Samuel Puopolo

The Zohar tells us that bara (“created”), the second word of the Torah, is a key while bereshit (“In the beginning/in wisdom”), the first word, is a concealed word. The effect, then, of Bereshit bara is to conceal – the key is locking something away to conceal it. The initial act of creation, then, is something hidden.

So it goes – creation often escapes our notice, but destruction is always manifest. The great conqueror of antiquity and the hero of medieval romance, Alexander the Great, has a name that has reverberated through the millenia. Yet, it has been argued that his achievement is solely negative, that is, a negation rather than an affirmation. He destroyed the Persian empire which had flourished for 400 years, he disrupted India for a time, but in the end, his own empire fell apart soon after his death, cut into satrapies by greedy generals. He was iron, but his successors were clay mixed with iron.

Which is easier, to be conspicuous for creation or for destruction? Destruction – Herostratus ensured his eternal infamy in the brief time it took to destroy The Second Temple of Artemis. The Greeks issued a law – let no one say his name in speech or in writing lest he gain fame by his evil deed. Yet, his name persists to our own time. In the meantime, how much harder did Chersiphon work to build that temple, but how much less his notoriety?

We live in an age of destruction, but not all destruction is bad: while the tides of progress erode the bluffs of dignity, the iconoclasts chip away at palaces of lies. Nevertheless, this focus on negation can be disheartening. We watch the leaves fall from the trees in Autumn and rejoice, while the Springtime is ignored. We are left feeling hollow, that there is nothing beyond what remains to be carted to the junkheap. The cherished embers of humanity that kept us warm now seem to be cold ash blowing into our eyes.

Creation lasted 6 days while the rest of the Tanakh tells tales of the destruction of cities and the slaying of firstborns – must a short Spring always give way to a long Autumn? Will the time of Creation become manifest again as it was on the fourth day when its work was revealed? I am hopeful – there is an eternal Spring that lies concealed, not dead, and soon we will become aware of its blossoms if only we discover how to see. We will speak words of supernal wisdom and create new worlds if only we lean our backs against sturdy trees. Although it is easier to destroy than to create, how much happier the one who looks upon what he has created even if it lasts only an hour than the one who destroys what has stood intact since time immemorial. The rose is not called beautiful for its permanence. We are not always rewarded for doing good, in fact we may be punished for it, but the gardener is happier than the hunter.