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When I was a child and saw Cecil B. DeMille's “The Ten Commandments” for the first time, I thought that Charleton Heston was God.

Never mind the fact that he played Moses in the movie. I thought Charleton Heston was God. You know why, don’t you? It was his voice… that rich, deep, resonant voice… surely the voice of God as I had somehow come to think of it by the age of 8 or 9.

You may have had a similar image of God’s voice when you were young… a uniquely powerful voice. Do you know where that image of God’s voice comes from? Long before television or movies projected the sound of the divine call, the Torah began to stir possible impressions of it.

--Think about it.
-- What is the nature of the voice you hear when you read in the Book of Exodus about the Burning Bush that Moses happened upon and the voice that calls out, “Moses! Moses! Do not come closer!” (Exodus 3:4-5)

What is the nature of the voice you hear in Exodus Chapter 19? As Moses and the people stood at the base of Mt. Sinai we read, “As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder!” (Ex. 19:19) But when you reflect on it, the origins of our Charleton Heston-like images of God’s voice likely lie prior to the Book of Exodus in the beginning of the Torah … the very beginning.

Our Torah portion, Bereisheet, does not project the divine voice in the thunderous, frightening ways of Exodus. But the sheer power of God’s voice and, more specifically, God’s word is absolute.

“Vayomer Elohim yehi ohr vayehi ohr” (Gen. 1:3). “God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light.’”

Throughout Genesis Chapter 1 God speaks, and, according to the Torah, all aspects of our world come into existence. The Holy One verbalizes the world into being! What better example could one point to, to illustrate the potential power of words?!

And that’s not all! As God speaks each part of the world into being - day, night, the earth, its animals and vegetation, and, finally, the human being – God sees more than just the latest divine creation. “Va’yahr Elohim ki tov” – “God saw that it was good.”

So the spoken word had the power to generate a world, and every constituent part of that world was “good.” That was the world on the sixth day, in its pristine state… a place where speech was not only powerful, but a place where the spoken word created only goodness, blessing and well-being. It didn’t take long to change, though, did it? The human beings, Adam and Eve, came along. Together with the serpent they soon learn that the spoken word can be used in other ways – to deceive, to covet and to stir violence.

In Torah reading terms it only takes one week until we learn that speech leading to violence forces God to start all over again. For those who may not immediately understand the reference, I am referring to the story of Noah and his Ark. What has society learned; what have we learned from these early chapters of the Bible, stories we will already set aside after next week’s Torah reading?

Spiritual traditions, including our own, urge their adherents to imitate God’s ways. Yet all too often we do not use words to stir right or caring action.

For example, in the political realm, people have used and heard words to initiate heinous acts. Nearly fourteen years ago, as then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin spoke of peace; Yigal Amir heard other spoken words. He heard Israeli religious authorities refer to the prime minister as a “murderer.” He heard them invoke a Jewish law which he understood to be a statement of obligation to murder Prime Minister Rabin… and that is exactly what he did on November 4, 1995.

Today there are still those who use words to delegitimize leaders with whom they vehemently disagree. Here is one such example: In a recent FACEBOOK poll, people were asked, “Should Obama be killed?” The choices were “No,” “Maybe,” “Yes,” and “Yes if he cuts my health care.” Is this poll merely a statement of disagreement with our President or may its implied sentiments potentially serve to incite someone to violent action?

Today in our country it is those on the right who sometimes veer from acceptable expressions of disagreement with the present administration into potentially powerful words of de-legitimization and perhaps even worse. But it was no different before January of this year. We delude ourselves if we think otherwise. At that time it was those on the left of the political spectrum, including some who criticized then President Bush and sought to delegitimize him.

Oh yes, words have the power to create… And so does silence… that is the sin most of us commit. We surely do not speak out against leaders with whom we disagree in ways that seek to delegitimize them. But most of us sit silently as we hear such words.

I know; we are busy people and it’s not very easy or reasonable to sit down and write a letter or call into a talk show for the purpose of rejecting unreasonable or hateful words. But our talmudic rabbis’ expression is apt and challenging – “Shtika k’hoda’ah dahmay” – “Silence is like acquiescence.” Some people may come to hear our silence as every bit as powerful as the frightful words other people actually utter. It is the sin of silence, and many of us are culpable.

We best recognize the place of our silence in the face of unacceptable rhetoric. It can unwittingly reinforce thoughts and actions that all of us find disturbing and perhaps unimaginable.

God spoke; God thundered, and the world and Torah came into being. But today it is our silence that is powerful.

Here’s another example: To witness human misery, no matter what its origins, should stir words of compassion and hope on our part. It should certainly lead us toward supportive or reparative action. After all, the Torah tells us that we were strangers in the Land of Egypt! That’s the way our tradition tells us that we were outcasts; that we need to care, in Torah terms, for the stranger, orphan and widow; in other words, for the vulnerable in our midst. But all too often, we look the other way, don’t we; I look the other way… and our silence speaks quite clearly. It creates and it reflects indifference.

Ribono shel olam – Master of the Universe - You have created a vast and beautiful world through the power of Your word. You have given that world to us and asked that we join with You in continuous works of creation.

Help us to do Your will and not just our own.

Help us to recognize not only the power of our actions, but also the power of our words… and our silences.

Like You, may we use our words in ways that never denigrate or demean but rather seek only to add beauty and well being to Your Universe.

Amen.