The sages of old grappled with this very question, and their insights are captured in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis. Let's dive into the very first passage of this ancient text and see what it reveals.
Rabbi Hoshaya the Great begins with a quote from Proverbs 8:30: "I was with Him as an amon, a delight day after day..." Now, amon is a fascinating word, ripe with possibilities. Rabbi Hoshaya doesn't just let it sit there; he unpacks it, layer by layer.
He explains that amon can mean a child's caretaker, like an omen carrying a nursing child, as we see in Numbers 11:12. It can also mean "covered," like those "covered [ha’emunim] in scarlet" in Lamentations 4:5. And it can even mean "hidden," just as Esther was "omen Hadassah" (hidden) from the eyes of King Ahasuerus, as mentioned in Esther 2:7.
But wait, there's more! Amon can also mean "great," as in the city of No Amon in Nahum 3:8, which the Targum translates as the great city of Alexandria. So, what does all this mean? Is the Torah a caretaker, a covering, something hidden, or something great?
Or, perhaps, it's something else entirely. Rabbi Hoshaya offers another interpretation: amon can also mean "artisan" [uman]. Think about that for a moment.
The Torah, according to this understanding, is the tool, the instrument of creation used by God. It's like the architect's plan for a magnificent palace. A human king wouldn't just start building without a plan, would he? He relies on the knowledge of an artisan. And that artisan relies on detailed plans, sheets and tablets, to guide the construction.
So, too, the Holy One, blessed be He, looked into the Torah and then created the world. It's a powerful image, isn't it?
The Torah itself hints at this, saying, "Bereshit God created" (Genesis 1:1). And what is reshit? It's nothing other than the Torah, as Proverbs 8:22 tells us: "The Lord made me at the beginning of [reshit] His way."
Be-reshit, therefore, can be interpreted as "by means of the Torah." God didn't just snap his fingers and create the universe out of nothing. He used the Torah as a blueprint, a guide, a divine instruction manual to bring everything into being.
So, the next time you open the Torah, remember that you're not just reading a book of stories and laws. You're glimpsing the very plans God used to create the world – a profound and awe-inspiring thought, isn't it?