The possibility of the unknown: Parshat bereshit 5783

I love to write. Or more specifically, I love the process of writing– not so much the typing or putting words on paper, but the days-long task of thinking about what I want to say. I love the luxury, the slowness of imagining that piece of writing come to life. I love building up a mental cache of clever phrases, vivid images, arguments and pithy counterpoints. In short, I love to dream about writing. But the writing itself is difficult, daunting, and sometimes paralyzing. Sitting at my desk, keyboard-ready, the blank page staring wildly at me like an indictment– as if to say, you haven’t started writing yet? You don’t have anything to say. And that experience of standing before so much emptiness, looking at so much blank space, can be so overwhelming, and so frightening. 

This Shabbat, G-d stands before a similarly blank page. Although, the scale is much larger, and the stakes much higher. 

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃.

When God began to create heaven and earth— the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water—

Before G-d made order, the world was unformed. Empty and void. Nothing. Blank and chaotic. 

Rabbi Isaac Luria, the founder of contemporary Kabbalah, teaches that when G-d set out to create the universe, G-d constricted G-d’s self in an act of tzimtzum, which in Hebrew means a sort of stepping aside, or stepping back, to make room for something new, something other. 

In his book, Tree of Souls, author and poet Howard Schwartz expands on the teachings of Lurianic Kabbalah: 

At the beginning of time, God’s presence filled the universe. When God decided to bring this world into being, to make room for creation, G-d first drew in G-d’s breath, contracting G-d’s self. From that contraction darkness was created. And when God said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), the light that came into being filled the darkness, and ten holy vessels came forth, each filled with primordial light. In this way God sent forth those ten vessels, like a fleet of ships, each carrying its cargo of light. Had they all arrived intact, the world would have been perfect. But the vessels were too fragile to contain such a powerful, divine light. They broke open, split asunder, and all the holy sparks were scattered like sand, like seeds, like stars. Those sparks fell everywhere, but more fell on the Holy Land than anywhere else.

When I think about G-d stepping aside like this, in such a crucial moment, there is a part of me that feels extremely anxious. Step back at the moment of creation? Constrict or limit the Divine presence and power in a moment where boldness and omnipotence are surely required? How is it that G-d, while standing before the great big void of the uformed universe, can remove G-d’s self from the center of it all, and imagine, nonetheless, that a whole world is possible?

The Midrash in Genesis Rabbah teaches that the world was created in the merit of three things– challah, tithes, and first fruits. In short, the world was created in abundance. The world grew out of abundance, out of plenty, out of more than enough. 

This Midrash has given me a new perspective on G-d’s tzimtzum. It seems to me that G-d did something so very courageous when G-d stepped aside to create the universe: G-d stepped back, G-d constricted G-d’s self, because G-d was able to trust that there would always be enough. That the universe, and hopefully even humanity, would always be enough. 

And so, G-d seems to have created the world with an abundance mindset, rather than a scarcity mindset. 

When we operate from a place of scarcity, we start from no. We are led to believe that there are no good outcomes. That there are limited options. We consider the limitations rather than the opportunities. We feel powerless, frustrated, anxious, angry. We think small, and avoid taking risks that could pay off in the long-run. We might find it difficult to trust others. We become suspicious. We act as takers, not givers. 

But when we operate from a place of abundance, we start from yes. We are able to consider the opportunities in any given situation. We can take responsibility. We are empowered and engaged. Our positive attitude may inspire and energize others. We are collaborative. We can think big and embrace risk. We can act as givers, and contribute to the well-being of others. 

Sometimes, standing in the middle of everything is our way of coping with our fear. Of trying to make sense of the ways in which we are so often guided by scarcity, by the fear that there won’t ever be enough. But what if we followed G-d’s lead? What if we were able to trust that if we just took a step back, we could see the universe for what it really is: an unimaginable place full of so much potential, and an infinite number of holy sparks?

What if we operated from a place of yes, and from a place of hope, and optimism, and trust. What if we rejected the scarcity mindset that this world continues to hurl at ust? What if we lived our lives in radical rejection of the pessimism and mistrust that are sometimes so much easier to burrow down into?

This Shabbat, we begin all over again. We start from the very beginning, and are given the gift of reset. We start with a blank slate, and so we are invited to help create the universe alongside G-d, again and again. This Shabbat, as we launch ourselves fully back into the swing of the year, take a step back. Take a deep breath. Take it all in, and know that you, that this world, that all of the other people in this universe, are infinite, so full of potential. Built of deep wells of love and change and strength. We were created to help find those sacred sparks and return them to G-d. So how do we do that? We find the sparks by making room for all sorts of possibilities, by challenging ourselves to see the endless multitudes that each of us contain. 

It’s scary to think about what G-d would have done if G-d were afraid in those crucial moments  just before G-d spoke the world into being. In G-d’s tzimtzum we are shown that humility and creation, that faith and creativity, that hope and openness and vulnerability are all inextricably linked– and Thank G-d they are. 

Shabbat Shalom!