{"id":33865,"date":"2018-07-12T16:00:05","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T13:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=33865"},"modified":"2022-02-07T12:43:06","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T10:43:06","slug":"one-word-three-profound-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/one-word-three-profound-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"One Word. Three Profound Lessons."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[366,367],"acf":{"old_id":"33865","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33859,"related_cahpter":"1","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"To believe that there are answers to these questions is an act of faith","content":"<p>Rashi doesn&#8217;t waste any time. On the very first word of the Torah \u2013 <em>be-reshit<\/em>, &#8220;in the beginning (of\u2026)&#8221; &#8211; he raises a question, and offers answers which provide us with (at least) 3 central principles to guide our reading of the next 929 chapters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;This verse simply cries out &#8216;Interpret me!&#8217;, as our sages interpreted: For the sake of Torah which is called &#8216;the first&#8217; (reshit) (Proverbs 8:2), and the for the sake of Israel who are called &#8216;His first (reshit) produce (Jeremiah 2:3).'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Principle 1: Every problem is an invitation.<\/strong><br \/>\nTo the academic scholar, the Torah&#8217;s idiosyncrasies are evidence of human involvement in the composition of the text. To the rabbinic mind, they are a call for human involvement, and this call begins from the very first word. The verses cry out to us. They need us to make meaning of them. Even the smallest irregularity demands a question, which means that we need to be extremely critical readers, lest we miss an invitation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Principle 2: The little things count.<\/strong><br \/>\nThe tiniest problem can be the opening to ask the deepest question. The Torah&#8217;s opening words would normally translate as &#8220;in the beginning of, God created.&#8221; A small grammatical matter, to which a number of grammatical solutions could be offered. Instead, the Midrash uses it as a springboard to raise a profound question that was begging to be asked. Why did God create this world in the first place? No explanation is offered in the text, and so the &#8220;mistake&#8221; is transformed into a response to this unasked question by understanding the first letter of &#8216;breshit&#8217; as a contraction meaning &#8220;for the sake of&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Principle 3: These questions have answers.<\/strong><br \/>\nTo believe that there are answers to these questions is an act of faith in the Torah and its learners. It is to believe that the divinity of the Torah is expressed by the multiplicity of meanings embedded in the text, and to believe that that we have the ability to unearth those meanings in new ways.<\/p>\n<p>929 is a chance to join a journey of new questions and new answers. Welcome!<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":84946,"id":84946,"title":"ps68-question","filename":"ps68-question.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps68-question.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/why-naphtali-and-zebulun\/ps68-question\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps68-question","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":84945,"date":"2020-12-16 11:59:26","modified":"2023-07-02 11:16:44","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":1002,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps68-question-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps68-question-300x235.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":235,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps68-question-768x601.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":601,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps68-question-1024x802.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":802,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps68-question.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1002,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps68-question.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1002,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps68-question-1200x939.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":939,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps68-question-537x420.png","home_baner-width":537,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"One Word. 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