I believe in the God of creation. I read the account of creation in the Torah and I consider myself a man of faith. So where do we differ?

Each year on the Shabbat after Simchat Torah, we read the Biblical account of creation once again. But what do we really believe? What do we mean when we say that our God is the God of creation? Do we take the story of creation literally or do we read it as a metaphor which can be interpreted as poetic way of presenting scientific information? Is each day of creation really millions of years or do these words have some other hidden meaning that can allow us to reconcile science with religion?

Creationism is a hot topic these days among many Christian fundamentalists. We Jews tend to stay above the fray when it comes to this discussion. In a highly educated community such as ours it would never occur to us to read the story of creation literally. Clearly, however, they are not alone at accepting the Bible at its word. But even if we don’t, we must ask ourselves what it means to say, “In the Beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

On the very first page of the Etz Hayim Torah commentary, we find a statement that attempts to address this question. It says, “The Creation narrative in the Bible is a document of faith. In its quest for meaning, it gives expression to the fundamental premise of the religion of the people of Israel: the universe is entirely the purposeful product of the one God….”

But these statements belie the real question. How do we get from point A to point B? What does it mean to say that universe is “the product of the one God?” And how is this statement in our Conservative commentary different from the faith assumptions of the Chabad rabbi in Harrisburg? Did God “create” the universe, and if so, what does the word, “create,” really mean in this context? Was God present in the Big Bang? Is the universe an act of will or something else? Is it important for there to be a connection between our understanding of the physical universe and our faith beliefs?

The sages have a wonderful expression when it comes to interpreting the Torah: Torah dibra bilashon b’nai adam: the Torah speaks in the language of daily discourse. In other words, one can’t read the Torah literally. It is written in a way which would be accessible to all people, not just scientists or theologians or Bible scholars. Still we are left with questions. Where is God in creation? Who is the God of creation?

If you are waiting for an answer to these questions, don’t hold your breath. People have been asking these questions for thousands of years and we’re no closer to an answer now than we were then. Of course, science has given us a deeper insight into the origins of the universe. But there will never be an answer to this ultimate question: Where does God fit into the equation? Is there a place at which science and theology meet? Or is the story of creation in Genesis a matter of faith and not something that we can prove one way or another?

Ultimately one could argue that such proof is not the purpose of the Bible. The statement “God created the universe” does not tell us as much about the origins of the physical universe as it teaches us about our relationship to and our place in the universe. And that is the real purpose of the Bible.

We can’t avoid the premise that our God is the God of creation. In the daily service we reiterate this idea in dozens of different ways. We say that God is Yotzer or uvoray choshech, “the one who fashions light and creates darkness.” God constantly renews the work of creation, and is yotzer hame’orot, the one who fashions the lights. There are so many statements of this sort which we say each morning, after noon and evening in our liturgy.

Interestingly none of them are written in the past tense. These are not statements about what God did, but what God is doing right now. God creates, renews and fashions. We know that God is the force behind creation not because the Bible says so but because we witness the sunrise and the sunset each day, because we can look into the eyes of another human being and see the image of God, because we can see the amazing diversity and beauty of creation all around us. We thank God “morning noon and night for Your miracles which daily attend us and Your wonderful kindness.” Our ancestors knew that God is the God of creation not because they had some deep insight into the origins of the universe but because they walked outside each day and said: “How could it be any other way?”

For me this is what it means to say that our God is the God of creation. When I read the story of creation I am reminded that the world is full of wonder, that every flower is a miracle, and every sunset an act of grace. The Bible teaches me not to take the world for granted. Everything around me is a window through which I can encounter the presence of God.

When I read the story of creation, I also learn that the world is not mine; it belongs to God. Whatever I have and whatever has been given to me is mine on loan and I must therefore share it with others. The rabbis teach us to make a berachah, a blessing before we eat and each time we encounter the blessings of the world. A rain bow, a sip of wine, and a visit to the zoo are all opportunities to say Barukh Attah. Not to say a berachah is to show ingratitude to God who has given us the blessings of life on loan.

When I read the story of creation I learn humility. The Torah reminds me that I cannot know the whole story. That is why the torah begins with a bet and not an aleph. We begin with the second and not the first letter of the aleph Bet to remind ourselves that we cannot fully comprehend creation. The Bible also contains two different stories of creation in Genesis, Chapters One and Two. We are not told which is right, or which is closer to the truth. How can I possibly know what happened? All I can know is what is. And in the present moment I can experience creation.

Sometimes I wonder what ever happened to that little girl who was sheltered from the heresies of archeology and modernity in my son’s elementary school class. By now I am sure that she knows about the dinosaurs. Even if you don’t have a television in your home I am not sure one can truly shelter a child from the world around them. Most likely she has adopted her father’s firmly held beliefs, and of course that is OK too. But I have to wonder what is wrong with seeing God in the world in all its diversity and magnificence? Isn’t God big enough to encompass all of creation as it continues to grow through our knowledge and insights?

I believe in the God of creation.

More important, however, I try to live in a way that affirms the God of creation. I do so by trying to take care of the environment, by treating all human beings as beings created in the image of God, by experiencing wonder and never taking the world for granted. I affirm God as the God of creation by recognizing that I am only a small part of a much greater universe.

And each day when I say God is the creator, I do so with complete faith.

Shabbat Shalom