What’s New?

Just like that, we’re back to the beginning – but this time, we’re in a jarringly different world. As in other crazy historical situations, rituals and traditions offer a framework and bring depth of meaning to even the weirdest circumstances. The high holidays this year provided space for recognizing renewal, collective grief, communal and individual reconciliation and repentance, and a joy that may feel far away during a pandemic.

Yet, amidst our grappling, the days press on, dragging us with them. Last week after Simchas Torah, we began again with Bereshis. This year, the opening verses of the familiar text felt different, as I imagine they do during every disorienting period of our lives. This idea of the word as “tohu v’vohu” – unformed and void, as is the usual translation – resonated, even though perhaps our problem actually feels like it comes from the opposite reason. Crisis thrusts us into questioning, and inquiries present a new palette for even the things that feel usually permanent.

In the midst of a myriad of challenges: sickness and a cooperative responsibility, reckoning for our ignorance of the experience of our fellow humans, overuse of resources, social confusion – we are also provided with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of creating a new world. Our actions, especially collectively, can bring into being a new reality – one that will benefit relationships, stewardship, and health.

What do we learn from the parsha about creating a new reality? The creative process is artfully pictured in Genesis 1-2: the order, names, and effects of imagination. The next two chapters bring to light the interconnectedness of relationships, especially among family. We learn about our responsibility for each other – something that I hope we continue to learn with a deeper sense of connectedness and care, especially as we advocate and remain concerned for each other’s physical, spiritual, and emotional health.

In Avot D’Rabbi Natan (31), the weight of our actions and inactions is considered. Our good deeds have consequences felt beyond their immediate impact, as do our hurtful actions and missteps. Individually, we are important as an act of creation – and collectively, we impact creation. The systems of life, the world in which we live – these are dependent on even the smallest decisions we make. Our waste, or our helping action – each small decision creates a new world, and sometimes we meet a moment where we all feel this renewed period of creation, with all the pain of change.

The first moments of 5781, spent amongst G!d’s creations!

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Libraries are beginning to reopen, finally. As the weather turns colder, I am trying to check out new books and begin anew the research of physical resources. Dissertating during a pandemic is still not fun, but I hope to find inspiration to create during this time of our collective re-creation.