Ran Abbahu speaks of God having created and destroyed multiple worlds before creating the one we now inhabit (Bereishit Rabbah 3:7). Commenting on this midrash, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik strikingly observes that “here we have God not only creating, as in the Biblical text, but also recreating, rebuilding after destructions.” Why is this important? Because, Rabbi Soloveitchik suggests, the way God is portrayed here is meant to teach us a profound ethical and spiritual lesson: “As God creates and recreates… so too, should [human beings] be ready to rebuild and reconstruct, even as previous structures collapse.” This is not easy, Soloveitchik admits: “To build initially is difficult, but to rebuild is even more challenging.” Faced with destruction and devastation, we are nevertheless “bidden to start over again with faith and resourcefulness, as God did. … This, then, is what the Torah requires of [human beings]: to act, to create and, when necessary, to recreate, even as did the Divine Creator.”
-Rabbi Shai Held
These are dark days. Yet, even thousands of years ago our sages envisioned and perhaps endured times such as we are living through now. As Rabbi Abbahu indicated the struggle to not give in to despair when we witness destruction is paramount.
As Jews we take our responsibility to continue to hope, work to mend the breaches in our world, and encourage one another along the path of building a better universe.
Comments