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Noam Elimelech · Parshas Bereishis · Maamar ב From the Torah ofRebbe Elimelech of Lizhenskרבי אלימלך מליז'נסקProfile ›

Torah and Israel: Witnesses to the One Creator

Rashi says the world was created for the sake of the Torah and of Israel. But why name those two at all, and what could they tell us about the One who made the world? R’ Elimelech hears more in Rashi’s few words than a reason for creation.

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Bereishis 1:1
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
13“In the beginning He created.” explains: “For the sake of the Torah, which is called reishis, and for the sake of Israel …”1 It seems to me that with these words Rashi meant to show Hashem's oneness: He alone works wonders,2 and He is the true Creator. The sign and proof of this is His righteous people, Israel, whose minds shine and whose hearts are very broad, with high qualities and good middos, character traits, without end; our own eyes see how far they stand above all the nations. The second proof is the holy Torah, which God, who is good, gave them in His compassion. These two “bring their witnesses and are vindicated”3 in testifying to His many awesome deeds and wonders: that He created His world alone, with no help or support besides Him. It is in the spirit of the saying, “Three bear witness to one another: the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah and Israel.”4 This is the meaning of “Hear, O Israel, Hashem …”5 Shema, “hear,” hints at the Torah, for the Torah is what we heard from His own mouth, and “Israel” is the witness to Hashem that He is the Maker, He is the Creator. Rashi too meant this when he said “for the sake of the Torah and for the sake of Israel”: these two are the proof of Bereishis, of the creation itself. This is easy to understand.
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא. פֵּירֵשׁ רש"י ז"ל "בִּשְׁבִיל הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁנִּקְרֵאת רֵאשִׁית וּבִשְׁבִיל יִשְׂרָאֵל כּוּ'". נִרְאֶה לְפָרֵשׁ דרש"י ז"ל כִּיוֵּן בַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵלּוּ לְהַרְאוֹת אַחְדוּתוֹ ית"ש שֶׁהוּא יָחִיד בְּנִפְלְאוֹתָיו וּבוֹרֵא אֱמֶת, דְּזֶה הָאוֹת וּרְאָיָה מֵעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל הַצַּדִּיקִים, אֲשֶׁר אוֹר שִׂכְלָם וְלִבָּם רָחָב מְאוֹד בְּמַעֲלוֹת וּמִידּוֹת טוֹבוֹת עַד אֵין קֵץ, אֲשֶׁר עֵינֵינוּ רוֹאִין מַעֲלָתָם הַגְּדוֹלָה מִכָּל הָאוּמּוֹת, וְהַתּוֹרָה הַקְּדוֹשָׁה אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָהֶם הָאֵל הַטּוֹב בְּרַחֲמָיו, שְׁנֵי הָאֵלּוּ יִתְּנוּ עֵידֵיהֶן וְיִצְדָּקוּ עַל רַב נוֹרְאוֹתָיו וְנִפְלְאוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא עוֹלָמוֹ לְבַדּוֹ בְּלִי עֵזֶר וְסִיּוּעַ בִּלְעָדוֹ, עַל דֶּרֶךְ שֶׁאָמְרוּ "שְׁלֹשָׁה מְעִידִין זֶה עַל זֶה, הקב"ה וְתוֹרָה וְיִשְׂרָאֵל". וְזֶהוּ "שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה'", רֶמֶז "שְׁמַע" עַל הַתּוֹרָה, כִּי שְׁמַע הִיא הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁשָּׁמַעְנוּ מִפִּיו יִתְבָּרֵךְ, וְ"יִשְׂרָאֵל" הֵם עֵדוּת עַל הַשֵּׁם שֶׁהוּא הַיּוֹצֵר הוּא הַבּוֹרֵא, וְלָזֶה כִּיוֵּון רש"י ג"כ בְּאוֹמְרוֹ בִּשְׁבִיל הַתּוֹרָה וּבִשְׁבִיל יִשְׂרָאֵל, לוֹמַר שֶׁשְּׁנֵי אֵלּוּ הֵם רְאָיָה עַל בְּרֵאשִׁית. וק"ל.
  1. Rashi on Bereishis 1:1, citing Mishlei 8:22 for the Torah and Yirmiyahu 2:3 for Israel. ↩
  2. The phrase is from Tehillim 136:4: “To Him who alone works great wonders.” ↩
  3. The phrase is from Yeshayahu 43:9. ↩
  4. Tosafos on Chagigah 3b, s.v. U'mi ke'amcha, citing the Midrash: “Three bear witness to one another: Israel, Shabbos and the Holy One, blessed be He.” There the third is Shabbos, and R' Elimelech has the Torah in its place; the Zohar (III 73a) speaks of the Holy One, the Torah and Israel as three levels bound to one another. ↩
  5. Devarim 6:4. ↩
In shortIsrael, with its broad hearts and fine middos, and the Torah Hashem gave it are the two witnesses that He alone created the world, which is why Rashi names them.
The maamar as a whole

R’ Elimelech asks what Rashi meant by naming the Torah and Israel when he explains Bereishis. Rashi, he says, was pointing to Hashem’s oneness: that He alone made the world, with no help beside Him. Two witnesses prove it. One is Israel, a people whose minds shine and whose hearts are broad with good middos, plainly above the nations; the other is the holy Torah that Hashem gave them in His compassion. He ties this to the saying that the Holy One, the Torah and Israel bear witness to one another, and to Shema Yisrael: Shema is the Torah we heard from His mouth, and Israel is the witness that He is the Creator. So the Torah and Israel are not only the purpose of creation; they are its proof.

Takeaway

Each time we say “Hear, O Israel,” we stand beside the Torah we heard from Hashem as His witnesses that He alone made the world. Our good middos are part of that testimony: when a Jew's heart is broad and his conduct fine, he becomes living proof of the Creator.

Related learning

Sources he cites

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Tzaddikim he names

Rashi

Translated with AI assistance. Sources and summaries were checked by a separate AI review; not yet reviewed by a human editor.

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