English translation — בראשית א

1.

On "In the beginning God created"¹

<b> </b>Rashi brings the statement of R. Yitzchak²

: "The Torah should not have begun except from 'This month shall be for you'³

And why did it open with 'In the beginning'? Because of [the] power⁴

<b> </b>He declared His works to His people, to give them the inheritance of the nations"; and he explains,

that thereby one answers the claim of the nations of the world - "Robbers⁵

<b> </b>you are, who conquered the lands of the seven nations; they say to them: All the earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whomever is upright in His eyes, etc."

From this precision of the language "The Torah should not have <b>begun</b> etc. and why did it <b>open</b> with 'In the beginning'"⁶

<b> </b>- not like the wording that stands in some midrashim⁷

: "The Torah should not have been written etc. and why did it write from 'In the beginning'"

(and the like)

- it implies,

that the question in <b>this</b> statement is not that the sections

(from "In the beginning" until "This month")

should not have stood in the Torah at all,

but that they should not have been the <b>beginning</b> of the Torah⁸

(because [the] beginning

The Torah should have been from "This month is for you, which is the first commandment that Israel was commanded"⁹).

And since the answer

(also)

to the question is - "that if the nations of the world say etc.",

it turns out,

that in order to deny their claim "you are robbers etc.",

it is not enough that "In the beginning God created etc." will stand

(somewhere)

in the Torah,

rather this must be the &lt;b&gt;beginning &lt;/b&gt;of the Torah - is perplexing:

Even if "Bereishis" would have stood after "HaChodesh" we would also have known the matter that "the entire earth is of the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it, etc." - so why would it not have been a sufficient answer,

and it must specifically be "He began with Bereishis"?

B.

Also one must understand:

Since "The Torah did not need to begin

(to write)

the Torah except from 'This month is for you'" — so from the Torah itself its beginning should be <b>not</b> from "Bereishis"

(or this should not have stood in the Torah at all)

— and especially since the author of the discourse emphasizes it with the language "not ...

but rather",

which shows that this is essential¹⁰

— how does it happen,

that in order to refute a claim of <b>the nations of the world</b> one should <b>change</b> the order of

(and all the more so add into)

<b>the Torah</b>

(the Written Torah)?

Moreover: for this it would seemingly have been sufficient if one transmitted the answer orally from generation to generation

(like the general principles of the Oral Torah),

and as we indeed find in the Gemara¹¹,

that Geviha ben Pesisa answered the claim of "the children of Africa"

("that the land of Canaan is ours")

with a

(n other)

explanation,

which stands <b>not</b>

(<b>explicitly</b>¹²)

in the Written Torah

(and similarly to the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah regarding their claim "the land of Canaan is ours and yours").

is derived from this,

that the concept of "he began with Bereishis" is not only an answer to the nations of the world,

but this is a concept that pertains to Jews themselves,

in &lt;b&gt;their &lt;/b&gt;

(Torah and)

service of G‑d.

And with this one will also understand the reason,

why in the verse

(which is brought in the discourse of Rabbi Yitzchak)

"The strength of His works He declared to His people, to give them the inheritance of the nations",

it is not mentioned that this is an answer to the nations of the world,

but "&lt;b&gt;He declared to His people&lt;/b&gt;"; i.e.,

i.e.,

the "strength of His works He declared to His people" pertains to Jews themselves&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;

&lt;b&gt; &lt;/b&gt;- so that Jews should not think that through their conquest of the "lands of the seven nations" they are "robbers",

they are told immediately at the beginning of the Torah that "In the beginning G‑d created".

3.

will one understand this according to the explanation

(inner)

of the Tzemach Tzedek¹⁴

<b> </b>in the discourse:

"You have subdued the lands of the seven nations" means

(in spirituality)

the "subjugation",

the service of Jews in the lands

(and in general - in the world)¹⁵

: when Jews are "subjugating",

they take and use worldly matters

(matters of the permitted)

for the sake of heaven,

one makes them non-Jewish,

even not mundane - rather: vessels of holiness,

matters of holiness,

holiness up to - Holy of Holies.

On this is the claim

(of the nations of the world)

"Robbers you are": the things which are under the dominion of the nations,

are,

at least,

vacated,

the nations claim,

belong to them, as it is stated in the Midrash¹⁶,

that Jacob and Esau divided the worlds,

Jacob took the World to Come and Esau — this world]

; and consequently,

is

(according to the nations of the world)

the service of the conquest — through which one "expands the boundary of holiness"¹⁷

— a matter of "robbery".

On this is the answer: "In the beginning God created",

that "from You is everything"¹⁸

— "All the earth is the Holy One's, He created it and gave it to whomever is upright in His eyes": That which the things were found

(before the work of man)

in the domain of the nations,

of the profane at least,

is only because "by His will He gave it to them" — it was the will of the Most High,

that

(because of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge)

it should be given to them¹⁹

; but

(this very thing is in order that)

afterwards — "by His will He took it from them and gave it to us": The Most High wants that Jews should take back from them the things and return them into the "boundary of holiness"

(as it was before the sin)

through the service

(conquest)

of Jews.

And this is also the explanation of "The Torah did not need to begin except from 'This month is for you'": "Torah" is <b>higher</b> than the act of Creation²⁰,

including also from the <b>service</b> with the act of Creation

(matters of the world)

- the service of conquest²¹.

And as this is also simply in the case of the working man: when a Jew learns Torah or does a mitzvah,

he is at the time of the act immersed in a matter of holiness²²

<b> </b>and is higher than matters of the world; but not so when he is occupied with his matters of permission,

even when he does them for the sake of Heaven,

they remain

(even then)

"Your deeds" and "Your ways" - matters of permission to which a person is desirous from the side of his body and his existence and his vitality,

from the side of his animal soul.

According to <b>this</b> explanation - however, the aforementioned question becomes even stronger

(section 1)

"And what reason <b>did He begin</b> with 'In the beginning'?"

Since the service of conquest is lower than Torah and mitzvos,

it is indeed true that this must stand in the Torah so that one should know that this service must be

(and it is not a matter of "robbers")

- how does it come, however, that this should be the beginning <b>and opening</b> of the Torah

(which priority in order - in the Torah - indicates priority in level)?

4.

One of the explanations that can be said in this:

Even though the work of conquest,

in the language of Chassidus the work of clarifications,

is,

in the <b>order of levels</b>,

lower than the study of Torah and the fulfillment of the commandments

(as above),

nevertheless,

is the supernal intention in the creation of the world "

(The Holy One, blessed be He, desired)

to have for Himself a dwelling place in the lower realms"²³,

which means

(as the Alter Rebbe explains it²⁴)

a lower realm "below which there is no lower realm" - and <b>the </b>intention is carried out in the work of clarifications more and deeper than through the study of Torah and the fulfillment of the commandments,

since through it a dwelling place is made for Him, blessed be He, also in the <b>permitted </b>matters of man,

which are literally "lower realms"²⁵.

one should also then remain attached to holiness,

until that all matters of the permissible are done only "for the sake of Heaven"

(or even higher - "in all your ways know Him")

one must be - simply - more pious.

One must arrive at a stronger connection of the soul with the Most High,

which should not be weakened also during the occupation with matters of the world&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;].

And this is also the reason that "&lt;b&gt;He began &lt;/b&gt;with Bereishis"&lt;sup&gt;27&lt;/sup&gt;

&lt;b&gt; &lt;/b&gt;- because the perfection of the essence and ultimate purpose of creation,

a dwelling place &lt;b&gt;in the lower realms&lt;/b&gt;,

&lt;b&gt;that there is &lt;/b&gt;no lower realm lower than it - is brought about through the service of "Bereishis bara"

(the service of clarifications).

5.

The explanation is, however, not sufficient,

because from the continuation of the language "And what is the reason that He began with Bereishis, etc., that if the nations of the world would say, etc." it is proven,

that "He began with Bereishis" is because were it not for this

(even if "Bereishis" would have stood later in the Torah)

there would still remain a place for the claim of the nations that "you are robbers"

(as above section 1)

But according to the above it turns out,

that the reason that "He began with Bereishis" is not in order to negate the claim of "you are robbers",

but only to preface and emphasize the virtue of the service of clarifications

(Bereishis bara)

relative to the virtue of the service of Torah and commandments

("the month").

Will be understood based on the known that in worldly matters there are two types²⁸

a)

matters of permission,

whose conquest and refinement is through the service of "all your deeds for the sake of Heaven" and "in all your ways

This is also,

and of course - the study of Torah and the fulfillment of the commandments.

b)

Forbidden things whose vitality is from the three completely impure klipot that have no good at all - that also <b>the </b>things have a spark of holiness that is their existence and vitality and sustenance

(because the existence of every thing is specifically from holiness),

only the light of holiness from the sparks is in them in the ultimate concealment²⁹,

so that

Only rarely

(not in the manner of the majority,

that in this the Torah speaks)

are they clarified - through nullification in a majority and in sixty³⁰

<b> </b>etc.,

<b>Intentional sins </b>become as merits through repentance from love³¹,

and the like,

but in the usual manner

they cannot be clarified and ascend into holiness - and therefore they are forbidden things.

And based on this, it can be said,

that the main claim of "you are robbers"

(in spirituality)

is regarding <b>the </b>things,

which in relation to them the claim has a place according to Torah - because a Jew whose conduct is according to Torah is not connected to the <b>clarification </b>of forbidden things - it must be "<b>turn away </b>from evil",

matters of prohibition must be <b>pushed away</b>³²

; i.e.,

that is,

that according to Torah they are as if not in the domain of a Jew

(but in the domain of the kelipah).

And therefore,

if "Bereishit" had stood after "HaChodesh"

- that is,

that if there had been the manner of the service of conquest and clarifications only through Torah study and fulfillment of commandments - then "you shall conquer the lands of the seven nations"

(which includes the clarification of the sparks in the three impure kelipot³³)

would have been robbery.

6.

The claim is answered with that "He began with Bereishis":

Even though from the side of Torah the sparks of forbidden things cannot be clarified,

it is however from the side of "the Holy One, blessed be He" Himself

(Who is above Torah)

was given the power of teshuvah which

(teshuvah out of love)

causes that the intentional sins should become merits³¹

that specifically when "they asked the Holy One, blessed be He: 'A sinner, what is his punishment?' He said to them: 'Let him do teshuvah and it will be atoned for him'"

(but not when "they asked the Torah"³⁵)],

which through this become clarified also <b>the </b>sparks

- Why it is "from You everything" - also forbidden things

(and as mentioned above that their existence and vitality is from the holy sparks within them)

and also they are in the "ownership" of the Above; and since that His Essence is above the boundaries of concealment and revelation,

are also <b>the </b>holy sparks

(in which the Divine light is in the ultimate concealment)

united with Him,

and from there comes the power for repentance to refine also the sparks and elevate them to holiness.

Only since “and Torah is light” - the revelation of all matters of holiness is through Torah

(also those who are commanded, they are higher than Torah),

also the matter of teshuvah

(clarification of the sparks that are in the forbidden things)

is said and explained through Torah³⁶.

And in this consists the difference between the two versions mentioned above

(samekh-alef)

in the discourse of Rabbi Yitzchak -

(a)

“What is the reason <b>he wrote</b> ‘In the beginning’,”

(b)

“And what is the reason <b>he began</b> with ‘In the beginning’:

Regarding the clarification of matters of permission, "writing from Bereishit" is sufficient,

that it is written in the Torah

(in general).

Because even though also this service has an advantage over the service of Torah and mitzvot

(as above p. 4),

Torah gives a place for this service,

and on the contrary — Torah obligates this service.

However, the clarification of matters that are permitted is not according to the <b>order</b> of the Torah,

because even one who says "I will sin and I will repent" — commits a transgression and is liable for punishment according to the measure of the blemish³⁷,

because he causes a blemish etc. — and from the aspect of <b>that</b> matter of conquering the lands of the seven nations, it must stand in the <b>beginning</b> of the Torah; since the power for this clarification is from a place that is higher than Torah³⁸,

therefore it comes

(in the Torah itself)

as the beginning <b>and opening</b> of the Torah.

7.

And this is also what R. Yitzchak says "And why did he begin with Bereishis? Because of 'He declared the power of His works to His people, to give them the heritage of the nations'":

To Jews

("His people")

was drawn

("declared" is a term of drawing³⁹)

and was transmitted the "power of His works"⁴⁰

-the power

(and spark)

of G-dliness that is in

(all)

"His works".

Because since Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one — higher than the unification of Torah with the Holy One, blessed be He,

as our Sages, of blessed memory, ⁴¹

<b> </b>that "Israel preceded the Torah" — therefore Jews have the power of "the Holy One, blessed be He"

(which is above Torah)

regarding the matter of repentance through which intentional sins become for him like merits⁴².

But since the service of man is in order and gradation,

so too is it in the matter of repentance:

At the beginning of the service,

when the level of teshuvah

(in the person himself)

is still in a manner that he feels that his service consists of <b>tearing away</b> himself from evil - then this teshuvah

(in his feeling)

is [of] no substance

Analogous to "theft" - he must take away a thing that "belongs" as it were to the domain of the husk;

Afterwards however,

when he comes to the higher level in teshuvah — "And the spirit shall return to God who gave it"⁴³,

then he feels in his teshuvah the movement of returning himself to his root and source

(up to "God who gave it" — his first root and source),

because by him is illuminated

(root)

his soul as it is united with "God who gave it" —

So too regarding the clarification of the holy sparks

(from the forbidden things)

which he through this clarifies,

that then he hears how

(this is not a matter of "theft",

rather)

"From You is everything",

And the entire descent

(of the sparks)

was from the outset only for the sake of the ascent — permission to build — that a Jew should elevate them back to their root and source through teshuvah,

And through this is opened for the Jew the superiority of teshuvah,

that the place where baalei teshuvah stand, even completely righteous people cannot stand there⁴⁴.

And therefore is

(also)

righteous ones return in repentance - and as the teaching of our Sages to <b>every</b> Jew and regarding <b>every</b> day⁴⁵

: all his days in repentance.

(From the talk of Shabbos Parshas Vayikra 5740)