The Meaning Behind Jewish Beginnings

Q+A

Rabbi MichaelPaley is scholar-in-residence at UJA-Federation of New York. Prior to joining UJA-Federation in 1998, he was a professor and dean at Bard College, a vice president of the Wexner Heritage Foundation, and university chaplain at Columbia University.

In Judaism, what is the significance of a beginning in the greater scheme of things?

I always think of this word b’reisheit. It doesn’t actually mean to start — that would be the Hebrew word batchilah. It means “in beginning.” It’s a time in which God said: in principle, I’m creating the heavens and the earth. You know, like the head is the principle of the body, it’s not the only important part. You need the rest of the stuff — but your head, it sets out your principles. You have to reset your principles. That’s really the responsibility.

So that notion of beginning is really to revisit your principles, and see how true you are to them. Rosh HaShanah, the beginning of the year, is in the seventh month, so it can’t really be the beginning of the year. It has to be the principle of the year, it has to be the incubator of the year, it has to be the ultimate holy moment, like Shabbat is the seventh day. These are the holy moments, not the first moments.