It was evening and it was morning – THE sixth day (Yom HA’shishi) – Bereshis 1:31

This week we begin the Torah cycle again at the beginning with Bereshis and the explanation of the Creation of the World. Rashi notes that on the sixth day, something extra is added – the letter HEH. On all of the other days, it mentions the day without the letter HEH – Yom Ehad, Yom Sheni, etc, but on the sixth day, it is Yom HA’shishi, THE sixth day. Rashi writes two reasons why the HEH is added: 1) to teach that the world was created on condition that the Jews accepted the Five Books of the Torah (the numeric value of HEH is five); 2) all is pending “the sixth day” of Sivan , which is the day we received the Torah.

When I was growing up, like many young boys, I was a baseball fan. Unfortunately, the team I liked was the Philadelphia Phillies, and although they had some pretty good players, they were not that great of a team. If you haven’t already heard, the Phillies are in the World Series again this year. As a kid, this would have made me very excited, but now many years later, I cannot even name one person on the team (a friend of mine mentioned some of their stars players to me and I did not recognize a single name). Although I will not be following the World Series very closely, I think there is a great lesson we can learn from it: the world champions only get the trophy for one year. After the Phillies hopefully win the championship, they will most likely not be the champions again for a few years. And if they are the champions for two or even three years in a row, it does not last forever. The New York Yankees who have won the most World Series have not won one since 2000. The players on the championship teams are considered world champions and receive a ring to show that they were the best during one season of baseball. Celebrations are made all around the home city for this team because this is a very exciting time for the whole town. But the title only lasts for one year and then it is usually passed on to another team.

Let’s compare the World Series with our greatest gift. First of all, it is something we do not have to give back after the year is over. It is something that has been ours for the past 4000 years and it will continue to be ours. Furthermore, the whole world exists only because of this great gift that we have. The world can certainly exist without baseball (think of the years that baseball went on strike and life continued to go on). Of course, this great gift that we have is none other than the Torah!

We just finished the holiday of Simchas Torah. We all danced with the Torah and put it in the center of the circle. Now is the time to make Simchas Torah every day – as we start this new year of 5769, let’s make the Torah the center of our lives. Even if we need to go to work and cannot sit and learn Torah the whole day, let’s make sure that we set aside time to learn Torah everyday. Baruch Hashem, so many Jewish communities now have Kollels where men can learn Torah almost anytime of the day. For those communities that don’t, many have adult learning classes. Also the Internet is filled with classes to download or Divrei Torah to read (please email me if you want a listing of my personal favorite websites for downloads). Let’s make the Torah the center of our life.

I hope next week that the headlines in the secular newspapers state that the Phillies are the World Champions. But even if the Phillies lose, the world will go on because something much, much more important is in this world: Torah. Let’s remember the joy we had on Simchas Torah and realize the importance of the Torah!

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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