Parashat Bereshit

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
When God began to create heaven and earth --

We have just completed the Jewish New Year and, according to tradition, we are in the year 5770. What, exactly, is this number supposed to represent? Simply this: the creation of the universe.

It is patently clear that the universe is a whole lot older than 5770 years old despite the silly efforts of those literalists who go to great lengths to prove the biblical account accurate. For instance, we know that the edge of the visible universe is some 13.5 billion light years away. It may be much, much bigger than that but the light from the edge of the expanding universe is moving slower than the expansion of space so we will never, ever see the light from beyond that barrier. At any rate, the universe is at least 13.5 billion years old. How then do we justify celebrating 5770 years of the universe with a straight face?

The year 5770 is traditional since if we were to add up all the years in the bible from the kings and prophets and so forth and count backwards to the story of creation we get a number which, when added up with the subsequent years to the present, equals 5770. Our problem persists, though. After all, the premise that the universe began 6000 years ago is simply incorrect so how can we use a false chronology to prove that the chronology is right! It is a circular and flawed argument. So how do we look at the year 5770?

I can't take it literally, of course, and I suggest that you don't take it literally, either. If you do, you will be consciously repressing the truth of scientific fact and I doubt very much God wants us to ignore the realities of the universe.

But if we look at the year 5770 as the number of years ago that the nascent Jewish people began to give rise to a sophisticated awareness of covenant and responsibility and the total number of years that our people have been struggling with God (and God with us!) then we have a much more meaningful number. 5770 becomes sort of a mile marker of our growing awareness of God and not of the beginning of the world.

The struggle to know God is a miniscule moment of awareness in the history of the universe. 5770 years out of 13.5 billion is almost insignificant. But 'almost insignificant' does not mean 'totally insignificant'. For those 5770 years the Jewish people has changed the world and has created a civilization that continues to inspire and challenge all humanity. That in itself is a cause worth celebrating. So, let's celebrate...Happy birthday world!