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Two Minute Torah Podcast
Shalom, my name is Richard Moline, and as Director of the KOACH College Department of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, I’m pleased to welcome you to the inaugural edition of KOACH’s Two Minute Torah. Each week, we hope to bring you a brief word of Torah to spark your interest and, hopefully, serve as a catalyst for further exploration. This week, we begin again our annual cycle of Torah readings Parashat B’reishit, the first chapter of the first book of the Torah, Genesis. We’re all familiar with the details of the creation story – beginning with Adam and Eve and culminating in the establishment of a day of rest – Shabbat. If God’s ultimate plan was to create a humanity that would inhabit the earth, why did God create only a single human being when, presumably, God could have created more than one person…possibly entire communities of men, women and children? It’s a question our sages dealt with on many levels, but the most basic seems to be the following from the Talmud: A single human was first created for the sake of peace in the human race, so no person might say to his friend, "My ancestor was greater than your ancestor." It goes on to say that when making coins, we stamp many coins with one mold, and they are all alike. But God has stamped all of humanity with the mold of the first human, and yet, no two of them are alike. It’s important that we respect and understand our differences. Not only are we all physically different; we all follow different paths to God. Ours may be right for us, but not for our neighbor. Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshsischa, who died in 1827 and was a leader of Polish Jewry, suggests that everyone have a slip of paper in each pocket. In one pocket, we should find the words, bishvili nivrah ha’olam– "The world was created for my sake." And in the other, the words anokhi afar vaeifer – "I am but dust and ashes." As the most advanced of God’s creations, we have the power to wonderful things. But only by working together to advance goodness and justice and peace will we be able to succeed, because, after all, we are but dust and ashes. This is why God created Adam alone. Not to be alone; in fact, just the opposite. It teaches us that only by respecting each other, that only then, as the aleinu prayer says, can we perfect the world under the Kingdom of the Almighty. This is Rich Moline. Shalom, and thank you for listening to the inaugural edition of KOACH’s Two-Minute Torah. |
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