October 17, 2025 – Dr. Susanna Kokkonen
Bereshit 5786 (2025)
Genesis 1:1-6:8; Isaiah 42:5-21
Bereshit, the name of this Torah portion means “in the beginning.” This refers to the very beginning of the Bible. It is the first word of the Scripture. This is where the annual Torah reading cycle begins.
To the Holocaust Garden of Hope this is the foundational story.
Chaos to Order
Our first story is, of course, the creation of the world. In the beginning there was chaos.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:1 NIV)
This is immediately followed by the creation of light.
“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1: 3-4 NIV)
Essentially throughout the creation process, God separated elements that didn’t belong together and thus created order into chaos. This means that elements that do not belong together need to be separate in our lives too. Everything in our world follows certain rules. If there are no rules, chaos follows.
“And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.” (Genesis 1: 6-7 NIV)
A Blessing
Remarkably God Himself gave the very first blessing of the Bible to living creatures.
“God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” (Genesis 1:22 NIV)
Following the act of blessing, the last thing that God created was man.
“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1: 26-27 NIV)
Once God had created man, he blessed him too.
“God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1: 28 NIV)
Sanctification
Based on the first verses of the Bible, we know that God blessed living creatures. Interestingly, the first things He sanctified was not an object. Yet it was something so precious that man cannot buy more of it. If used up, it cannot be redeemed. This is time.
“Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:3 NIV)
In our modern world the concept of sanctified time needs to be redeemed. If God could rest, how necessary is it for us to do so?
The Fall
In the beginning, man was living in a garden. He had companionship with God. There was only one tree he was supposed to not eat from. So how did it go so wrong?
Once the serpent had sown doubt into man’s mind, it was easy to transgress God’s commands. As the story goes, the serpent tempted the woman, and she talked to the man. They both fell together and then realized that they had lost their innocence.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 NIV)
We all know that soon after the first murder of humankind took place. And it was not just a murder, but a brother killed another.
“Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” (Genesis 4:8-10 NIV)
This all resonates with the Holocaust. In the 1940’s, men, created in God’s image were either terrorized and murdered or they became murderers. The Righteous Among the Nations, Gentiles, who chose to rescue a Jew, even at the cost of losing their own lives, were few.
To them the Righteous Gentiles this was a question they could answer with confidence: “I am my brother’s keeper!”
What is in the name?
Adam, the name means man, a human-being. But in the Hebrew language each word has a root and refers to different things. Adam has several possibilities of interpretation.
Hebrew word “dam” means blood and indeed this element became a central part of man’s story whether in killing or sacrificing or as in a bloodline. “Adama” means earth and indeed God created man from the dust of the earth.
“Hava” means life, as Eve is the mother of all life.
Since the fall, we all bear the consequences of Adam’s and Eve’s choices. Daily we have a choice to make; to obey or to transgress.
To make this choice was especially difficult during the Holocaust. In our normal life the society around us affirms our good choices. But in a society under dictatorship and violent racial ideology, obeying God and thus disobeying man carried stiff penalties. Choices were hard.
Creator God
The prophetic portion from Prophet Isaiah refers to God, the Creator, who has a specific calling and destiny for the Jewish People.
“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles…
In so many ways mankind has been blessed by Jewish artists, authors, musicians and scientists to name a few.
But we as Christians also know that Jesus was a Jew. He called Himself light.
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.” (John 8:12 NIV)
Captives
Between October 23, 2023 – 2025, captives dominated our thoughts. One of the most painful aspects of Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, was to see the hostages taken to Gaza. There Hamas abused and degraded them. But Isaiah in his prophecy emphasized freedom. He spoke of a promise that continues resonating following the release of Hamas’ hostages in October 2025:
…to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42: 6-7 NIV)
New Things
So many times we tend to look behind us. But God is doing new things. God wants to reveal those for us to see.
“See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” (Isaiah 42:9 NIV)
Let us start our Stories That Shine weekly journey with a new and eager spirit to see what God wants to reveal!
*For an explanation of the terms see the first The Torah Portion Blog.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:3 NIV
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Psalm 119:105 NIV
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
Isaiah 60:1 NIV
…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 NIV
Torah Scrolls were attacked and desecrated during the Holocaust. The enduring images of the Kristallnacht (November 9-10,1938) are those of synagogues on fire and Torah Scrolls burning. Some of these desecrated Torah Scrolls disappeared, others were buried. Some were lovingly rescued and are on display in museums in various locations.
