Bereishit
1.The Vilna Gaon states in this week’s parsha the creation of time takes place.
What is the shape of time? The classic perspective is the linear view, time is shaped like a straight line. Time has a beginning and never repeats itself, similar to the apparent daily motion of the sun. A more modern approach is the cyclical view of time, it is in the shape of a circle. Time repeats itself and has no absolute beginning or end, similar to the cycles of the moon.
When the Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi was in prison, A guard asked him about Bereishit. G-D knows everything, why does G-D ask Adam “Where are you?” when he is in the garden after he sins? The Rebbe explained that the Torah is not just a written history of the past but a direct message to the present. It is timeless and eternal. The text is speaking to us directly asking all the descendents of Adam, Where are you?
2. Everything in the Torah is a direct message to us today about our personal life. What does the creation story tell us? What lesson can we learn today from it?
3. The ARI states that we should not look at creation as something that happened in the past, rather we should see it as something that is constantly being renewed each second. Every morning we must thank G-D for creating us anew. We should never take our existence for granted, it is constantly being given to us every second.
4. A television is a great example of this. At first glance we see a clear image of someone on a screen, however if we look closer at the monitor we would see it is just groups of pixels of the same color, then when we look even closer the pixels are just flashing for a brief second. The image is constantly being renewed. This is the picture that modern quantum physics has painted regarding the nature of the existence of matter.
4. Both perspectives on time are correct, simultaneously. You have a birthday once a year and every day is your birthday. The Jews use a hybrid solar/lunar calendar to demarcate the duel nature of time. The Lubavitcher Rebbe describes the shape of time as a spiral.
What is the shape of time? The classic perspective is the linear view, time is shaped like a straight line. Time has a beginning and never repeats itself, similar to the apparent daily motion of the sun. A more modern approach is the cyclical view of time, it is in the shape of a circle. Time repeats itself and has no absolute beginning or end, similar to the cycles of the moon.
When the Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi was in prison, A guard asked him about Bereishit. G-D knows everything, why does G-D ask Adam “Where are you?” when he is in the garden after he sins? The Rebbe explained that the Torah is not just a written history of the past but a direct message to the present. It is timeless and eternal. The text is speaking to us directly asking all the descendents of Adam, Where are you?
2. Everything in the Torah is a direct message to us today about our personal life. What does the creation story tell us? What lesson can we learn today from it?
3. The ARI states that we should not look at creation as something that happened in the past, rather we should see it as something that is constantly being renewed each second. Every morning we must thank G-D for creating us anew. We should never take our existence for granted, it is constantly being given to us every second.
4. A television is a great example of this. At first glance we see a clear image of someone on a screen, however if we look closer at the monitor we would see it is just groups of pixels of the same color, then when we look even closer the pixels are just flashing for a brief second. The image is constantly being renewed. This is the picture that modern quantum physics has painted regarding the nature of the existence of matter.
4. Both perspectives on time are correct, simultaneously. You have a birthday once a year and every day is your birthday. The Jews use a hybrid solar/lunar calendar to demarcate the duel nature of time. The Lubavitcher Rebbe describes the shape of time as a spiral.