A Thought on Parshas Breishis

A Thought On Parshas Bereishis Introduction This has been a challenging year. My trips to Jerusalem were delayed owing to my aveilus for my father a'h. I was able to go to Israel in the early summer, and spent some time combing the sefarim stores for my yearly Rishon. I visited a number of places but to no avail. There are seldom Rishonim appearing these days, and I have had the zechus of covering many of those which are accessible. Finally, one day, I chanced into a small basement shop and the owner told me that he privately prints a nice edition of a lesser-studied Rishon. I looked it through but was not convinced that this should be my first choice. I asked him to hold on to it, and that I was going to shop a bit more. He understood totally. I returned about two weeks later and settled on his sefer. I was excited to have it. I told no one. However, about a month ago, I was visiting a major American yeshiva, where the mashgiach has asked to consult with me. Some years ago, he had been studying faxed copies of my parsha emails, enjoying them. At the close of our meeting, he asked me if I had seen a recently-published "new Rishon." I had never heard of that reference, and he showed me a copy, saying that I could obtain it from a local individual whose father had worked on the ancient manuscripts and published it. I arranged to obtain it, and finally decided that this would become my choice for this year. Little is known of the author. We cannot be sure which country he came from, as he is not cited in the classic biographical works, his sefer was never published until this edition came out seven years ago, and we can only estimate the time in which he lived by the occasional references he makes to earlier scholars. From those citations, it would seem that he was either from France, Germany or Austria, and would have lived after the beginning of the 13th century. His work is largely remez, meaning it works at a deeper level of interpreting the Torah's allusions and hidden, hinted messages, as opposed to elucidating the text and its lessons. In many ways, he writes like the Rabbeinu Efraim whose works we studied many years ago. What is unique about this sefer is that it first emerged in manuscript form in Yemen, of all places, about three centuries ago! This might be the reason that is exists at all today, for many manuscripts of European origin disappeared or were destroyed. How it made its way to Yemen is not clear, but there are only a few copies of the manuscript known to exist, and we are about to study this new edition. I introduce to you the Sefer HaRemazim - the Book of Allusions - of Rabbeinu Yoel. ************** "...v'ha'aretz haisa tohu va'vohu v'choshech..." "...and the world was empty and formless, and darkness..." (1:2) Remez approaches the Torah for its parallel meanings, looking for hints and allusions to other levels of understanding. Many of the remazim seem, initially, unrelated to the overt meaning of the verses until we begin to spy beneath the mist some connections, some relationship, between the overt and the covert. Rabbeinu Yoel finds in the opening passages of the Torah some forecasting of later events pertaining to the Jewish people. When else was HaShem's world "empty and formless"? When there was no longer a Holy Temple where the Jews could serve Him. This is hinted in the words of the first verse above: tohu has the numeric value of 411, and the first Mikdash was laid waste, formless and empty, in its 411th year.The second Mikdash stood for 420 years, which is the numeric value of the word haisa. The word which follows, choshech, hints to the darkness which fell over the world when the sacred light in the Temples vanished. "...va'Yomer lo, aiecha..." "...and HaShem said to him, where are you?..." (3:9) The word aiecha is spelled "aicha." When HaShem appears to call out as if uncertain where Adam and Chava are hiding, His question "where are you" equals the word aicha which means "how could this happen?" This is paralleled when Yeshaya the prophet (22:12) says that HaShem called for tears and lamentation. Our sages say that this began when Adam committed the first sin. Yermiahu the prophet echoed this lamentation and crying when he asked "Aicha?" The first lamentation for man's misdeeds began in Eden and reverberated again when the Mikdash was destroyed. We resonate with the pain expressed by HaShem, when we recite Aicha, just as He said Aiecha. "...na v'nod ti'h'yeh..." "...you will be wandering and restless..." (4:12) The first human exile following the banishment from Eden was the forecast that Kain would wander restlessly. The last letters of the three words are ayin, dalet, and hae. They form the word aidah - the chosen people. The exile of Kain set into motion the exiles of the Jewish people following the destruction of each Mikdash. This is why in golus we wander, restless. Thus, teaches Rabbeinu Yoel, the words of the Torah are also blueprinting for us the dynamics and processes which will unfold in the world for the rest of time. This year iy'H we will peer into the Torah through his mystical lens, exploring its remazim. Good Shabbos. D Fox