Beginning

There's always something particularly hard about beginnings. כל התחלת קשות, as חז״ל put it. Perhaps the reason for this is just simply that beginnings are times of facing the unknown, and therefore ourselves. And seeing our predefined self isn't fitting, our "who we are" isn't making sense, is perhaps the hardest thing to face.
Because we all think we know who we are...but maybe we don't, because maybe we can't; each beginning in our life is simply another part of our ultimate becoming. And because we think we're human beings, not becomings, we can't stand beginnings at all...

 It is truly a funny thing that in religion, all the things we see as endings (marriage, תשובה, the responsibilities of adulthood, to name a few) are really beginnings. It is the process in life, the journey of life, the mission of התהלך לפני והיה תמים that we define ourselves as כלל ישראל by, that ultimately is who we are.

So here's to process, to journeying through life in search of what it means to Be and Becoming so. Anything less, any artificially defined stopping point, is a violation of the תורת חיים we live by (and are). And here is to beginning this blog as a part of that Living Torah for all those who participate in it.