Parshat Berieshit

Parshat Berieshit

In High school me and my friends always had the one kid we would blame for everything. Even if we knew we were wrong we would always jokingly say “J.E did it”, he would acknowledge it as funny and show his indifference in the joke. Whether we are 16 in high school, twenty-one in college or sixty with grand children, the blame game has been in existence since the beginning of time. It’s amazing that it’s been around so long; maybe because the rules are simple, you’re never wrong.

We read the Torah over and over in order to know HaShems will to the fullest, but also to improve ourselves. We read these portions every week and yet we must realize by human tendency that sometimes it’s more important to focus on the matter at hand and not the whole picture. We focus in on portions, week in and week out to learn with quality and not quantity. The more and more one reads the verses, there are always more lessons to learn and uncover in the Torah, but it is our goal to make the time and put the effort in to do so.

On the sixth day the sun was setting, Shabbat was coming in and the worst of our animal spirit got to us. The cunning, twisted, dust eating snake seduced Eve to eat from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. Consequently Adam and Eve sinned and were exiled minutes before Redemption (Shabbat).

The very first acts of the Torah after man eats from the tree portray the fundamental issues that we as humans struggle with everyday. First G-d calls out to Adam and asks where are you? and Adam responds:

“I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself…The woman Whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. HaShem God said unto the woman: 'What is this that you have done?' And the woman said: 'The serpent seduced me, and I did eat.' (3:10-13)”

The very first act upon sinning was the impulsive nature to blame others. When Adam is singled out he blames his wife. When Eve felt the hot seat, she impulsively blames the snake. When Adam sinned for the first time he set the standard for the rest of the world and for the rest of existence. How often do we blame our life situations on who we are? One may say “I don’t study well because my parents gave me bad study habits” or “so what if I was texting, he shouldn’t have slowed down so fast”. We put our blame on other things and we fail to realize that in the deepest cave of our hearts, it is only the individual themselves which create the situation.
It is important to know that after the sin of eating from Tree of Knowledge the world didn’t lose the light, it lost the clarity of its existence. We were kicked out of utopia, but we never lost the opportunity to get it back. The first step to attaining this misplaced level of G-d consciousness is by looking at the source. If the very first thing that happened after Adam and Eve sinned was being ashamed and blaming others for our own misfortune or mistakes, then our very first fixing in the world to get closer to redemption should be taking responsibilities for our own actions.

Rachael B. Goldberg once told me that the mind is such a brilliant thing because even when we think or say that we cannot accomplish something specific, we are wrong. Sometimes we may say, this is who I am. This is how I was born, I can’t do anything about it, according to Rachael, the complete opposite is the truth. Can we change our ways, can we train our mind? That’s the goal isn’t it?

We must all come to realize that our whole lives can be spent blaming others for our misfortunes, and the scary thing is, we may actually get away with it. But we need to ask ourselves, what inside me is growing? How am I become better than my ancestors? How am I searching inside me to uproot the slithery conscious that sometimes overpowers me? I and only I make those decisions. I drive my car, I am the driver of my responsibilities. To fix the world, we must fix ourselves. We must delve inside of ourselves and realized that the impediment truly lies within us.

The blame game is no more!! MWAHAHA J

This week I will try to: realize that all my past experiences do not define or even justify who I am today(easier said than done but try!). I will remember always I am the driver of my own responsibilities. I will realize that just because the blame game says you’re always right doesn’t mean it (whatever “it” is) is always right. Always remember sometimes the biggest thing that holds us back is ourselves. I and only make my decisions.

With a new year, and a new month don’t let it slip by again. Open up your hearts and open your Torah.

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov!!!