Parashat Bereishit – The Torah as a Living Book

 

The Torah opens with the most majestic and influential words ever written:

“In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth.” (Bereishit 1:1)

These words stand not only at the head of the Torah but at the root of Jewish faith, declaring that creation is purposeful, ordered, and the work of a single Divine will.

And yet, Rashi – our most beloved commentator – begins his commentary with something astonishing:

Rabbi Yitzchak said: The Torah, which is the Law of Yisrael, should have begun with, “This month shall be to you the first of the months” (Shemot 12:2) – the first mitzvah given to Yisrael. (Rashi on Bereishit 1:1)

❓ How could it be that Rashi suggests the Torah should skip over the Creation, the Avot, and the great narratives of Bereishit? Could the Torah have begun in the middle, with mitzvot, leaving out the foundations of faith?

The Torah Is Not a History Book

Rabbi Yitzchak is teaching us something profound: the Torah is not a book of cosmology or history. It contains history, yes – but it is not primarily a record of “what happened.”

The Torah is Torah – instruction, guidance, a way of life. It begins with Bereishit not to give us a scientific account of creation, but to teach us how to live as partners with G-d in His world.

This is why Rashi raises the question: if Torah is fundamentally a guide for life, why not begin with the first mitzvah? His answer: Creation reveals that the world belongs to Hashem, who gives it as an inheritance to whom He wills (cf. Tehillim 111:6). The very opening of the Torah establishes the moral and spiritual legitimacy of Yisrael’s mission.

Creation as the Foundation of Freedom

The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 8:1) asks: Why was man created last? To remind us that if we are worthy, all creation is for us – but if unworthy, even the smallest insect preceded us. This paradox defines the human condition: exalted yet humble, free yet accountable.

Unlike the fixed essences of angels or animals, man is given freedom. “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Bereishit 1:26).

But G-d has no image! Chazal explain: “Just as I am free, so too man is free” (cf. Shemot Rabbah 30:9). To be created b’tzelem Elokim means to be endowed with freedom, responsibility, and the power of creativity.

The Ramban (Bereishit 1:1) and later the Ramchal (Derech Hashem I:2) emphasize that creation was purposeful: Hashem desired to bestow goodness, and so He created beings who could freely choose to draw close to Him. Freedom is not a philosophical idea – it is the very condition of our existence.

Torah as the Blueprint of Creation

The Zohar (I:134a) teaches: “Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world.” The Torah is not merely a book about life; it is the blueprint of reality itself.

This is why Bereishit must come first. Before mitzvot, before Sinai, before Yisrael – there is Torah as the Divine pattern of creation. Only after seeing creation through the lens of Torah can Yisrael understand her mission within it.

Humanity’s Task

The Psalmist asks: “What is man that You are mindful of him?” (Tehillim 8:5). The answer of Bereishit is clear: humanity was created to be G-d’s partner in perfecting the world.

Chazal put it sharply (Sanhedrin 38a): “If man is worthy, we say to him: you are first of creation; if not, a gnat preceded you.” The Torah’s narratives, from Adam to Avraham, show the struggle of humanity to live up to this responsibility – and Yisrael’s role in carrying it forward through mitzvot and covenant.

The Torah as a Living Book

Thus, the Torah is not a “book of the past.” It is a living book, speaking to each generation, calling us to freedom, responsibility, and holiness.

It begins not with mitzvot, but with creation itself – to remind us that every mitzvah, every narrative, every teaching, is bound up with the deepest question of all:

How shall I live as a partner with Hashem in His creation?

🗝️This is the eternal relevance of Bereishit – the beginning that is always a new beginning.

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(based on Torah: Midrash, Chazal, Kabbalah and Classical Mefarshim)