Berasit

The term "Berasit" (בְּרֵאשִׁית) is Hebrew, derived from the preposition "be" (בְּ), meaning "in" or "with," and "reshit" (רֵאשִׁית), meaning "beginning" or "first." While the standard translation is "In the beginning," scholarly debate exists, with some linking it to "power" or "wisdom."

The first word of the book of Genesis. The EngGLOSSARY 5X lish established version translates this as "In the beginning." but tliis rendering is disjuittd by many scholars. Tcrtullian approved of "In power"; Grotius "Wluu first"; but the authors of tlie Targum of Jerusalem, who ouglit to liave known IIe])rew if anyone did, translated it "In Wisdom". Godfrey Iliggins, in his AiKuaiypsU, insists on Berasit being the sign of the ablative case, meaning "in" and ros, rasit, an ancient word for Chokmah, "wisdom", [w.w.w.] Berasit or Beraslu th is a mystic word among tlie Kabbalists of Asia Minor.

The opening word of Genesis, "Berasit," is far more than a linguistic footnote for the earnest seeker; it is a gateway to a fundamental understanding of existence. Blavatsky's reference to Godfrey Higgins' interpretation, linking it to "wisdom" (Chokmah in Kabbalistic parlance), invites us to see the Genesis account not as a historical report but as a profound theological and cosmological statement. This is not simply about when the world began, but about the nature of that beginning. Mircea Eliade, in his seminal work "The Myth of the Eternal Return," grappled with the human need to connect with primordial, sacred time, and "Berasit" offers precisely this: a connection to the archetypal moment of creation, a moment imbued with divine energy and intelligence.

The Targum of Jerusalem's translation, "In Wisdom," is particularly illuminating. It suggests that creation was not a blind, mechanical process, but an act of profound intelligence, a cosmic thought unfolding. This aligns with the Gnostic emphasis on Sophia, divine wisdom, as a generative principle. For the contemplative, "Berasit" becomes an invitation to recognize this inherent wisdom in the present moment, seeing the creative impulse not as something relegated to the distant past, but as an ongoing, immanent force. It challenges the linear perception of time, suggesting that the "beginning" is perpetually present, a source of renewal and potential. The mystical traditions, from Kabbalah's intricate Sefirotic diagrams to the Sufi's contemplation of divine names, all seek to grasp this foundational reality. To ponder "Berasit" is to contemplate the very essence of being, the primordial spark that ignites and sustains all that is. It is to understand that the universe did not merely start, it began with something, and that something was potent, wise, and fundamentally divine.

RELATED_TERMS: Logos, Ein Sof, Brahman, Tao, Primordial Chaos, Divine Mind, Creation, Genesis