In The Beginning
The Torah begins, “Bereishit barah elokim – in the beginning Hashem created” (Bereishit 1:1). Targum Yerushalmi renders, “with wisdom Hashem created”. Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch shlit”a explains that all of the inventions and intellectual discoveries of the later generations, are not new creations. Rather, there is hidden wisdom in the entire creation, and with thought and investigation, one can tap into and recognize the wonders.
All of the novelties that are revealed in each generation already existed from the genesis of the world’s creation, but were hidden from the eyes of man. This is the rendition of bereishit, the beginning – because all of Hashem’s wisdom was hidden in creation from the beginning of time (Ta’am Vada’at pg. 5).
Rambam (Maimonidies, b. 12th century, Spain; Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah 2:2) describes the path to love and fear Hashem:
“What is the path to love and fear Him? When a person contemplates His wonderous and great deeds and creations and appreciates His infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, he will immediately love, praise, and glorify [Him], yearning with tremendous desire to know [Hashem’s] great name, as King David stated: ‘My soul thirsts for the Lord for the living God’. When he reflects on these same matters, he will immediately recoil in awe and fear, appreciating how he is a tiny, lowly, and dark creature, standing with his flimsy, limited wisdom before He who is of perfect knowledge, as David stated: ‘When I see Your heavens, the work of your fingers… [I wonder] what is man that You should recall him'”.
Hashem’s wisdom in creation is never-ending. By uncovering it, we appreciate His true greatness.
By Shmuel Simcha Sampson
Shmuel Simcha Sampson has been studying Torah in yeshivot in the New York area throughout his childhood, teen, and young adult years. Currently, he is enrolled in a program that focuses on studying Jewish law, in Yeshivat Ohr Reuven, in Monsey, NY. Over the years, he has enjoyed being a TorahMate and tutor for individuals from all walks of life.
