ספר בראשית

Let us take a look at how Rashi, the most eminent of all Torah commentators, explained the ‎first verse of the Torah. Quoting Rabbi Yitzchok, Rashi writes: “on the face of it the (written) ‎Torah need not have commenced until the chapter commencing with the laws of the Passover. ‎‎(Exodus 12)” In light of what we have just explained, the fact that the Torah commences as it does ‎is eminently plausible. What did Rashi have in mind then? The background of Rashi, ‎seizing on the explanation of Rabbi Yitzchok as his point of departure of his entire commentary on ‎the Torah, is none other than to remind us of how much the beginning of the Torah has in common ‎with what is written in chapter 12 in Exodus. Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer (quoted in Yalkut Shimoni Yirmiyahu item 263) understands the shape ‎of the letter ‎ב‎ seeing that it is open at one end, as a challenge to heretics to produce the fourth of ‎the four winds, the north wind, if they are able, and thus close the letter, making it ‎סתום‎, hidden, ‎i.e. concealing what is inside it. Our sages (Rabbeinu Bachya Exodus 20,2) view the entire Exodus as ‎a replay of the creation of the universe, the difference being that on that occasion there were ‎human beings who could testify to the power of the Creator, having witnessed all the miracles G’d ‎had performed as a prelude to the redemption. Initially, Rabbi Yitzchok thought that the message ‎about how G’d relates to His universe and the human beings He created, could have been ‎conveyed just as well by commencing with chapter 12 in Exodus. However, since G’d is interested ‎in conveying additional aspects of His function in the universe, He chose to commence with the ‎words: ‎בראשית ברא אלוקים את השמים ואת הארץ‎. Anyone reflecting further on this will certainly ‎understand.‎