In the Sephardic world, we have the custom that during the high holiday season, we open up the Hechal (or Aron HaKodesh, or however you refer to it), and we say the following pasuk 12 times:
L’Olam Hashem Devarcha Nitzav B’Shamayim
Forever, God, Your word is standing in the heavens
We say it 12 times, once for every month of the year, and it has relevance to Parashat Bereshit, as we we will soon see.
· But what is the significance of this pasuk? What exactly are you supposed to be thinking when you say it? There are two explanations-
One us what we’ll call the more simple explanation, and the other we’ll call the more Kabbalistic approach. BeH we will connect the two.
The first explanation is that Hashem created the world with Eser Maamarot/10 utterances. God said, Yehi Or/ there should be light, and there was light. Ten times, He said something, and that is the source for world that we have today. One of those utterances is that God said, Yehi Rakia/, let there be a firmament, B’Toch Hashamayim/ let the sky be what it is today, let there be an ozone layer. Let there be all of the different materials that create the heavens. The heavens is not just a vast open area, it also makes life on this world livable. So God created the heavens. One may think, “Oh God created the heavens and that's it. He said the statement and it came to be,” but as we know, one of the fundamentals of our belief is that God created this world Yesh me’ayin/ something from nothing, and when you create something from nothing, that something cannot continue to exist on its own, because it's something from nothing.
For something to exist from nothing, it has to be constantly energized to continue. As the famous mashal brought by the Nefesh Hachayim and the Baal ShemTov (separately), when a carpenter makes a table, he can walk away from it, he can have a heart attack on the spot, and the table will still stand, because he made something from something. He just formed it, and therefore he can leave. But God created the world something from nothing.
And therefore, in order for it to exist, God has to constantly will it to exist. And that willing it to to exist is what we call the statements of creation.
If you could look into the heavens, if you had eyes to see, you would see the words ‘Yehi Or’ being constantly said to the sun. The sun keeps on emitting light because God keeps on saying, “Let there be light, let there be light, let there be light.” It doesn't stop. If it were to stop for a second, the world would cease to exist, and so on and so forth. And that's it means- L’Olam/Forever,
DeVarcha Your words
(which words? The words “Yehi Rakia”)
Nitzav B’Shamayim/are still in the heavens.
And although we say every single day that there's a constant rejuvenation of creation, we have a yearly cycle. So at the beginning of the year, in the high holiday season, when we are beginning the new cycle, we say it 12 times, for the 12 months of the year.
This is important concept. And although we only read Parashat Bereshit once a year, it is relevant for every day of the year, because every single day, we say in our prayers, God renews creation.
That's approach number one.
The second approach is brought down by the Kabbalists,
L’Olam Forever Hashem
DevaRecha, Your words, (meaning Your negative decrees)
Netzav B’Shamayim-
Keep the negative decrees in the heavens. Don't let them come down here. Let them stay up there.
These two explanations are connected, because what keeps those negative decrees upstairs? When a person realizes that God is the One that makes anything happen, which is really the concept of En Od Milevado/there's nothing else but God.
The God that says there should be a sickness can also say there shouldn't be a sickness.
The God that there should be a drought can say there shouldn't be a drought… and there shouldn't be a war etc.
All those decrees that seemingly should be, just as well shouldn't be, because it's only here because God says so.
If there's a war in Ukraine, it’s because God says, “Let there be a war…Let there be a war…Let there be a war.” It's just as easy for God to say, “Let there be peace.”
If we truly believe in this concept, that God is constantly willing creation to be, then all those evil decrees can disappear as well. And that's why learning Parashat Beresheet is so important. Read through the Parasha and realize that everything was created, and every single Shabbat Zecher L’Maaseh Bereshit.
This is one of the most important things to know, that God created the world. It sounds quite simple, but it's not simple at all.
Have a wonderful day and a Shabbat Shalom.