Expert Beginners

Friday October 17, 2025/ 25 Tishrei 5786/Shabbat Bereishit

Hevre/Friends,

Every year on Shabbat Bereishit we restart the cycle of Torah reading and immerse ourselves once more in Judaism’s foundational narratives. How many times have we read these stories? How many times have we grappled with their meaning? How many different insights and interpretations have we been taught? And yet we do it all over again year after year, decade after decade, generation after generation, playing the role of both the seasoned disciple of Torah and her novice student - bringing to our studies all we know as well as the openness to all we have yet to learn.

There’s a deep lesson in this annual drama of becoming  “expert beginners”, one that speaks to the historic moment this last week unveiled for the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the entire Middle East. 

As we endeavor to hold both our optimism for peace (or at least quiet) and the chance for our captives to begin living again together with our doubts given Hamas’ lethal turn on its own people and its failure to return all the murdered hostages, many of us remember prior wars which we thought had ended only to rear their ugly heads once again years later. Could that happen again? Absolutely. But our challenge is to embrace the possibilities of this moment even as we’re keenly aware of its potential limitations.

We’re emerging from the High Holy Days and the festivals of Sukkot/Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah to launch this new year. With its eloquent prayers and evocative rituals, the season of awe enfolded us in the embrace of our ancient tradition and its promise of redemption and alerted us to the vulnerability and ongoing need for tikkun/repair that are at the heart of human existence. It reminded us to balance our fear of the unknown and our inevitable self-doubt with our faith in the Divine and our commitment to always do and be better. These are the sacred tensions of an expert beginner.

The “expert” part of being an “expert beginner” is to allow our experience to remind us not just of what we’ve previously undergone or accomplished, but of all we’re capable of in the future. It’s not about closing down options, but keeping as many open as possible - in our hearts, our minds, our relationships, our governance, and our diplomacy.

On this Shabbat of new beginnings, as a people forged in the fires of both destruction and continuous re-creation, may the light of life and hope we (re)read about this Shabbat continue to shine upon us, our people, and the world and guide us to peace and prosperity for all. 

With continued prayers for the return of the murdered hostages, for the bereaved and the injured, and with blessings for a Shabbat Shalom,

Dini

(Photo by Ronen Avisror)