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Why does Rashi (רש"י) read "Bereishis" as "When God began creating" rather than "In the beginning God created"? The shiur develops the distinction between "rishon" (first in sequence) and "reishit" (origin/source) to show that Bereishis establishes God's personal investment in creation. This transforms how we understand mitzvos and sin—we're not just following commands but maintaining God's personal property.
This shiur presents a profound analysis of the opening verse of the Torah (תורה), "Bereishis bara Elokim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz," focusing on the fundamental difference between Rashi (רש"י)'s interpretation and that of Ramban (רמב"ן). While Ramban reads it as "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," Rashi interprets it as an introductory sentence: "When God began creating the heavens and the earth, He said 'Let there be light.'" This leads to a deep exploration of why such an introduction is necessary. The shiur addresses a seeming contradiction with the Gemara (גמרא)'s teaching that the world was created with ten divine statements (asarah ma'amarot), when only nine explicit statements of creation appear in the text. Rabbi Zweig explains that according to Rashi, Bereishis itself constitutes the tenth statement - not as an act of creation, but as the fundamental recognition that God is the origin (reishit) of all existence.
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Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
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Parshas Bereishis 1:1
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Why did Hashem need to separate light from darkness if both existed anyway? The separation created fixed day-night cycles that allow humans to fully access both physical vitality (through sight during day) and spiritual connection (through darkness at night). This explains why Shabbos begins with sublime Friday night zemiros but continues with substantial daytime meals, and why holidays start at night with inner feeling before outward expression.
