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It’s Your Beginning (Parshat Bereshit)

In this week’s parsha, we are brought to the very beginning of the Torah—the story of creation.  We learn of the formation of the birds, the trees, animal, man, and everything else that we have in the world today. But we also learn something which speaks to our daily struggles. Within this parsha we learn of the story of Adam and Eve and their downfall due to the snake and the Tree of Knowledge.

Each morning when we open our eyes and say Modeh Ani, we are reminded that we are being given a fresh start, and that the Torah is being given to us as if new.  This allows us to learn that we must treat the story of creation in its freshest form as if it just happened… but how do we do such a thing? How can we relate to Adam & Eve’s struggles?

Within our lives we always want to do the best we can—just like Adam and Eve originally did—and make Hashem happy. But, let’s be real: at times, we do the wrong thing. We seem to go against what we truly want and follow our negative inclination. It’s a constant battle between our spiritual and physical sides. Just like the snake convinced Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, so to do we continue to fight a similar battle everyday.

We are each given challenges in life that we are supposed to overcome—like Adam and Eve. It could be hatred of another person, jealousy, and so on. At times though it can feel like we might never overcome these negative inclinations and challenges.  But there is an important lesson to learn that will help us on our way to conquering it. We must all remember that G-d gives each person a challenge because we are able to overcome it. That’s why the challenge was given to you specifically, because He knows you can do it.. So the harder the challenge, the stronger the urge and the stronger you are as a person. Although it may not seem like it at times we are able to do it, because G-d gave us the strength to do it, all it takes is for us to make the effort to take on the challenge.

So, what does Parsha Bereshit really teach us?

The answer is, just like the struggle of Adam & Eve we have an immense task and a “snake” within each of us. We must not allow his voice to overcome our positive traits. We must beat that evil inclination. Now as we prepare to read the Parsha about the beginning of the world,  let’s begin our own worlds right this moment. Let’s start over and accomplish all of the good we want to do. Let’s overcome our challenges now as if they were only just given to us. Just believe in yourself because G-d sure does.

 – Written By Ben Bursk

*Want to learn more about this Parsha check out this

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