Two months ago I published a new book, my first book in English, "Awesome Creation". The book is a study on the first three verses of the Tora. This Biblical text, Genesis 1:1 to 1:3, consists of just twenty seven words or 103 letters, but it encapsulates the essence of what for us represents the most impenetrable of God's act: the creation of the Universe ex nihilo (=from nothing previous). In the first verse the Tora gives us a glimpse with just enough information to answer the most important matter in the field of Creation, namely, "WHO" created the universe. The following verses describe the state of the planet upon its creation, the order of Creation and particularly the formation of life in our planet. Nothing is explicitly said about "how" did God bring matter from nothing to existence, let alone, "why".
I devoted three chapters for each verse. To the novice reader, this may seem excessive. The advanced Tora scholar, however, knows well enough that a simple book could in no way be an exhaustive study of these verses. The Torah is like a deep sea, rich in treasures of wisdom. And most of us, myself included, just get close to the ocean's surface, collecting a few seashells from the shore. Isaac Newton said it best: "To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me."
The reader should know that this study of the first three verses of the Tora does not contain esoteric material. A mystical examination of Creation, i.e., the ways the Creator brought everything into existence (ma'ase bereshit), lies way beyond my knowledge and the scope of this humble book. The contributions of my book derive mainly from the field of Hebrew semantics. The words are examined through the eyes of the Rabbis of the Talmud and the classic commentators, especially those whose expertise was Hebrew grammar.
Read the complete introduction here
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To get "Awesome Creation"
"Awesome Creation" was dedicated to the memory of Ephraim ben Moshe Levian, z"l, by Mrs. Pary Levian and her sons, Larry, Eddie, and Moossa Levian.
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