Chasidut · Other Chasidut Works
Ba'al Shem Tov, Bereshit 3/בעל שם טוב על התורה·
אבשם האלהיי רבש"ן, בגמרא (מגילה דכ"א ע"ב) בענין עשרה מאמרות, ומשני הגמרא בראשית נמי מאמר הוי, והקשה למה לא כתיב בתורה לשון ויאמר, ותירץ כי בהירות של מאמר הראשון אי אפשר לקבלו:
(כתבי קודש דכ"ו ע"א).
(כתבי קודש דכ"ו ע"א).
1The Talmud states about the Ten Utterances of Creation3 21b). that the word “Bereishis” is also an utterance. Why then does the Torah not use the words “And He said”?4This is because the brilliance of that first utterance is too great to perceive.5 4:49) explained that each of the Divine Utterances used in creating the world were actually channels that funneled the Divine light into creation. In the same was as human speech both limits the flow of thought at the same time as it reveals it, so these Utterances limited G-d’s infinite light in the process of revealing the creation. These channels are the letters and words through which G-d creates. The word Bereishis refers to a level before the creation of letters. It is the world in G-d’s mind, as it were, before the contraction of His light into letters and channels. Thus it transcends all means of perception. According to R. Shapira, this is alluded to in the verse itself: “In the beginning, G-d created…” “Bereishis bara es….” The particle es (את) alludes to the entire Hebrew alphabet. The verse implies that “In the beginning, G-d first created the letters from aleph to tav, א-ת.” The word Bereishis, however, precedes the creation of the letters.Kisvei Kodesh, p. 26a