It has been told over that towards the end of their lives, many great Gedolim would spend time learning sefer Bereshit. They would go through the Humash learning Bereshit, regardless of the Parasha. We usually learn Bereshit in the early grades, and we think it is simple. The Elder of Kelm, however, once said that the goal is to go back to first grade, which means to focus on the basic fundamentals that we think of as first grade stuff.
And thus, great rabbis spent time getting hizuk from the parshiot of Bereshit and Noach.
Why? What great hizuk did they get? I have heard these stories before, but never felt that charge.
But when learning Masechet Avot yesterday, ( פרק ה משנה ב) I got a little charge from a lesson in Bereshit that I’d like to share.
Being an emunah point, it happens to be a timely topic as well, and maybe it will give us a little hizuk for our Rosh Hashanah prayers.
(Speaking of Rosh Hashanah prayers, click on this link, https://www.torahminds.com/semester-3-mens-ladies/34, in order to sign up for a 3 part Torah Minds class on Rosh Hashanah prayers, which will begin tonight)
The Gemarah starts off by telling us that
עֲשָׂרָה דוֹרוֹת מֵאָדָם וְעַד נֹחַ,
There were ten generations from Adam to Noach, in order to tell how much patience G-d has. All the generations from Adam until Noach were getting Hashem upset, until finally He brought upon them the waters of of Mabul/Flood.
Rabbenu Yonah teaches a short lesson from this:
, כי לא לעולם מאריך אפו.
G-d’s patience does not last forever
G-d is patient, for one, two, three generations, but eventually, a generation will come when that’s it. (In this case it was the tenth, but it’s not always so) Then G-d says, The fun is over. He gave chances and warnings, which went unheeded. And that is it. The game is over. No more chances.
How does that relate to us? Rabbenu Yonah tells us, (and this is where the hizuk comes in) that we have to think the same thing in our exile. We should not think that so many years have gone by with wicked kingdoms... that G-d has patience, and that patience will last forever. No. The patience will not last forever. In the end, G-d will punish the wicked and He will bless us with His tremendous mercy. He will pick us up out of this Galut. We have to believe this. As we start seeing the world become more and more chaotic, don’t wonder whether this will go on forever, because it won’t. It can’t.
It’s like the mashal of a person who walks into a kitchen on Friday afternoon, and it looks all topsy turvy- and he wonders what’s going on. The answer is, we are making Shabbat, and at the last minute, when we put all efforts forth, it looks like a mess. That is what is going on now. We are in that Friday afternoon.
Rav Shach used to say that at the end of time, G-d has to take care of all of His calculations and pay off His debts. There is a lot going on. It is all there in preparation for Shabbat. That is one side of the lesson, and one half of this Mishnah.
The second half of this Mishnah explains that there were ten generations from Noach to Avraham, again to show us that same lesson, that G-d has patience, but also to teach us that in the end, Avraham Avinu gets all the reward. Why? They were sinners- so what reward?
The Midrash Shemuel explains here that reward doesn’t mean good things, reward means getting what they deserved, which was punishment. In order to keep the world going, when it was really supposed to be wiped out, Avraham Avinu, took all their schar/reward, and, so to say, suffered for all of them.
By doing so, he saved them, and therefore, the world became Avraham Avinu’s world forever and ever. As it says, בהבראם = אברהם
Avraham is the creator of the world.
But how did he do that? What does it mean that he took all their punishments?
This is a tremendous Hiddush:
Avraham Avinu had ten tests.
The Midrash Shemuel asks, isn’t this disturbing? Avraham Avinu was such a great Sadik, and yet he went from suffering to famine, to his wife being kidnapped, not once but twice ... he waited for children for so many years. Why?
He explains that those ten tests were for the each of the ten generations. That is how he kept those generations from destruction. That is another lesson for us. Sometimes we have challenges. Sometimes we suffer. But we don’t realize what we are doing with our challenges and suffering. Who knows what we are accomplishing and gaining?
These are two small lessons from Bereshit, that should give us hizuk, and should also strengthen our Rosh Hashana prayers. One of the fundamentals of our prayers is reward and punishment. We have to think about that. It is a section of Zichronot.
G-d is going to bring Mashiach. It could happen any day. With all the turmoil in the world, we wonder what is going on. Hashem is bringing Mashiach! It could happen tomorrow! We have to believe that.
G-d has patience, but not forever.
When Mashiach finally does come, those righteous people are going to have tremendous reward.
We have to believe that, and really get hizuk from it. Avraham had trying times, and we have trying times.
But every trying test brings us more long-term benefit. Have a wonderful day.