The Torah begins again this week. Out of the void, the chaos, and the darkness, creation emerges. It is a story we know well—but never the same way twice. Every year when we begin again, we bring to the text everything we have lived through since the last time we read it.

This year, Bereisheet comes as the world itself feels suspended between darkness and light. After nearly two years of unimaginable pain, a ceasefire has been reached. Hostages are coming home. Families who have lived in anguish are seeing their loved ones again. Yet not all are home. Many still wait. And even for those who have returned, the road to healing is long.

Still, we breathe. We give thanks. As our tradition teaches, “Baruch Matir Asurim” — Blessed is the One who frees the captive.

In Bereisheet, God calls creation tov: “good.” Not perfect, not finished, but good. That’s an important distinction. Creation, like redemption, is an ongoing process. Tikkun olam—repairing the world—is our sacred work precisely because the world remains unfinished. Each act of courage, compassion, and faith is another word spoken into the darkness, another light called forth into being.

This week, I also carry that sense of renewal and purpose into another beginning—the convening of the World Zionist Congress. There, Jews from across the world gather to chart the course of our collective future, just as Herzl envisioned in 1897.

I am proud to share that MERCAZ, the Zionist arm of Conservative/Masorti Judaism, achieved remarkable results this year, ranking fifth globally, behind only Likud, Artza (Reform), Yesh Atid, and Mizrachi. We not only held our ground but grew by three seats, even amidst a proliferation of new parties. That strength is not just a political victory; it is a moral and spiritual affirmation that the voice of the Masorti movement—committed to a democratic, pluralistic, and compassionate Israel—continues to resonate.

In the weeks ahead, as coalition negotiations unfold, MERCAZ leaders will play a vital role in shaping the direction of the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (JNF), and Keren Hayesod. I anticipate being asked to chair a key committee at the Jewish Agency, where together we will set priorities for the next five years: advancing Jewish peoplehood, strengthening the ties between Israel and world Jewry, deepening Jewish education, supporting religious pluralism, and ensuring that Israel remains both Jewish and democratic.

From Bereisheet, we learn that creation is not an event of the past but a continuous unfolding. Ha’mechadesh b’tuvo b’chol yom tamid ma’aseh bereisheet,“God renews, in goodness, the work of creation every day.”

That is our task, too. To renew. To create. To bring light from darkness, hope from despair, and justice from chaos.

This Shabbat, as we open the Torah once more and the world seems to take a fragile step from grief toward healing, may we commit ourselves anew to the sacred work of bereisheet… beginning again.

May the homecomings of this week remind us that every life is a world entire, and that even amidst sorrow, the human spirit can create, rebuild, and hope.

Shabbat Shalom.