Shabbat Bereishit

There is a remarkable teaching about Shabbat Bereishit, the first Shabbat after Simchat Torah, and the Shabbat on which we begin reading the Torah again from the beginning.

At first glance, its meaning seems simple. We are starting Sefer Bereishit, beginning the Torah again, opening a new cycle with new hopes, new beginnings, and renewed strength.

But according to teachings cited in the name of great tzaddikim and mekubalim, Shabbat Bereishit carries a far deeper significance.

The holy Rav of Ruzhin is quoted as teaching that all the Shabbatot of the coming year are contained within Shabbat Bereishit. In other words, the spiritual power of the Shabbatot that will come throughout the year is, in some sense, concentrated into this one Shabbat.

That gives even the smallest act done in honor of Shabbat a special weight.

Every spoonful of cholent, every salad prepared for Shabbat, every Shabbat candle lit, every song, every moment of rest, every meal, every chapter of Tehillim, every word of Torah learning, every expression of joy — all of it takes on a special significance on Shabbat Bereishit.

The teaching presented here goes even further: because the Shabbatot of the year are included within Shabbat Bereishit, the reward for what a person does on this Shabbat is described as being multiplied many times over.

And there is another layer.

A teaching attributed to the Ben Ish Chai states that Torah learning and mitzvot performed on Shabbat carry an enormously elevated value. When this is combined with the special quality of Shabbat Bereishit, the spiritual opportunity becomes even greater. 

To specify even further and elaborate on the magnitude of this Shabbat, all the Shabbatot of the coming year are contained within Shabbat Bereishit, which means every mitzvah and every act done in honor of Shabbat and on Shabbat is considered to carry 50 times the reward of an ordinary Shabbat! And based on the teaching of the Ben Ish Chai, Torah learning and mitzvot performed on Shabbat in general are worth 1,000 times more, making the spiritual potential of Shabbat Bereishit especially profound.

This Shabbat also comes immediately after an extraordinary sequence of holy days: Selichot in Elul, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and the hakafot of Simchat Torah.

After Yom Kippur comes purification. After Sukkot comes a period surrounded by mitzvot and holiness. And after the joy and hakafot of Simchat Torah, a person enters Shabbat Bereishit with a sense of spiritual renewal.

Even someone who does not consider himself especially righteous can approach this Shabbat differently.

The very nature of Shabbat Bereishit, according to these teachings, has the power to lift a person higher.

The Tzemach Tzedek is quoted as saying that the entire year depends on Shabbat Bereishit, and that the way a person conducts himself on this Shabbat can influence the way the year unfolds for him.

That means this Shabbat calls for two things at once: tremendous joy and a sense of responsibility.

We are being given approximately twenty-four to twenty-five hours with unusual spiritual potential.

Hours in which we can pray.

Hours in which we can learn.

Hours in which we can sing, rest, eat, rejoice, and honor Shabbat.

Hours in which even small actions can carry great meaning.

Shabbat Bereishit is not merely the Shabbat on which we begin reading the Torah again.

According to these teachings, it is a Shabbat that contains within it the potential of the entire year.

A Shabbat of renewal.

A Shabbat of blessing.

A Shabbat of spiritual elevation.

And perhaps most importantly, a Shabbat that reminds us that a new beginning is not only something we read about in Bereishit.

It is something we are being given the opportunity to create.

This article is based on teachings shared by Rabbi Raphael Avitan.