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This week's Parasha-Page is being sponsored by Melissa Gordon of Las Vegas, Nevada. May she be blessed by the Creator of all to continue to grow in her understanding of Hashem's Torah.

PARASHAT BEREISHIT 5757

ALL FOR ME!

This is the story of the offspring of Adam; on the day that Hashem created man, he created him in the image of G-d... Adam lived for 130 years, and then he had a child... Seth.
(Bereishit 5:13)
"Love your neighbor as yourself (Vayikra 19:18)," said Rebbi Akiva, is an invaluable guide to Torah observance. [Shimon] ben Azzai said, "This is the story of the offspring of man," is an even more valuable guide!
(Yerushalmi Nedarim 9:4 -- see also Bereishit Rabba end of Ch. 24)
It is readily understandable why Rebbi Akiva chose "Love your neighbor" as a general guide to the Mitzvot of Hashem. The Gemara (Shabbat 31a) relates that Hillel, the temporal leader of Israel, summed up the entire Torah in one sentence by saying "Don't do to your friend what you wouldn't want done to yourself." Following the Golden Rule will invariably lead a person towards the performance of Hashem's Mitzvot -- Mitzvot that are themselves intended to teach a person to be considerate towards his fellow man (see Parasha-Page, Kedoshim 5756). What lesson, however, did Shimon ben Azzai learn from the words, "The story of man's offspring" that brought him to invoke its importance so emphatically?

Numerous suggestions are offered by the commentaries, but let us examine an original approach based on the teachings of a Mishnah in Sanhedrin.

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Why was man created by Hashem single [and instead of being created along with him, the rest of mankind descended from him]? To teach that if one causes the loss of a single Jewish soul, it is as if he has destroyed an entire world and if one rescues a single Jewish soul, it is as if he has rescued an entire world. Every person should therefore feel as though the entire world was created only for him [-- that is, he should tell himself, "I'm as important as an entire world! Why should I degrade myself by transgressing a command of the Torah?" In this manner, he will never sin].
(Mishnah, Sanhedrin 37a, and Rashi)
If a person maintains a proper self esteem, he will never even consider sinning. If he views himself as the sole center of his Creator's attention, he won't be affected by an environment of sin and sinners.

All of creation was intended to be an arena for the final creation -- mankind. Similarly, all of mankind is meant to be the supporting actors for the one true man of G-d. It wasn't only when Adam was created that a single individual was the focus of the entire world; such is the case in every generation:

"Fear Hashem, observe his Mitzvot, because that is what mankind is all about," quoted Rebbi Elazar. The entire world was only created in order for one who does that such a person (i.e., one who fears Hashem) to come along. Rebbi Abba Bar Kahana said: This person is as important as all the rest of the world. *Shimon ben Azzai*, or Shimon ben Zoma, said: The entire world was only created to be companions for this person.
(Berachot 6b)
Ben Zoma once stood on the Temple Mount and observed from there a crowd of some 600,000 Jews. "Blessed be Hashem," he exclaimed, "who created all of these people just to serve me!"
(Berachot 58a)
All of existence was intended simply as a backdrop for mankind. Perhaps this is what Chazal meant when they described the "dimensions" of Adam:

Rebbi Elazar said: Adam was from the earth until the heavens... Rav Yehudah related from the teachings of Rav: Adam was from one end of the world to the other end...
(Chagigah 12a)
Adam was as important as all the rest of creation, and so is the true servant of Hashem. All the members of humankind that do not recognize and serve their creator are playing a role secondary to the truly G-d fearing individual. (See also Rambam, in his Introduction to the Mishnah, who brilliantly develops this theme in his lengthy analysis of a Gemara in Berachot 8a.)

This is the lesson that ben Azzai learned from our verse. "This is the story of the offspring of man" -- all living men stem from a single man, Adam. Let a person be aware that the entire world was created for him if he remains true to the Torah way. In ben Azzai's opinion, this verse is "an even more valuable guideline" than loving one's neighbor. It is important to love others, but it is more important not to let those others affect one's own service of Hashem. Regardless of what others teach us, say to us, or do to us, we have a mission to fulfill. Don't just remember how important *others* are, let us remember who *we* are!

III

This explains an enigmatic teaching on another verse in Parshat Bereishit:

"These are the happenings that occurred to the heavens and the earth 'when they were created' [B'hibaram]" (Bereishit 2:4) - Don't read the word as "B'hibaram," but [rearrange the world's lettering and read it as] "B'avraham" -- for Avraham. In Avraham's merit the world was created.
(Bereishit Rabba 12:9).
How can the world have been created in the merit of one who hadn't yet come into being? And what hint did our Rabbis find in this verse to Avraham? They certainly wouldn't have suggested this play on words had they not seen a hint to Avraham in the text (as has been demonstrated in earlier Parasha-Pages -- see Parshat Ki-Tetze 5754).

What we have prefaced allows us to understand these words. In this verse too, the Torah emphasizes that the entire world was created for but one man to work it and develop it (see the continuation of the chapter, Bereishit 2:5-25). Similarly, at any given period of time the entire world may be designed for a single individual's fulfillment. This is the allusion to Avraham, for it is just such a theme that is demonstrated by Avraham Avinu. The Mishnah tells us in Avot (5:3), "There were ten generations between Noach and Avraham... and they all continually angered Hashem. Along came Avraham, and he made it all worthwhile." It was in order to produce one Avraham that Hashem allowed ten generations of sinners to pass.

"Single was Avraham" (Yechezkel 33:24). Avraham was indeed the single focus of Hashem's attention in the world -- and he knew it. He was not going to allow the sinners of the generation to cause a decline in his status!


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