“In the beginning…” — Bereishit 1:1 At the beginning of time (Sforno)

It is said in the name of the Tzemach Tzedek that the way one conducts oneself on Shabbat Bereishit sets the tone for the entire year.

There is something powerful about beginnings.

Behavioural scientists have identified what they call the “Fresh Start Effect”. At the beginning of a new year, a new month, after a birthday, even on a Monday, people are more likely to set goals and resolve to change. We all know the feeling.

This year I’m going to…
From now on I will…
Things are going to be different.

It is easy to be inspired on Yom Kippur, the question is what we do on Tuesday, Wednesday, next week, next month. Remarkably quickly, life resumes. The diary fills up, and very often we drift back to exactly where we were before.

That is what makes Shabbat Bereishit so important. We have just emerged from an extraordinary & uplifting month. On Rosh Hashanah we reflected. On Yom Kippur we resolved. On Sukkot we celebrated. On Simchat Torah we danced.

And now comes the test. Not another dramatic festival or great spiritual moment. An ordinary Shabbat. Bereishit. Begin.

The Torah doesn’t allow our resolutions to remain in Tishrei. It asks us to take something from everything we have experienced and put it into practice. To be a little kinder. More present. More committed. To make more time for the things and the people that really matter. To take one of the promises we made to ourselves over the Yamim Noraim and actually live it.

Ultimately, a resolution only matters when it becomes a reality.

We are fortunate that Judaism gives us beginnings again and again. Every year. Every month. Every week. Indeed, every morning. We don’t have to change everything at once. But we do have to begin.

Shabbat Bereishit is our opportunity ‘in the beginning’ the very first words of the Torah to make sure that the year we prayed for is also the year we begin to build.