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Parashat Bereisheet – 5786
October 6, 2026
by Rabbi Michael Kohn
A D’var Torah for Parashat Bereisheet
By Rabbi Michael Kohn (AJR 2009)
There are numerous cycles embedded within a Jewish year – the daily cycle of prayer, the weekly cycle of ordinary days and Shabbat, the monthly cycle of new moons, and the annual cycle of holidays and festivals. This week we experience another yearly cycle, as we start to read the Torah once more from the beginning.
Making our way through the first six days of Creation, we learn that the word “tov”, usually translated as “good”, appears seven times. The light on the first day was tov (Gen 1:4). The land and the seas were tov (Gen 1:10), as were the seed-bearing plants and trees of every kind bearing fruit (Gen 1:12).
The two great lights, separating light from darkness were tov (Gen 1:16-18). The great sea monsters, and all the living creatures of every kind that creep… and all the winged birds of every kind were tov (Gen 1:21). The wild beasts… and cattle of every kind, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth also were tov (Gen 1:25).
According to Ramban, as used in the Creation story, tov is not the opposite of “ra” – “bad”. Rather, it means “permanence”; “And G-d saw … that it was good, meaning [God] desired its existence forever….[1]
Near the end of the sixth day, a single, solitary, human being – called ha’adam – was created in the Divine Image. But God did not say that it was “tov”, even though that was how the land animals (created earlier that day) were described (Gen 1:25-26). Rather, it was only later, when God’s work on the that day was finished, “God saw all that had been made, and found it to be “tov me’od” (Gen 1:31). While many authorities translate “tov me’od” as “very good”, Ramban tells us, “[t]he meaning of the word me’od here is “mostly”.[2]
Perhaps God realized that something was missing.
Unlike the plants, trees, and animals, which were created in multiplicity, this single human being walked alone. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says, “With the birth of the individual, a new reality makes its debut: loneliness ….”[3]
God observes the human’s condition and says, “lo tov he’yot ha’adam l’vado – it is not good for the human to be alone.” (Gen 2:18) According to Ramban, “In the work of Creation, ‘the good’ means existence. . . .”[4] In his view, a lone human being is not a sustainable state. Thus, God creates a second human being (Gen 2:22).
Our sages tell us that “[h]umans are social by nature and need love and unity more than any other living creature, …”[5] “that [we] cannot survive in isolation.… [A]s Maimonides put it, … we are ‘social animals.’ … We want to be independent, but we are also inescapably interdependent.”[6]
King David, alone, cries out to God, “Turn to me, have mercy on me, for I am alone and afflicted“. (Psalm 25:16) Job becomes alienated from his community — his relatives and friends forget, disown, and detest him (Job 19:13-15). Moses found himself alone, even if he did not realize it.
The phrase “lo tov” is found only one other time in the Torah. Moses’ father-in-law, Yitro, is watching as Moses sits alone as magistrate, explaining God’s laws and teachings (Ex 18:14). Yitro admonishes Moses, “lo tov ha’davar asher atah oseh – this thing you are doing is not good … lo tokhal asohu l’vadekha – you cannot do it alone (Ex 18:17. Yitro advises Moses to create a community of judges around him (Ex 18:19-22).
Yet even a nation can be alone. “A people that dwells alone,” was how the pagan prophet Bilaam described our ancestors (Num 23:9). Billam’s prophecy feels all too prescient in our generation.
American Jews today increasingly are feeling more isolated and alone than they have felt for generations.[7] We have read countless stories reflecting this situation, like those from Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi of Harvard Chabad, who spoke of incoming freshmen feeling hate for the first time,[8] and from Ahuva Mahalel, a 16-year-old with many Jewish friends, but none at her high school,[9] filled with anguish. Former ambassador Michael Oren’s barber lamented to him, “We’re all alone.”[10]
Feeling alone is one of the most common forms of emotional distress.[11] Yet, there is a powerful antidote – community.
The Jewish concept of Klal Yisrael—the collective people of Israel—reminds us that every Jew is part of a larger whole, even in moments of isolation and solitude.
On the night of the Exodus from Egypt, Moses spoke for the first time “to the entire community of Israel” (Ex 12:3). Since then, we have remained a community, even though we are not, and likely never have been, a homogeneous one.
Andrew Sillow-Carroll writes: “Judaism, at the end of the day, … is really about giving people a community, a sense of belonging.”[12] Indeed, we are told that “[t]he holiness of G’d depends on the community,”[13] and we are admonished by Hillel, “do not separate yourself from the community . . . .”[14] as the entire Jewish people are responsible for one another.[15] Rabbi Sacks reminds us that “[W]hat we cannot do alone, we can do together….[16]
When Jews reach out, whether to seek, or to offer, a connection, when we support one another, and when we are together in community, we will not be alone, nor will we feel that we are alone. And we will see that it is tov.
[1] Ramban [13th C] to Gen 1:4
[3] R. Jonathan Sacks, Radical Then, Radical Now, Part II; The Journey, Covenantal Morality 7, 2000
[5] Kli Yakar [Poland 17th C] to Gen 2:18
[6] The Jonathan Sacks, “Haggadah; Essays, The Omer and the Politics of Torah” 11, 2007
[7] When belonging breaks: The Psychological Crisis Facing American Jews, The Times of Israel, Aug. 7, 2025
[8] Feeling Alone and Estranged, Many Jews at Harvard Wonder What’s Next, www.RSN.org, Aug. 3, 2026
[9] I Was Very Alone Today’: Young Jewish Americans Grieve Over Israel, New York Times, Oct.15, 2023
[10] Michael Oren, Jews have been cursed to be lonely. The war is a reminder to fight back against that fate, https://forward.com/opinion/593849/jews-lonely-israel-gaza-war/, Mar. 18, 2024
[11] Why Do I Feel So Lost and Alone? The Science Behind It, Mar. 11, 2026
[12] Andrew Sillow-Carroll, He went to a different Manhattan synagogue every week. Here’s what it taught him, September 7, 2026
[13] Akeidat Yitzchak [15th C Spain] 74:1:4 (Munk transl.)
[16] R. Jonathan Sacks, Lessons in Leadership; Haazinu; A Leader’s Call to Responsibility
