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בראשית, According to the plain meaning of the text, i.e. what is known as the פשט the meaning of the word בראשית is: "at the beginning." If, nonetheless, the Torah did not write the word בראשונה “at the beginning,” an unmistakable expression, this is because the expression בראשיתincludes so many more and exalted meanings than does the word .בראשונה

According to the view of Rashi, grammatically speaking the word בראשית is a possessive form, as it is every time it appears in the Torah. It signals that on the first day G'd created only the light. The meaning of the full verse then is: "at the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth there was Tohu Vavohu, chaos. G'd said: 'let there be light.'" Everything else developed from that point on including the creation of heaven and earth. The word בראשית here is comparable to the verse in Hoseah, 1,1. תחלת דבר ה' בהושע ויאמר ה' אל הושע, וגו'" “When G'd began to speak to Hoseah, G'd said to Hoseah, etc." Rashi's opinion was that if the Torah had wanted to tell us that heaven and earth had been created on the first day, the Torah should have written בראשונה.

The fact is however, that the word is not a possessive form at all but an independent word and it is equivalent to the Torah having written בראשונה. Proof of this is found in the tone-sign tipcha on the word which separates it from the word which follows it. The paragraph tells us that heaven and earth with all their derivatives were created on the first day, all of them without there having preceded them any physical matter at all. This fact is attested to by the word ברא which describes the creation of "something out of nothing." This, at any rate, is the opinion of Rabbi Nechemyah who is quoted to this effect in Midrash Tanchuma at the beginning of our portion. On the other hand, Rabbi Yehudah, who disagrees with him, claims that the universe was created during six days. He bases himself on the repeated directives of the Torah that something new should emerge and the Torah's reporting that indeed it did, using the words ויהי כן to inform us that G'd's instructions had been carried out. Rabbi Nechemyah claims that the proof that the whole universe was created already on the first day are the words (1,24) תוצא הארץ “let the earth bring forth." The wording "bring forth" indicates that G'd referred to matters which had already been in existence ready to emerge but had not yet seen the light of day until commanded to do so by G'd. The matter can be compared to a farmer who sows six grains of corn at the same time only to find that they take root at different times instead of all sprouting forth simultaneously. The six days of creation described by the Torah report the sequence in which G'd's creative activity became manifest. This is what the Psalmist had in mind (Psalms 33,9) כי הוא אמר ויהי i.e. “for He had given a directive and then it materialised." David taught us that G'd's directive and its execution as visible fact occurs simultaneously. Afterwards, (the creation of heaven and earth) He gave these various directives introduced by the Torah with the words ויאמר אלוקים and G'd's work became manifest, was converted from being a potential to becoming actual.

אלוקים, the plain meaning of the word is that it describes divinity. It describes the One who possesses all the divine powers. This is the reason it is expressed in the plural, i.e. not merely אל or אלוה, but the One Who comprises all the divine powers within His essence. An example of such use of the word is found in Joshua 24,19. אלוקים קדשים הוא It means that in His capacity as אלוקים He comprises all aspects of holiness, sanctity. We find a parallel use of words describing terrestrial authority in Isaiah 19,4 where such rulers are described in the plural as אדנים קשה, "a harsh master" (although the adjective applied to "them" is in the singular). The reason the noun is in the plural is because such rulers manifest their authority in so many different ways. If such use of the plural is appropriate for describing terrestrial rulers, how much more so is it appropriate for describing G'd whose authority is manifested in innumerably more ways than the authority of even the most powerful human king on earth. Their entire authority is, after all, only derived from G'd. G'd, by definition, is One, indivisible, but His powers are many. We find many other examples of nouns in the singular being described as if they had been written in the plural. To name some: ליל שמורים הוא (Exodus 12,42) "it is a night of vigil," (the word for "vigil" is in the plural). Or, (Leviticus 23,28) יום כפורים הוא “it is a Day of Atonement." Another reason why the Torah refers to G'd as אלוקים in the plural is the great deal of intelligence, wisdom, and insight He employed when He created the universe. [I believe the author treats each attribute as something separate, hence He justifies the plurality of attributes by referring to the One who employed all these attributes in the plural. Ed.] This is what Solomon had in mind when he wrote in Proverbs 3,19 "ה' בחכמה יסד ארץ כונן שמים בתבונה." The Lord founded earth by employing wisdom, He established the heavens by employing understanding." G'd is described as employing different attributes when creating the universe.

From an homiletical point of view the name אלוקים describes G'd in His capacity as judge. This is what the Torah meant when it wrote אלוקים לא תקלל (Exodus 22,27) "you must not curse a judge." Onkelos translates the word in that verse as ,דיינא judge. We have an unequivocal verse in Psalms 75,8 proving that the word means judge, i.e. כי אלוקים שופט זה ישפיל וזה ירים “For G'd is a judge; He raises up one man while bringing down another." The term אלוקים for G'd is appropriate at this point as He employed the attribute of Justice when creating the universe.

From a mystical point of view, i.e. קבלה the word is composed of two separate words אל הם. The first word is a name for G'd in the possessive form, the second word הם describing all the other attributes G'd employed when creating the universe. We find something along those lines in Numbers 31,16 הן הנה “they are the very ones." As to the letter י which so far is unaccounted for (by this kabbalistic approach), we find such a letter י in Kohelet 12,1 וזכור את בוראיך" “and remember your Creator," where the letter י appears to be extraneous at first glance. [After all we have only one Creator, and what did Solomon mean? Ed.] The author contents himself with the enigmatic words: "the intelligent student will understand what I mean." [I believe the message is that the letter has been slipped in to hint at the ten emanations which are part of basic kabbalistic teachings, explaining how totally abstract matter could have been converted into tangible matter. Ed.]

את השמים ואת הארץ "heaven and earth." Whenever the word את appears it adds something to the meaning of the plain text. At the most basic level, the two words here are meant to convey that two additional matters or raw materials were involved in the creation of heaven and earth. According to the plain meaning of the text, we understand the two words as references to the two different raw-materials (elements) G'd employed when creating heaven and earth, seeing the two are obviously not made of the same material. This is the meaning of "the earth was tohu vavohu", i.e. that after the initial act of creation earth was still in a chaotic state. The specific meaning of the two words is that the material, was covered with a form, This is what is meant by Isaiah 66,2 The first three words in that verse refer to existing material, whereas the last words "My hands have fashioned," refer to G'd supplying this material with a distinctive form, צורה. According to this verse in Isaiah, G'd first created the raw material, ,ברא but subsequently His activities consisted only of refining such raw material by acts of יצירה respectively. ,בריאה creation of matter, consisted of merely creating the smallest physical particle, a ,נקודה “a point," something barely perceptible. This little particle formed the beginning of the entire solar system.

Looked at from an homiletical point of view, the extra words את in the phrase "heaven and earth," include the sun, moon, stars in the case of the word שמים and the entire range of vegetation in the case of the word ארץ.

והארץ היתה תהו ובהו “and the earth had been in a chaotic state, etc." This is a reference to the raw material which had not yet been properly defined and therefore could not yet be named. This explanation is analogous to what our sages have said in Kidushin 40 בתוהא על הראשונות “he had second thoughts on what he had thought before." The Torah called this indefinable material "tohu," whereas Greek philosophers called it "hayuli," the original matter. The word "bohu," on the other hand, refers to this material once it had been equipped with a distinctive shape and had assumed a definitive form. The word בהו is actually two words comprised of בו הוא"something which does have a certain form by which is identifiable". This is what Isaiah 34,11 had in mind when he said "He will measure it with a line of chaos and with weights of emptiness." The prophet related the word "a line," to the word which described something indefinable, visible but not substantive. Incidentally, this word is related or derived from Psalms 40,2 קוה קויתי ה' [i.e. intense hope precedes concretisation of one's wishes. Ed.] An artisan envisages מקוה, a building in his mind's eye before he builds it. The relationship of the word is that the stones are the manifestation, the format of the building the artisan had first envisaged To sum up the whole passage: "At the beginning G'd created a minute amount of matter out of absolute nothingness. This contained within itself the potential and energy to expand into what we call "heaven and earth." After this initial stage of creative activity by G'd the earth had still remained in a chaotic state, matter without separation into shape or form of the four basic raw materials (elements) of the universe, i.e. fire, wind, water and dust. The word הארץ includes all these four basic materials the earth is made of. [Even though the material עפר is only the last one described in the record of מעשה בראשית at the creation of man. Ed.] the Torah refers to it first when speaking about ארץ which was a minute point. Philosophers called it a "point," [to distinguish between the solar system which appears in constant motion, whereas earth appears stationary. Ed.]. They viewed the earth as if it were a point surrounded by the planetary system. Earth was viewed as stationary based on Kohelet 1,4 והארץ לעולם עומדת “and the earth remains in its place forever." This is in contrast to the planets surrounding it which move from place to place and never remain in the same spot. Only a small part of earth is in motion, ever. The reason the planetary system, i.e. ,שמים is called עליון lofty, high, is because the material it is made of is so delicate, so fine, and so pure. Earth, on the other hand, is made of the coarsest, the most opaque material. Once the Torah had begun to discuss the properties of earth it returns its attention to the heaven and lists the other basic raw materials (elements) in their proper order, i.e. "fire, wind, and water. The word חשך darkness, is a reference to elemental fire which is dark (compare Shemot Rabbah 2,10.) [This recalls the statement of our sages that the Torah was written with black fire on white fire. Ed.] It is listed ahead of the second element רוח, wind, seeing that fire is a more comprehensive element than wind. The wind precedes water, i.e. "the wind (spirit) of G'd hovered over the deep." This is because wind is a more comprehensive element than water. Water, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive element than earth (dust). We find this order of the basic elements both in Kohelet and in Job. Just as the Torah in this instance began its detailed description with the נקודה the "point," when it wrote: "and the earth was chaotic," so the Book of Kohelet begins with this "point" describing it as something which remains in place forever, i.e. והארץ לעולם עומדת (Kohelet 1,4). Next Solomon mentions the element fire when he wrote וזרח השמש ובא השמש sun shone and the sun set (Kohelet 1,5)." After the fire Solomon mentions the wind in Kohelet 1,6 where he wrote סובב סובב הולך הרוח “the wind goes round and round." Lastly, Solomon mentions the water when he wrote הנחלים הולכים אל הים", “all the rivers flow into the sea" (Kohelet 1,7). Also in the Book of Job (Job 28,24) its description of creation begins with the "point," i.e. earth, or "dust," when the author wrote: i.e. כי הוא לקצות הארץ יביט תחת כל השמים יראה, ”for He sees to the ends of the earth, observes all that is beneath the heavens." The reference to the heavens is a reference to fire. The text continues: לעשות לרוח משקל ומים תכן במדה when He fixed the weight of the winds, set the measure of the waters." We observe that the elements are listed in the same order as in Kohelet and in Bereshit. The reason for this is that all these three Books concern themselves with some degree of research, and its words are based on our knowledge of nature. In our verse the Torah informed us that the earth assumed a shape, that the darkness which is the fire, spread out above the mixture of dust and water. This mixture is called תהום,"the deep," in the language of the Torah. It describes the ocean which has earth dissolved in it. Compare Jonah 2,6 תהום יסובבני, "the deep surrounds me. The wind was blowing entering the darkness and hovering above the water. When the Torah speaks of ורוח אלוקים, we would actually have expected ורוח האלוקים, i.e. “the wind (spirit) of G'd;" the reason the Torah chose to omit the letter ה , thereby apparently identifying wind as something divine, this is because of all matters in the physical universe wind is the closest to the invisible abstract force called G'd. Even though in some respects fire is even more insubstantial, diaphanous, than the wind, the Torah did not want to associate this word with G'd seeing that we described fire as a product of, or rather synonymous with, darkness.

From an homiletical point of view, the words בראשית ברא אלוקים את השמים ואת הארץ are understood to mean "on account of three merits the universe was created, the merit of חלה i.e. giving the priest the first portion of a woman's dough, the merit of מעשרות i.e. the various tithes given to the Levite or the priest, and the merit of בכורים, bringing part of the first ripe produce to the Temple as a gesture of thanksgiving. This statement is based on all of these three commandments being described in the Torah at one place or another as ראשית"the first of something." (Numbers 16,2; Deut. 18,4; Exodus 23,19). Furthermore, our sages said (Bereshit Rabbah 1,6) "the universe was created for the sake of Moses who has been described as ראשיתin Deut. 33,21 וירא ראשית לו 'He regarded him as His .ראשיתThese three commandments called ראשיתnot only have a common denominator, but each one of them is also an allusion to "wisdom," something called ראשית. The word is translated as חוכמא , wisdom, by the Jerusalem Targum on Genesis 1,1. This is all because the letters in the commandment בכוריםthe first ripe fruit, allude to the Unity of G'd (according to Rabbi Chavell, the author means the three letters in the word ב-כ-ר allude to בינה insight, כתר crown, and ב=ראשית חכמה respectively). Similarly, the commandment of ,מעשרות tithing, is a reference to such superior wisdom as the number 10 is reminiscent of the Power of the One and only Creator. The commandment of חלה by its very definition represents the very first of a woman's productive activity, making bread and donating its first part to representatives of the spiritual leaders of the people, the priests. As to the Midrash stating that the merit of Moses accounted for the creation of the universe, this is not only because we have seen that he is associated with ראשית but also because it was he who was found worthy to give the Torah to the Jewish people. If you examine the word בראשית more closely you will observe that it contains an allusion to the building of the first Temple which stood for 410 years, corresponding to the word בזאת in the verse בזאת יבא אהרן אל הקד “equipped with this (410) Aaron will enter the Temple" (Leviticus 16,3). You are no doubt aware that our sages in Pesachim 54 have stated that the Temple was created before haven and earth. [the reference is to the plan for the eventual site of the Temple on earth, or to its counterpart in heaven. Ed.] This is the reason the Torah first wrote בראשית ברא"first G'd created something," and only afterwards to alert the reader that some things preceded the creation of heaven and earth. Seeing that according to Bereshit Rabbah (end of second chapter) G'd is reported as having envisaged the Temple as being destroyed and being rebuilt, the Torah wrote that to hint that there would come a time when G'd's presence would be withdrawn from the Jewish people.

ורוח אלוקים מרחפת על פני המים "and the spirit (wind) of G'd hovered above the surface of the waters." This is a reference to the Torah which even at a time of the withdrawal of G'd's presence, שכינה would never be totally forgotten by His people even when they are in exile.

ויאמר אלוקים יהי אור "G'd said: "let there be light." This is an allusion to messianic times. The period of the kingdom of the Messiah is alluded to in Isaiah 60,1 "Arise, shine, for your light has dawned; the Presence of the Lord has shone upon you."

,ויבדל אלקים בין האור ובין החושך "and G'd separated the light from the darkness." This is an allusion to the separation between the Jewish people and the Gentile nations, the former always looking forward to the Messiah and redemption, whereas the Gentiles are content to remain is spiritual darkness. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah, 2,5 commented on this that in this verse we have a reference to the four kingdoms [preceding the messianic age Ed.]. This is what they said: "the words והארץ היתה תהו ובהו are a reference to the empire of the Babylonians; the word ובהו is a reference to the empire of the Medes. The wordוחשך is a reference to the empire of the Greeks, whereas the word תהום is a reference to the Roman Empire. Finally, the words ורוח אלקים refer to the spirit of the Messiah."

If you will examine the text even more closely, you will observe that the word בראשית, is composed of the two words אש ברית, an allusion to the third and enduring Temple based on the prophecy in Zachariah 2,9, (see commentary by Rabbi Chavell). The words are derived from a rearrangement of the letters in בראשית. You can also divide the word בראשית to form the two words ברא שית, suggesting "He created the foundation," שיתין, the place underneath the altar in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem which the Talmud described as the "navel" of the earth. A third possibility is to divide the wordבראשית into,ברא תיש "He created a ram," an allusion to the ram offered on Mount Moriah by Avraham in lieu of his son Yitzchak. Our sages in Avot 5,6 have described this ram as having been created prior to the conclusion of the six days of creation. Another word contained within the wordבראשית is the word ארשת, an allusion to speech (Psalms 21,3). The meaning of the additional letter י, which combined with the word ארשת spells ,בראשית ,is that we have an allusion to the ten directives G'd uttered and which are recorded in the Torah's report about G'd's creative activity. Remember that the universe was created in the month of Tishrey and that the word בראשית alludes to this, i.e. the letters can be read as א-בתשרי. Concerning this date of when the universe was created there is a dispute in Rosh Hashanah, folios 10-11, between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. The former holds that the universe was created in Tishrey, whereas Rabbi Yehoshua believed that it was created in the month of Nissan. Although, generally speaking, in a dispute between these two scholars we rule according to the view of Rabbi Yehoshua, in this instance the Talmud rules in favour of the view of Rabbi Eliezer. This is the meaning of the statement on that folio: "when we pray nowadays on Rosh Hashanah, describing it as זה היו תחלת מעשיך, 'this is the day when You commenced Your works,' this reflects the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer."

Looking at the words בראשית ברא אלקים את השמים ואת הארץ from a rationalistic, investigative point of view, it is a well known fact that the universe is divided into three basic spheres. One sphere comprises the world of angels, i.e. celestial regions; the second sphere is what we call "outer space," the sphere of the planetary system; the third sphere is our own terrestrial world. All three parts of the universe were created by the same invisible force. The word בראשית is an allusion to this mysterious force which is the origin of everything in creation, a force which itself knew no beginning. First, this force created the celestial regions and the angels therein. These are called אלקים in the Scriptures. The world of planets is called שמים; our own terrestrial world is known as הארץ. It is due to these considerations that the Torah could not commence by writing אלקים ברא בראשית, but had to write בראשית ברא אלקים in order for the word ברא to refer back to the word בראשית. This enabled us to appreciate that a mysterious force called בראשית created the region of the angels known as אלקים. The term "earth" includes such phenomena as the moon and anything closer to earth than the moon. The next verse explains this in greater detail when the Torah writes: והארץ היתה תהו ובהו, that the part of the universe known as the terrestrial region had been in a chaotic state at the time when the Torah had described the commencement of creation, i.e. ברא. The subject that is referred to as having been in a state of chaos are the four basic elements the existence of which had been hinted at in the previous verse as we explained earlier.

The word ארץ here is a generic term applying to each of these four components our terrestrial earth is made of, collectively as well as separately, such as in Genesis 1,10 ויקרא אלקים ליבשה ארץ. In view of this [ארץ without the letters וה in front, Ed.], the word והארץ refers to Earth, i.e. all its four elements combined. The words תהו ובהו on the other hand, refer to the element alone. The Torah tells us that at that stage this element could not be defined as it could not be isolated. You should know that the number of planets is 955, corresponding to numerical value of the word השמים. [The final letter ם is considered as equivalent to 600. Ed.] You will find this idea in a book called מעשה מרכבה, where we are told that at the time G'd descends from the celestial regions, i.e. from 955 רקיעים, heavens, and He seats Himself on the throne commensurate with His glory, all these heavens as well as the gateways to the regions called ערבות, recite the verse שאו שערים ראשיכם, "lift up you gates your heads, etc." (Psalms 24,9). We also find in Derech Eretz Rabbah, that "G'd is the solitary Ruler in the celestial regions, His name is One, and He resides in 390 heavens [the numerical equivalent of the word שמים, Rabbi Chavell.]. Each one of these "heavens" has been stamped with His name, a name which has been alluded to in the Torah (Deut. 32,1) האזינו ה-שמים, "hearken the Heavens." When I shall explain that verse in due course, I will quote that Midrash in detail. At any rate, it is impossible to reduce this number of heavens. According to our sages in the Talmud (Kabbalists), there are only seven heavens and they are enumerated in Chagigah 12. We quote: "Rav Yehudah said that there are two kinds of heaven seeing that the Torah wrote in Deut. 10,14: השמים ושמי השמים, 'the heaven and the heaven of the heavens.' Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said that there are seven heavens and they are called: וילון, רקיע, שחקים, זבול, מעון, מכון, ערבות. According to researchers, i.e. the philosophers, there are nine heavens. They are: גלגל המקיף (compare Maimonides hilchot Yesodey Ha-Torah), גלגל המזלות the zodiac, i.e. the horoscopes, and the seven "heavens" dominated by the seven fixed stars [an antiquated astronomical concept believed in by all astronomers until exploded by Copernicus about 1540. Ed.] According to these "philosophers," the four elements of our terrestrial universe rank below these regions dominated by what is known as שבעה כוכבי לכת, the 7 fixed planets. King Solomon already listed these four elements in the same order in a single verse in Proverbs 30,4 where he wrote: מי עלה שמים וירד, מי אסף רוח בחפניו, מי צרר מים בשמלה? מי הקים כל אפסי ארץ? "Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind (spirit) in his hand? Who has wrapped the water in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? According to the philosophers the element of fire receives its heat from the planet moon which is immediately above it and closest to it. This is due to the constant motion of that planet. It is a well known fact that every body which is in motion generates heat by its motion. The larger the body in question and the closer to earth, the greater the heat it generates and its ability to warm other bodies which are close to it. Seeing that it is the nature of fire to rise constantly, it is the first element to receive warmth from the moon. The fact that fire rises must certainly have a purpose. The moon itself, however is not warm nor does it inflame. Nor does fire rise indefinitely. Both the earth and the moon have been assigned definitive orbits separated from each other by an atmosphere which neither can break out of. Just as water, which has a tendency to descend, cannot descend to the extent of flooding the earth, so fire cannot ascend beyond certain limits and inflame what is beyond those limits. These philosophers use Job 37,18 חזק כראי מוצק ועדו , "strong like a mirror which has been cast," as proof that the atmosphere separating planets and their respective orbits from one another is impenetrable. I have already pointed out that the universe was created in the month of Tishrey, a month under the influence of the zodiac sign מאזנים, "scales." This is also the meaning of the second verse in Genesis, that the wind of the Lord was hovering above the deep." We know that the zodiac sign governing the wind is "scales," whereas the zodiac sign governing water is עקרב, "scorpion." The correct interpretation of our verse is therefore: "When did G'd create heaven and earth? At a time when the רוח אלוקים rises develops and rises in the morning, i.e. at the time when the zodiac sign "scales" which is the zodiac sign pertaining to the רוח, "wind" hovers "above the face of the waters" which is close to the zodiac sign "scales," the sign pertaining to the waters. The reason why these respective zodiac signs are called "scales" and "scorpion" as well as the reason for the names of the remainder of the zodiac signs is because a cluster of stars form a shape reminiscent of such objects or animals in the sky. According to tradition, at the time the deluge occurred the constellations of the seven fixed stars was as follows: There was a cluster of stars resembling the shape of a lamb; there was a similar cluster of stars resembling the shape of an ox; the same was the case with the zodiac signs "twins," both of whom resembled human beings. There was a constellation resembling a lobster (cancer), a constellation resembling "scales," a constellation resembling a scorpion, a constellation resembling a bucket, i.e. a human being drawing water; All these horoscopes or zodiac signs were named after their appearance in the sky at the time of the deluge. It may be true that the reason these signs appeared in that fashion in the sky at the time of the deluge was meant to remind man of Divine supervision of his fate by his recalling the names of the horoscopes. Our sages in Pessikta Rabbati 2,9 as well as in Tanchuma have explained this in the manner we have outlined.

You should also know that the מולד תשרי i.e. the precise time when the moon began a new orbit to signal the beginning of the month of Tishrey at the time when G'd created Adam, was the night of Monday the fifth hour, 204 parts into that hour. By counting backwards from that time, our sages arrived at the conclusion that G'd began creating the universe on the 25th day of Ellul, assuming that the stars had already become manifest. How did our sages know all this? They knew this from the מולד of the month Nissan following. [According to our astronomical experts, each lunar orbit occurs at a predetermined distance from the previous "month," i.e. 29 days and 12 hours plus 793 parts of an hour.] Considering the fact however, that the planets had not been placed (hung) in orbit until the fourth day of creation we know for certain that this could not have occurred on Monday as we said, i.e. the day on which Adam was created. Nonetheless this was the true date according to the scientists.

As to the fact that in our prayers on New Year's day we recite:זה היום תחלת מעשיך "this is the day when You (G'd) commenced Your work of creating the universe," how do we account for that statement? We may accept such a statement regardless of whether the creation of the universe commenced when the moon was in the position of on the eve of Monday or on Friday the 10th hour plus some parts of the hour, provided we count Adam as having been created on the 6th day after 12 hours of night and two hours of daylight had elapsed. This would have been the hour when G'd brought Man before Him to be judged for the first time. [the purpose of ראש השנה. Ed.] The meaning of the words "this is the first day of Your works," then is: "this is the first day Your creatures (man) had to face Judgment." If we interpret our liturgy in that fashion we do not have to refer to fictitious times, i.e. imaginary days and hours prior to the functioning of the planetary system in orbit. The fact that the Torah does not mention G'd as having completed anything, i.e. ויעש on the first day but only refers to G'd as having "created, ברא, on that day makes it clear that the sages who composed this prayer are not at odds with the view of scientists. Had they referred to G'd's "creating" the universe on that day, they would have had to refer to ברואיך, "Your creatures," instead of מעשיך, "Your completed handiwork."

Let us now turn to the mystical aspects of Torah, קבלה, revealed in our verses thus far. The words בראשית ברא אלוקים את השמים ואת הארץ contain within them an allusion to the ten sefirot, "emanations." The "Heaven and Earth" referred to here are the celestial counterparts of our terrestrial universe. These are not part of the planetary system. They are referred to in Psalms 68,34 as שמי קדם וארץ החיים, "the ancient heavens." The term ארץ החיים, refers to what is known in Psalms 142,6 , "the land of (eternal) life." The word בראשית, on the other hand, is an allusion to the true wisdom, similar to what the Psalmist describes asיראת ה' ראשית חכמה, "the beginning of true wisdom is reverence for the Lord." The letter ב in בראשית refers to the "second" of the emanations, i.e. חכמה, counting from אין, the highest emanation downwards. You will observe therefore that both the word ראשית and its first letter ב, are testimony to the Supreme wisdom which was at work when the universe was created. Seeing that everything is derived from this wisdom, the letter is written in larger script to alert the reader to this thought. Although this is the second letter in the alphabet it is the first one when it comes to what we can comprehend. [seeing that it is beyond us to comprehend the essence of the One represented by the letter א Ed.] The meaning of the phrase then is: "the wisdom with which the universe was created is known as אין." Anything preceding that act of creation is out of bounds for us to investigate. This is why the emanation above that of חכמה is known as אין, nothing. [In our days this emanation is known as כתר. Ed.]. The reason that the tenth emanation was named אין is based on Psalms 111,10 ,והחכמה מאין תמצא "How could you find the (type) of wisdom which is beyond (physical) existence?" The line in Psalms would have to be understood as an announcement rather than as a question when accepting this interpretation. At any rate, even this ultimate aspect of wisdom is somehow alluded to in the shape of the protruding bottom of the letter ב. This is what the Kabbalists had in mind when they said: "if they ask the letter ב 'who has created you?' it will point its protrusion in the direction of where the letter א should have preceded it (Bereshit Rabbah 1,14)." This letter is the true כתר, "the crown of the universe."

The author describes “wisdom” as “Sefer,” seeing that the generations pass from this earth and their wisdom disappears with them except for what has been committed to paper, i.e. a book, a “Sefer.” “Sefor” is the בינה “insight,” employed by man when he counts. This we also know from Chronicles II 2,16: ויספר שלמה כל .האנשים הגירים אשר בארץ ישראל אחרי הספר אשר ספרם דוד אביו. ”Solomon counted all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, besides the census taken by his father David. The word “Sippur” refers to all the other countings and numbers that man can achieve and talk about. You should be aware that the word “Sefer” represents the letter י of the three letters י-ה-ו, whereas the word “Sefor” represents the letter ה in that sequence; finally, the word “Sippur” represents the letterו in that sequence. This is what is meant by תפארת which is the sixth of the emanations. You are also aware that the mumerical value of the wordספר is 340. In view of this, the three times we encounter the word ספר are three different names for שכל , intelligence. Although “intelligence” is multifaceted, and of different strengths, these three aspects of intelligence are the major ones,. Similarly, the above-mentioned three letters of the Holy Name of G’d are the principal ones. They are all derived from the same root, the One who has stamped the world with His imprint, the כתר, crown, which is also known as אין סוף “The Infinite One.” You need to appreciate that the words in Exodus 15,25 שם שם לו חק ומשפט ,“there He gave them statutes and social laws,” is an allusion to this wisdom . (According to a Kabbalistic text called Ginat Egoz, the fact that the letters of the word שם appears three times in the above-mentioned verse may be the reason for this comment in the ספר היצירה).

אלוקים In this instance this is a reference to “teshuvah” another expression for this particular form of intelligence represented by the emanation בינה. This intelligence was involved in creating the physical universe. This is what we have in mind in our prayers on New Year’s Day when we refer to that day as being the first of G’d’s works. This was the attribute of G’d Avraham addressed when he is reported as praying to אלוקים in Genesis 20,17, ויתפלל אברהם אל האלוקים . The Torah means that he addressed himself to the last letter ה in the word האלוקים . We find that David also addressed that level of intelligence represented by the name אלוקים when he said in Psalms 66,17 אני אל אלוקים אקרא. [This name is identified with the last letter ה in the Ineffable, four-lettered name of G’d. The author discussed the meaning of the first three letters in that name on the previous page. Ed.] Concerning the level of intelligence referred to as “teshuvah,” it has been said in Proverbs 2,3 that אם לבינה תקרא, “you should call upon this level of intelligence, i.e. address your prayer to that emanation.” [These concepts are explained in Tossephta HaZohar on Bereshit page 34, as well as in the commentary called Levush by Rabbi Mordechay Jaffe on Genesis 2,1.] The reason why “teshuvah” is called בינה is because it belongs to the “upper” five emanations. Both the words אקרא as well as the word תקרא are references to prayer. Onkelos translates the words ויקרא שם אברהם, ”Avraham called there,” as וצלי, “he prayed.” As to the words את, ואת, which appear as a kind of preface to the words השמים והארץ, respectively, they are meant to allude to the emanations גדולה and גבורהrespectively, which were also active in the creation of the universe. The word השמים describes the emanation תפארת which is equivalent to עדן the most refined region in the physical universe. The two pillars (another simile for some of the emanations) נצח והוד are included in the term השמים. We have to arrive at this conclusion seeing they are not reported anywhere as having been created separately. Also the emanation known as הצדיק [known in more recent kabbalistic writings as the emanation יסוד, Ed.] is included in the term השמים. It is the emanation which is responsible for the continued existence of the universe. On the other hand, one may say that the addition of the letter ו to the word את was intended to include the three last-mentioned emanations. The word והארץ, is an allusion to the garden in “Eden.” This “garden” was derived from the region we described as עדן. When the Torah wrote והארץ היתה, “and the earth had been, etc.” this is intended to convey that what follows had been a previous existence which was now being transformed into a superior existence. The word ארץ is a description of earth after it had undergone this transformation. The reason the Torah mentioned the previous state of the earth, i.e. היתה, was to tell us whence everything material in our universe originated, i.e. the level of the emanation we had described as חכמה the emanation “wisdom” which preceded every creative process. The word tohu is a reference to the emanation בינה which is like a green line which surrounds the entire universe, whereas the word bohu alludes to something which begins to emerge, i.e. the emanation known as גדולה. The word חשך, on the other hand, refers to the emanation גבורה. Furthermore, the verse contains an allusion to the eventual age of the earth before it will be destroyed. [Some Kabbalists equate this “green line” with what our author had previously referred to as “teshuvah.” Compare Recanati who attributes this to our author here. Rabbi Chavell] This concept is explained in greater detail in Rosh Hashana 31 where the sages maintain that the universe has a lifetime of six thousand years. The intelligent reader will understand. The reason why the Torah immediately mentioned the chaotic state of the universe prior to the creation of light is to remind us that there had already been a previous universe which had been destroyed. You will also find an allusion to the name of G’d consisting of forty two letters in the very first word of the Torah. The letter א occurs six times in the very first verse of the Torah. They are an allusion to the six times 1000 years the earth is destined to endure. (The letter א stands also for the number 1000). The word והארץ at the beginning of the second verse is an allusion to the seventh milenium.

The reason that in connection with the heaven, השמים, the Torah did not see fit to allude to anything which had preceded it, is simply that once you know what had occurred prior to creation of the earth as we know it, you can form your own conclusions as to what preceded the heaven. This is also the reason the Torah did not allude to the purpose of the planetary system prior to the time it was placed in the skies on the fourth day. According to kabbalah, however, the reason the Torah refrains from such allusions is that seeing the material from which heaven was made is the most pure, the most refined, it never had to undergo a metamorphosis even while previous “earths,” its forerunners, had to undergo such transformations. How would anyone be able to form the slightest notion of what had been heaven previously seeing that our sages (Berachot 34) interpreted Isaiah 64,4 עין לא ראתה אלוקים זולתך, “no eye except the one of G’d Himself had ever seen it,” to mean that the material of heaven was so refined that it was invisible to the human eye. What point would there be in relating to what it had been like prior to the creation of our earth at this stage? To sum up: the Torah made it its task to elaborate on what is known as הנגלות, matters which G’d has seen fit to reveal, whereas it is silent on matters G’d considers as הנסתרות, the hidden aspects of the universe. Remember that theהשמים והארץ which form the subject of the first verse are a reference to the two emanations תפארת and מלכות; they are identical with what is described in chapter 2,8 as גן and עדן respectively. This is the deeper meaning of Pessachim 54 that both Gan as well as Eden were created prior to the creation of the universe. If even the “garden” had come into existence prior to the universe, how much more so must עדן have ben created prior to the universe! After all, the Torah testifies that the “garden” been planted in Eden. Compare Genesis 2,8: “G’d planted a garden in Eden of old [i.e. prior to the creation of the universe].”

You should also know that we have a tradition which suggests that the 42-lettered name of G’d is alluded to by the fact that there are 42 letters in the first verse of the Torah between the first letter ב and the letter ב in the word in the word בהו in verse 2. The 42- lettered name of G’d is part of the attribute of Justice something which has been derived by the application of many “צירופים, “permutations” of the letters in G’d’s Holy Name. When you examine the matter closely you will find in the arrangement of the letters of the Torah in this opening paragraph a reference to the number בהר'ד i.e. the precise time of the creation of the luminaries which I discussed on page 12. Each one of those four letters appears at exactly the same distance from each other just as does the letter ב. The intelligent reader will understand what I refer to. One does not need to be especially brilliant to realise that such relationships of a string of letters on repeated occasions cannot be accidental, but are intended to alert the careful reader to a profound message. The message is that the creation of the universe reported in our paragraph had not been the first of its kind, but that there had been other universes prior to the one we live in. This is alluded to in Psalms 90,2 where the psalmist speaks about periods בטרם הרים יולדו, “before the mountains had been “born.” At such a time the attribute of Justice operated in the absence of any “tool” and proceeded to create such a “tool”, i.e. the universe. [In Kabbalistic writings the word הרים “mountains” refers to the three patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, who respectively reflect the virtues of חסד, גבורה, תפארת also known as part of the ten emanations, based on a book called אזרח בישראל. The word כלי may be understood as an acrostic of כהן, לוי, ישראל] The message would be that the attribute of Justice found it counterproductive to be active in a world which lacked these three kinds of people. Ed.

ויאמר אלוקים “G’d said, etc.” The word אמירה in this instance is a description of “will.” We find it used in this sense in Samuel I 20,4 where Yonathan uses it to indicate that whatever David desires of him he would do. Alternately, the meaning of the word is “decreed,” as we find it in Job 22,28, ותגזר אומר ויקם לך “You will decree and it will be fulfilled.” [The reason for this unusual interpretation of the word ויאמר is that there was no one for G’d to say to what He is reported as having said. Ed.].

יהי אור, ויהי אור .”let there be light; there was light.” As far as the plain meaning is concerned, the Torah speaks of two kinds of light. One kind is the kind we use in our material world, the light provided by the sun and the moon. The other category is the light preserved for the use of the righteous in a future world. This former, i.e. the light we use daily, has been “distilled,” or “set aside,” from the other light which has been stored up for the future. This is what our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 17,7 derive from our verse when they said: “the light of the higher regions has been distilled from the planet sun.” Both of these lights are alluded to in a single verse in Psalms 31,20 מה רוב טובך אשר צפנת ליריאיך “how great is Your goodness that You have in store for those who revere You.” [The reason for this whole explanation is that the Torah repeated the word אור instead of merely writing “it was so.”] The verse in Psalms continues פעלת לחוסים בך נגד בני אדם You have created in the full view of those who take refuge in You.” The repetition indicates that there is a hidden light as well as a light which has been revealed. Do not query that the whole idea is strange seeing that the luminaries had not been created until the fourth day. The fact is that when the Torah mentions the sun and moon for the first time on the fourth day it does not describe when they were created, only when they were assigned to function, to give light for the earth; the wording is להאיר על הארץ, “to shine on earth.” On the first day the light did not penetrate earthward further that the firmament רקיע .

Looking at our verse from an homiletical point of view: the words “let there be light, there was light,” come to tell us that when human beings want light they must derive it from an existing source or form of light. How is it possible for man to create light out of darkness? G’d, on the other hand, produced light out of a universe wrapped in darkness. This is what Job recognised when he said (Job 12,22) מגלה עמוקות מני חשך ויוצא לאור צלמות, “He draws mysteries out of the darkness and brings obscurities to light.” Daniel phrased it similarly when he said (Daniel 2,22) הוא גלא עמיקתא ומסתרתא ידע מה בחשוכא ונהורא עמיה שרא. The word עמיקתא refers to what is known as מעשה מרכבה,”esoterics,” whereas the word מסתרתא refers to the creation of heaven and earth. The words ידע מה בחשוכא refer to the “darkness on the face of the deep,” whereas the words ונהורא עמיה שרא refer to G’d giving the directive “let there be light.” After it has become clear that G’d made light emerge out of darkness, we learn that night is part of the day, and that it is perfectly in order to refer to night as “day” as indeed we do on every festival when in our prayers we refer to יום חג המצות הזה, “this day the festival of unleavened bread,” even though the prayer in question is recited in the evening after dark. The same applies to the evening prayers of all the other festivals. On the other hand, “day” is never referred to as a part of night. Rabbi Simon in Bereshit Rabbah 3,5 draws our attention to the fact that the word אור appears five times in our short paragraph. This is an allusion to the five Books of Moses. The words יהי אור refer to the first Book of Moses seeing that we read in that Book about the creation of light. The wordsויהי אור refer to the Book of Exodus where G’d provided light for the Jewish people when He orchestrated the Exodus and they emerged from spiritual darkness as well as from physical darkness. We read in Exodus 10,23, ולכל ישראל היה אור במושבותם, “and all the Israelites enjoyed light in their respective dwellings.” The words וירא אלוקים את האור refer to the Book of Leviticus which is full of commandments all of which provide us with spiritual light. The words ויבדל אלוקים בין האור ובין החשך, “G’d separated between the light and the darkness, are a reference to the Book of Numbers wherein we find that G’d made separations between those Israelites who had left Egypt as adults and those who had been under age and therefore were allowed to proceed to the Holy Land. The words ויקרא אלוקים לאור יום are a reference to the Book of Deuteronomy which is also full of many commandments providing us with further spiritual illumination. To sum up this particular Midrash: The first light is the creation of the universe; the second light is the redemption of the Jewish people from bondage; the third light is the light of repentance (the sacrificial rites are primarily designed to facilitate forgiveness through repentance of our sins). The fourth light is the Holy Temple and the fifth light is Torah and its commandments.

Looking at our verse from a rational or investigative point of view, the words “let there be light and there was light” represent the beginning of the new universe. This beginning is called the עולם המלאכים, the region of the angels. From this lofty region evolved (downwards) all other domains below it such as heaven and earth. In order to comprehend the loftiness of the domain of the angels it is well to quote Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanus in his Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer chapter 3. He asks the rhetorical question: “whence were the heavens created?” He anwers: “from the light provided by G’d’s garment.” He explained to you that the very existence of heaven attested to the truth of the original light. The reason The Rabbi perceives of “light “ as the garment of G’d is that “light” is what divides Him from all His creatures. It is similar to garments worn by man which serve to separate man’s appearance from his essence. The fact is that G’d operates in His world by means of His delegates, His angels. Every single angel has specific tasks assigned to him. Bearing this in mind, the meaning of Rabbi Eliezer’s statement is: “which particular angel or delegate did G’d employ when He created the שמיםreferred to in our opening verse? Answer: “He employed the angel whose function it is to serve as the light providing His garment.” The heavens which are substantive in nature were created by this power inherent in light (our so-called sky). This world of angels consists only of צורה, form without חומר, without any substance. Those “heavens” which are substantive had need of the angel “light” which was insubstantial to create them. Form causes the creation of substance not vice versa. There are forms which are devoid of substance, whereas there is no substance devoid of form.

From a kabbalistic point of view, the meaning of the words יהי אור ויהי אור is that this verse does not even describe the original creation of light at all. The existence of light had already been referred to in the verse commencing with the word בראשית. This is why the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 12 says: “Bereshit “ (the word ראשית) is also one of the ten directives with which G’d created the universe. That directive included a reference to light which at that time was still invisible, hidden. Now that the Torah reports the directive “let there be light,” this meant that the previously hidden light now became manifest. The fact that the Torah did not report that ויהי כן, “so it came to be,” is a hint that the light was not something new; the only thing new was its visibility.

You should know that this “visible” light is what is called טוב, “good.” It is this light which David referred to in Psalms 31,20 when he mentioned the “goodness G’d has in store for the righteous and added the words: ‘in full view of man.’” He referred to the kind of light which had become visible. There are numerous references to this light commented upon by Midrash Tehillim 27 on the words קל ה' ויאר לנו “G’d is powerful, He shone for us;” or ה' אורי וישעי, “G’d is my light and my help. You need to appreciate that the real beginning of the creation of the physical universe commenced with this directive of “let there be light.” This occurred on the 25th day of Ellul, the number 25 corresponding to the numerical value of the word יהי. As to the statement in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 27) that the world was created in the month of Tishrey, the reference was to the creation of Adam, the first human being. Creation of man constituted the completion of the creative process and this is what the Talmud referred to. Man is the “seal” of all of G’d’s activities up until then. The Talmud could not say that the universe was created in Ellul as it concerned itself with a finished product only.

You should also know that the period of time that Torah preceded creation of the universe until the directive of “let there be light,” has also been hinted at in the word ב-ראשית. The letter ב in that word alludes to the two thousand years Torah preceded our universe, a period called “beginning,” i.e. ראשית. We find some proof of this in the Bereshit Rabbah 3,7 which points out that the Torah did not write יהי ערב, “let there be evening,” but only ויהי ערב, “it remained evening,” i.e. there had already been a system called time, [though time was not counted in terms we are familiar with. Ed.] We must concede that the concept of time itself was a creative act and prior to that act “time” did not exist. Nonetheless we find time prior to the creation of the universe referred to specifically in several instances throughout the Bible. When the sages spoke about “two thousand years” which the Torah preceded the universe they did not refer to days or years in the manner we count days or years nowadays. The element of “time” in that context is not subject to investigation by the human intellect. Job 36,26 referred to this phenomenon when he wrote הן קל שגיא ולא נדע מספר שניו ולא חקר; “Here G’d is greater than we can know; the number of His years cannot be counted.” Another reference to this kind of time is found in Job 10,8 הן כ-ימי אנוש ימיך , “are Your days to be compared to human days?” or Psalms 102,28 ימי שנותיך לא יתמו, “the days of Your years are never ending.” During those “times,” it occurred to G’d to creative 1000 generations (of human history); however 974 of these generations were wiped out (compare Chagigah 13-14). This means that these 974 generations were “wiped out” from G’d’s original plan. They had not ever been created in the flesh. As a result of these 974 generations never having seen the light of day the Torah was given to the Jewish people after man existed for 26 generations. The reason G’d reconsidered His original plan was that He foresaw that the people in those generations would all be wicked. G’d advanced the giving of the Torah so that He would thereby advance the cycle that would otherwise have taken 1000 generations. This is the meaning of Psalms 105,8 “He is ever mindful of His covenant, the promise He gave for a thousand generations.” The words “for a thousand generations” mean: “at the end of one thousand generations.” These “lost “ generations are referred to by our sages in Chagigah 13 when they quoted Daniel 7,10 נהר דינור נגיד ונפיק מן קדמוהי אלף אלפין ישמשונה ורבו רבבן קדמוהי יקומון דינא יתיב וספרין פתיחו, “A river of fire streamed before Him; thousands upon thousands served Him; myriads upon myriads attended Him; the court sat and the books were opened.” The Talmud asks” “whence did the river originate?’ The answer given is that it was the result of the sweat of the beasts. To the question where this river Dinor ended, the answer given is “on the heads of the wicked in hades,” seeing that we have a verse in Job 22,1 אשר קמטו ולא עת נהר יוצק יסודם; “how they have shrivelled up before their time, and their foundation poured out like a river.” Rabbi Acha bar Yaakov interpreted the first half of this verse as describing G’d’s anger. Rabbi Shimon ben Chasidah understands this verse as a reference to the 974 generations which had originally been planned by G’d to come into existence prior to the universe as we know it. What did G’d do with them? He suspended them in that river. Some appear in each generation and they are the ones whose main purpose in life is to mock G’d. Thus far the discussion in Chagigah.

וירא אלוקים את האור כי טוב, “G’d saw the light that it was good, etc.” According to the plain meaning of this verse, the word וירא, “He saw,” means that G’d approved of what He saw and decreed that it should endure. In Talmudic Hebrew we find the word ראה, “he saw,” as a sign of approval such as when the Talmud says in Ketuvot 109 רואה אני את דברי אדמון, “I approve of the words of the sage called Admon.” You will find that these words are attributed to G’d on every day of the creation, i.e. He surveyed what had developed and approved of it. G’d decreed permanence for each of the phenomena or creatures which had come into existence. If G’d’s goodwill would depart from these phenomena even briefly they would turn back into nothingness. This is why He sealed the entire creative process (Genesis 1,31) with the words והנה טוב מאד “and here it was very good.” These words expressed G’d’s desire that the universe would endure. As to the additional words ואת האור in our verse instead of merely the words וירא אלוקים כי טוב, they were needed as otherwise we would have thought that the words כי טוב referred to the creation of heaven and earth instead of to the creation of light. G’d did not yet decree that heaven and earth should endure seeing they were incomplete and only on the second day did the separation of heaven and earth occur when the רקיע,”firmament” was created to divide between them. Finally, on the third day, the upper waters and the waters in the lower regions were separated. This completed the process of creating heaven and earth. At that point G’d decreed that they should endure and He said: “it was good.”

Looking at our verse from an homiletical point of view, the question is: what did G’d see now, i.e. something new, which He had not been aware of previously? Answer: He saw that this light was not fit for the wicked in this world to make use of; as a result He decided to hide it for future use by the righteous in the world to come .

A kabbalistic approach to our verse yields the following insight. The words את האורwere meant to include something that Rabbi Akiva achieved when he “descended into the “Pardes,” regions of enquiry into the mysteries of the universe. He was the only person to emerge intellectually unharmed and physically intact from such studies as we know from Shir Hashirim Rabbah 1,28 as well as Chagigah 15. It is also possible that these words were meant to convey that the souls were created simultaneously with this light. This idea is hinted at in Job 38,19: איזה הדרך ישכן אור, “which path leads to where light dwells?” And it says also (verse 21 there) “Surely You know for you were born then, and the number of your years is many.” [Nachmanides explains these verses in the manner our author understands them. Rabbi Chavell.]

ויבדל אלוקים בין האור ובין החשך G’d separated between the light and the darkness.” According to the plain meaning, the word חשך here refers to the absence of light. It is not the same as the “darkness” which we discussed earlier in connection with the words “the darkness was on the face of the deep (1,2).” We had described that particular brand of darkness as “fire.” The Torah does not mention the words כי טוב “that it was good,” in connection with the second day. On the third day however, when G’d completed what He had done with the water the Torah mentions the word טוב, “good” twice; the first time the word refers to completion of the creative directives associated with the waters, the second time to express G’d’s satisfaction with the progress achieved on that day itself. My question concerning this is: Why should the fact that the directives concerning the water on earth had not yet been completed cause the Torah omit to mention that what had been achieved was “good?” Seeing that the skies, as well as the angels had been completed on that day the Torah should have described this as “good?” G’d should have decreed that these phenomena should endure, just as He had in connection with the accomplishments on the first day! None of these achievements appear inferior to the ones which were deemed as deserving to endure as soon as they had been created! I believe that the absence of the word טוב at this juncture is potent proof for the argument that this “lower” terrestrial universe represents G’d’s main purpose in creating the universe. As long as the Jewish people perform the will of G’d, observe what is written in the Torah, our domain is the principal arena of the universe Even though G’d had completed creation of the angels already on the second day, that day was not distinguished by the description “good” being applied to it. Nothing in the celestial regions qualified for permanence until the waters in the terrestrial world had been separated from the dry land when G’d gave that directive on the third day and said: יקוו המים מתחת השמים אל מקום אחד ותראה היבשה “let the waters which are below the heaven congregate in one area so that the dry land becomes visible.” Once this directive had been carried out, the heaven, i.e. the celestial regions, qualified for permanence. At that point the Torah saw fit to describe the creation of the celestial regions as being “good.” Our sages summarise their commentary on this paragraph in Bereshit Rabbah 5,7 as follows: “seeing the work involving the waters had not yet been completed, because it had not been completed in the terrestrial regions, the Torah did not want to mention that the creation of the celestial regions was “good.” We see from here that the terrestrial part of the universe is the principal part of existence. Perhaps this is the reason that the dry land was called ארץ, seeing it was this region which completes carrying out G’d’s will and His intention when creating a physical existence, His intention when creating a physical existence, מציאות . [I believe that what is meant here is that the last two letters in the word ארץ are an abbreviation of the word רצון, pointing to G’d’s will, whereas the first letter א may allude to G’d as the אחד, the One and Only Unique One. Ed.] The author attributes his conclusions by pointing to Maleachi 3,12 who speaks about ארץ חפץ, the implication being that “earth performs the will of the Lord.” We also find in connection with the fourth day in the paragraph “let there be luminaries in the sky of the heaven,” that the Torah clearly hints that that the luminaries were created only for the sake of being useful in this terrestrial world. This is what is meant by the words (1,15) להאיר על הארץ, “to provide light on earth.” This proves that the creatures of the celestial regions, though great and mighty in stature, nonetheless have been created only for the sake of the creatures in the “lower” regions of the universe. I have further proof from the mouth of Moses himself who has said in (Deut. 10,14 ) הן לה' אלוקיך השמים ושמי השמים ”indeed the heavens as well as the heaven of the heavens belong to the Lord.” The fact that Moses mentioned the “heaven” of our lower regions, i.e. the sky first, indicates that he considered it as more important to G’d than the celestial “heaven.” All these comments by our sages are homiletical comment in Sanhedrin 93, where they phrased is as: “the righteous are greater than the ministering angels of G’d.”

Another homiletical comment is based on the sages there asking: “why was the word טוב omitted on the report of the second day? Because on this day the גהנם, ‘purgatory’ was created.” We surmise this from Isaiah 30,33 כי ערוך מאתמול תפתה , “for Tophet has long been ready for him, having been created yesterday.” This day was called אתמול, “yesterday,” as it was a day which had a “yesterday” but no ”day before yesterday.” Another reason cited by our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 4,5) for the absence of the word “good” on the second day is that מחלוקת, strife, was created on that day. This is what is meant by the words(1,6) ויהי מבדיל בין מים למים, “and it will form a divide between waters and waters.” Rabbi Tivyomi commented on this: “if even a divisiveness which served the purpose of the Lord did not deserve to be described as “good,” how much more so must divisiveness which does not serve the purpose of the Lord but is designed to frustrate His works be hateful?” From a conceptual point of view we may see that the very number “second” implies that something has become different, other than the unity implied in the word “one.” It is the source of all division and otherness. As far as the sages saying that both purgatory and strife were created on that same day, they meant to tell us that whoever is guilty of causing strife will ultimately wind up in purgatory. Seeing that both strife and purgatory were created on that day, we may view that day as one that causes damage. To implant this in our consciousness the sages (Zohar on Eykev 271) decreed that one must not commence new projects on Mondays. Not only this, but we are told in Pessachim 109 not to eat זוגות "food in "twos”, i.e. two dishes, as this is a health hazard for people. This prohibition is based on the fact that the first “Monday”, second day, was not blessed with the description “good.” It all goes back to the fact that the divisiveness introduced into the universe on that day was the first of its kind. Starting with this divisiveness, other disagreements ensued, such as earth not complying with the will of G’d. On the third day (1,11-12) when G’d directed that earth should produce עץ פרי עושה פרי “fruit bearing trees which are themselves edible,” all that earth produced were עץ עושה פרי, “fruit-bearing trees.” The trunks earth produced were not edible. On the fourth day, the day when the luminaries were hung in the sky, the two large luminaries soon turned into a larger one and a smaller one. Our sages in Chulin 60 relate that there was an argument between the moon and G’d concerning the sun’s superior status. G’d had to intervene and ask the moon to downsize. On the fifth day G’d had to “salt away” the female of the Leviathan as explained by our sages in Baba Batra 74. Acccording to the Talmud G’d castrated the male of that species while killing the female. and preserving its flesh (salting it away) for consumption by the righteous in the distant future. On the sixth day, the day the first man and woman were created, they sinned, causing further divisiveness and resulting in their banishment from גן עדן. We observe that divisions were manifest on every single one of the days following the second day when such divisiveness first appeared.

יקוו המים “let the waters be gathered together.” This directive was needed seeing that the mass which the Torah had previously called תהום was a mass of water within which particles of earth were all over the place causing this mass to be extremely murky. The element “dust” had to be raised so that earth could become a habitat fit for all kinds of land-based creatures. The two directives we observe here were the very opposite of natural law. We know hat the specific weight of dust is greater than that of water and that as a result water should have covered the earth all over. G’d decreed for water which previously was “on top” to descend and “earth or dust” which had previously been submerged to rise. This reversal of natural law is alluded to in Psalms 136,6 לרוקע הארץ על המים כי לעולם חסדו, “Who spread the earth over the waters, His steadfast love is eternal.” Providing His creatures with earth as a habitat was an everlasting act of kindness. This is the reason the Psalmist in Psalms 36,7 speaks of צדקתך כהררי קל, משפטיך תהום רבה. “Your righteousness is like high mountains, Your justice like the great deep.” The psalmist means that G’d demonstrated His righteousness when He gave the directive to the great deep that the waters should submerge themselves contrary to their nature in order to benefit both man and beast. We may further explain the words ותראה היבשה, “and let the dry land become visible,” to mean that the reason it is called יבשה as it could not produce any fruit as long as it was wet. Now that the dryness became visible the whole process of creating the waters had been completed. Now it was in order to refer to the result as “good.”

According to the Midrash the words יקוו המים mean that the waters should be measured, i.e. the word is derived from קו, “line.” We find the word having this meaning in Zecharyah 1,16, וקו ינטה על ירושלים, “and a measuring line will be applied to Jerusalem.”

Another meaning of these words views them as if G’d had said: יקוו לי המים, “let the waters congregate for Me.” The matter is best explained by means of a parable. (compare beginning of Bereshit Rabbah 5) A king once built a palace and he populated it with deaf and dumb people These people made a point of making signs by means of which they enquired after the king’s wellbeing, etc. and generally displayed appreciation of the king having provided them with a residence. The king reasoned that if these people were so appreciative of what he had done for them ,surely if he placed intelligent people in this palace they would be at least as appreciative. What happened however was that the intelligent people seized the palace for themselves instead of displaying any signs of gratitude. They claimed that the palace was theirs. Thereupon the king decreed to let the palace revert to what it had been before he had ordered it to be built. Applied to our situation in Genesis the moral of the story is that prior to the creation of man G’d was hailed by the inarticulate beings He had created. As soon as He peopled the earth with articulate and intelligent human beings they turned their back on Him so that he decreed to let the earth revert to the state it had been in prior to the creation of the universe. At the beginning of creation the waters praised and lauded G’d their Creator as we know from Psalms 93,4 מקולות מים רבים אדירים משברי ים, “more majestic than the breakers of the sea is the Lord.” According to the Midrash there the waters referred to G’d as אדיר. Already the generation of Enosh rebelled against G’d and not too long hereafter he generation of the deluge carried its rebellion against G’d to such lengths that G’d destroyed them. G’d decided to do away with that generations of living creatures whereas He allowed lowed the waters to remain undisturbed. This is the meaning of Genesis 7,12 ויהי גשם על כל הארץ.

אל מקום אחד, “to a single place.”The waters had previously extended as far far as the throne of G’d Himself. If so, how was it possible for them to be compressed into a single מקום, site? This teaches that on occasion something small in size can embrace and control something far larger and presumed more powerful (Bereshit Rabbah 5,5.)

ולמקוה המים קרא ימים. “And the gathering of waters He called ‘oceans.’” The term “oceans” does not apply to the actual waters but to the hollow of the globe within which they are situated. This is why Onkelos translates these words as ולבית כנשות מיא.,meaning the dug out part. which holds the waters in one place and prevents it from overflowing. Isaiah 11,9 which reads: “and the waters cover the sea,” proves that this is the true meaning of “oceans.” Genesis 1,22 describing the habitat of the fish also supports this view. The Trah writes: ומלא את המים בימים, “and they shall fill the waters in the oceans.” A further proof of the correctness of this interpretation is found in Kings II 16,17 ואת הים מעל הבקר הנחשת אשר תחתיה הוריד ,”and the tank he (King Achaz) lowered from the (bronze) oxen which were below it.” The fact that the word for ocean in our verse is inythe plural proves that it refers to the depressions in the globe that the waters are in, else the fact that the surface of the waters are contiguous would require that the Torah write the word ים, “ocean” in the singular. The Talmud in Baba Batra 74 states that there are seven oceans.

“Let the earth be covered with herbs.” The earth was directed to become material fit for vegetation and living creatures. However, the earth aborted part of G’d’s directive as it should have produced fruit-bearing trees with edible trunks. The Torah continues by reporting that —

ותוצא הארץ דשא "the earth produced דשא": it does not say that “G’d made every tree which bears fruit according to its category, etc.” The reason is that it was not appropriate to associate G’d’s name with the inferior categories of “life,” vegetation, something that is immobile. We find G’d’s name associated with the creative process again when the Torah reports the coming into existence of a variety of living creatures on earth on the fifth day (1,21) . The reason is that these creatures are useful tools of man in a variety of ways helping him to fulfill functions with his mind, not only with his body. Vegetable matter is of importance only for man’s physical existence, for his body. The soul does not need to grow.

If you will pay careful attention to the text you will observe that the Torah mentions five distinct categories of vegetation: 1) תדשא הארץ דשא 2) עשב מזריע זרע 3) עץ פרי (a tree whose trunk should taste the same as its fruit) 4) עושה פרי, “fruit-bearing” 5)אשר זרעו בו למינהו i.e. the fruit itself the seed of which should correspond to its respective category.

You should realise that the number 3 is peculiar in that it contains within it all the basic numerical units which are “one, two, or indivisible numbers.” The number 2 represents a pair, whereas the number 3 itself represents any number which is divisible only by itself or by the number 1. This number is ”distilled,” i.e. an emanation of the number “One.” Seeing it is part of that “One,” something which by very definition remains concealed, hence the word עולם, “something hidden, concealed,” we can understand why all the creations that came into existence up until that day had remains hidden, invisible. The light G’d created on the first day had remained hidden from the creatures (as we explained on the words יהי אור.) Also the firmament, רקיע which came into existence on the second day as well as the trees of Eden which were created on the third day were hidden from the creatures on earth (compare Bereshit Rabbah 16,4). Everything which was created up until the third day is called עולם. Anything created from the fourth day on is known as שנה,” (derivative of the word שנים=two.) The reason for this is that just as the number 3 is part of the concept “One,” so the number 4 is part of the concept שנים, “two.” After all, four is nothing except twice the number 2.

And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. During these three days, evening and morning were mentioned, but there were no lights that would obligate the evening and morning. Because the setting of the sun is the evening and its rising is the morning, however, in these three days, evening and morning were mentioned not with regard to the light, but with regard to the celestial sphere, which turns and revolves, because every part of the firmament, when it rises, is its morning, and when it sets, it is its evening. But from the fourth day and onwards, when the luminaries were created, evening and morning were mentioned with regard to the light.

...... light do we see light.” Anyone who does not deserve to continue his physical life in that world and deserves to receive his retribution in the physical world of the bodies will resume physical life at the time of the resurrection, a life which is due to the domain we call אור החיים. To teach us that this is so we have been told in Daniel 12,2 ורבים מישיני אדמת-עפר יקיצו, אלה לחיי עולם ואלה לחרפות לדראון עולם; “many who have been asleep in the dust will awaken, some to eternal life others to reproaches, to everlasting abhorrence.” Daniel speaks about “many” who will awaken; they will not all awake. Those who deserve a life in the spiritual regions will not undergo the metamorphosis of thousands of years in a grave but their souls will be transferred to eternal life immediately. Another name of this עולם החיים is נצח. This is what is meant by Psalms 16,11 תודיעני אורח חיים שובע שמחות את פניך נעימות בימינך נצח, “You will teach me the path of life. In Your presence is perfect joy; delights are ever in Your right hand.” You have learned that the hidden life of pre-universe times and the lofty regions which G’d built when He created the luminaries are the pleasures of the souls who experience the teachings of the Torah. In due course, they will again merit to enjoy these pleasures with which they had been familiar [prior to sharing life on earth inside, a body. Ed.] The former period is described as ימים, the latter as שנים. This is hinted at in our verse here (Genesis 1,14) when the Torah speaks of לימים ושנים. It is an allusion to the gradual ascent from one spiritual region to an even higher spiritual region. This whole subject becomes even clearer when the Torah described how these commandments were translated into reality. We read (1,16) ויעש אלוקים את שני המאורות הגדולים,”G’d made the two large luminaries;” this is a reference to the spiritual luminaries. When the verse continues with את המאור הגדול “the great luminary;” and when it continues further ואת המאור הקטן, “and the small luminary,” this is a reference to the physical luminaries i.e. the sun and the moon.

Looking at the plain meaning of our verses: The reason why one of the two luminaries is described as (relatively ) small is because whenever there are two phenomena both described as “great or large,” it is usual that one of the two is larger than the other. If you will examine the text of our paragraph in the Torah carefully, you will find that it explains four separate matters. 1) These luminaries are always found in the same positions which have been assigned to them initially, i.e. they are stationary and do not move. [Here too the astronomy of our author is based on outdated concepts. The luminaries are deemed captive on the periphery of the planet and are assumed to move with it automatically. The only part of this chapter which is relevant to our times is that the moon does not have light of its own and that only the sun has been assigned by G’d to emit light. I see no point in translating discarded concepts even if the author thought he could use scripture to support the theories current in his time. Ed.]

ולמשול ביום ובלילה. “and to rule by day and by night.” The sun rules by day, the moon at night. Remember that G’d not only enabled these luminaries to provide light, but He also equipped them with the ability to exercise dominion over the creatures in the “lower” regions, i.e. they can cause damage to creatures on earth or their influence may enable creatures on earth to continue to exist. The sun contributes to our continued existence by means of its power to promote growth by day, whereas the moon has similar influence on certain plants which grow at night. Moreover, the moon controls the ebb and tide of the oceans exercising influence over wells and fountains.

From a kabbalistic point of view the words למשול ביום ובלילה also are an allusion to the powers which guide these two great luminaries in turn, i.e. the signs of the zodiac. These exercise a great deal of power over the fate of mankind unless countermanded by G’d’ s personal intervention, השגחה פרטית. You will note that the two daily communal offerings presented on the altar of the Temple by the priests on a daily basis corresponded to the powers exercised by sun and moon by day and by night respectively.(compare Numbers 28,4) The Torah writes in Deut. 4,19 אשר חלק להם ה’ אלוקיך אותם לכל העמים, “which the Lord your G’d has assigned to all the (other) nations.” This is a reference to the fate of the Gentiles who are governed by forces of the planetary system (and accounts for the preoccupation of people with astrology). Instead, the Jewish people offer two daily sacrifices in order to neutralize these forces presided over by sun and moon. The Torah continues in the same passage we quoted from Deuteronomy 4,19 to contrast the factors governing the fates of the Jews by writing (verse 20) ואתכם לקח ה’ ויוצא אתכם מכור הברזל ממצרים להיות לו עם נחלה כיום הזה. “You, however, the Lord your G’d took and removed you from the iron crucible, from Egypt, in order to for you to become a people for Him, and inheritance as of this day.” This verse sums up the difference between the forces governing the fates of the Gentiles and G’d’s personal providence in supervising the fate of the Jewish people. When the Torah (Deut. 17,3) wrote the words אשר לא ציויתי “which I did not command,” this referred to the sun and the moon whom G’d did not command to exercise this control over the people’s fates. He did however, command the צבא השמים, “the host of the heaven”, i.e. the stars “the guiding forces of sun and moon” to exercise such control. I plan to write more about this in my commentary on the respective verse in Deuteronomy 17,3. This also explains to you the reason why fasting is effective in warding off negative influences on man. It is similar to an animal sacrifice and requires that one prepares for it beforehand, similar to a sacrificial animal which has to be checked out prior to its becoming offered on the altar. The act of fasting reduces the person’s blood, fat and flesh, and the time (late afternoon) when one must officially prepare to observe a fast is the one when both sun and moon exercise their control on earth jointly. This is why Shmuel said (Taanit 12) that any fast-day which the person who observes it did not so designate before nightfall on the previous day is useless. He also said that any fast-day which did not include a sunset is not called a fast-day. Conversely, the tears shed by the supplicant as part of his fast also rank as part of an animal sacrifice as the latter was usually accompanied by a libation of water. We have a long-standing tradition that the gates of tears are never locked, i.e. that even when G’d has deliberately turned aside from our entreaties because of our sins, He did not turn away from our tears (Berachot 32). Tears are a derivative of the power of water, which itself is a derivative of the emanation חסד, ”love” which is on the right (positive) side of the diagram representing the ten emanations. [The “left” side represents negative spiritual attributes. Ed.] The “right” side of G’d’s emanations is always ready to welcome repentant sinners. This is such an important principle that everyone would do well to keep it in mind.

ולהבדיל בין האור ובין החשך ,“and to separate between the light and between the darkness.” The verse mentions three distinct functions of these luminaries. 1) To give light; 2) to exercise dominion; 3) to provide separation. G’d assigned three lofty purposes to these luminaries. It is clear, of course, that behind these apparent causes of what moves the universe is the real Ruler, i.e. the Creator. It is this idea which is expressed in Isaiah 55,10 where the prophet speaks of G’d as ונתן זרע לזורע ולחם לאוכל “and provides seed for the farmer and bread for those who eat it.” Although the prophet in that verse describes the rain, it is clear that there is a more basic force behind the rain. What the verse tells us is that the rain is an instrument of G’d at work just as the sun and the moon are manifestations of G’d their Creator at work controlling His universe This idea is elaborated on in Hoseah 2, 23-24 where the prophet writes concerning the future: אענה נאום ה’ אענה את השמים והם יענו את הארץ.והארץ תענה את הדגן ואת התירוש ואת היצהר והם יענו את יזרעל, “I will respond declares the Lord, I will respond to the sky, and it shall respond to the earth, and the earth shall respond with new grain and wine and oil, and they shall respond to Jezreel.” The thrust of the whole verse it that although these various forces of nature all contribute their best to successful life on earth and they each fulfill their appointed task, they do not possess independent powers but are agents of the Creator without whose input none of this would take place. Similarly here. The Torah describes the visible functions of the luminaries; this does not mean that G’d had abrogated His power in favor of His agents. Had He done so, these luminaries would indeed be deities as, unfortunately, many idol worshipers believe. It is precisely in order to forestall such mistaken ideas that the Torah warns us in Deut. 4,19 “lest you raise your eyes heavenwards and behold the sun, the moon and the stars, the heavenly hosts and be lured into bowing down to them or serving them.” Had G’d wanted to invest these agents with independent powers the Torah would have described this by having G’d order them” האירו, משלו, הבדילו! “provide light!, exercise dominion! Establish separations!

You may recall that the sages of Israel had to write to King Talmai that the meaning of the words חלק להם אשר (compare the quote of Deut. 4,19. 4,19) does not mean that they have the powers of deities but that their function is merely to provide light (compare Megillah 9). This was a warning to the Gentiles not to be misled into paganism through the wording of the Torah. [King Talmai of Egypt third century B.C. forced 72 Jewish scholars to translate the Torah while sitting in separate cubicles each unable to consult with the other. According to tradition they miraculously rendered the Torah into Greek using exactly the same words. Ed.] The word חלק could otherwise have been understood by Talmai and other Gentiles as meaning that G’d “engaged in power-sharing” with such heavenly bodies as the sun the moon and the stars. The fact is, however, that G’d did give the Gentiles the choice to either serve Him or to serve what they perceived to be deities. This did not, however, mean that He ever agreed that these phenomena were deities or had separate, independent powers. The Jewish people were not given such a choice at all. Proof that this is so is found in Ezekiel 20,33 where the prophet had debated this issue with Jews who had felt abandoned by G’d in exile claiming their “Master” had sold them, i.e. “freed them from the obligation to serve Him.” Ezekiel threatened them saying חי אני נאום ה’ אלוקים אם לא ביד חזקה ובזרוע נטויה ובחמה שפוכה אמלוך עליכם .“As I live, says the Lord G’d, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured fury will I rule over you.”

The reason the luminaries were created (made functional) on the fourth day is because the fourth day is precisely in the middle of the seven days of the מעשה בראשית our chapter deals with. Another reason is that the sun and moon undergo four changes daily in the periods of time allocated to their respective dominance. [Both day and night are divided into four time-periods each known as a משמרת in the language of our sages. Ed.] Similarly, the month [period of lunar orbit (roughly)] is divided into four weeks. The solar year is divided into four seasons. For these and other reasons it was appropriate that the functions of sun and moon commenced on the fourth day of creation. They had to be created following the emergence of vegetation on earth which became manifest on the third day so that we would have incontrovertible proof that G’d had preceded creation and not vice versa. If, for instance, the Torah would have reported the directive: “let there be luminaries” on the third day and the directive: “let the earth produce herbs, etc.” on the fourth day, we would have concluded that not G’d but the celestial forces had been responsible for the universe as we know it. This concept was known in ancient times as קדמת העולם, “the eternal existence of the world.” People would have had reason to believe that the existence of vegetation had been due to the respective influence of sun and moon on the ability of plants to grow. Now that the Torah had reported the directive תדשא הארץ דשא as having preceded the command יהי מאורות there is no room for misunderstanding. This proves that earth had not existed from times immemorial but had come into existence as a result of a directive of its Creator. If there had not yet been any celestial bodies such as sun, moon, the stars, who could have promoted the growth of vegetation if not G’d?

Please note that in this paragraph the expression מאור, “luminary” occurs five times. This corresponds to the five kinds of light there are. 1) The light of the day. 2) the light of the sun; 3) the light of the moon; 4) the light of the stars; 5) the light of the zodiac constellations. Only the planet sun was created in order to provide light for earth (compare Bereshit Rabbah 6,1).

וירא אלוקים את האור כי טוב, “G’d saw the light that it was good.” The belief that the system of luminaries was beneficial for the creatures on earth is based on the availability of light and darkness. We read in Job 9,9 עושה עש כסיל וכימה וחדרי תימן, “the One who makes the Bear and the Orion, Pleiades and the chambers of the south wind.” The constellation Pleiades supposedly cools, whereas the constellation Orion supposedly causes warmth on earth. The constellations each fulfil opposite roles and are matched one against the other. Each of them helps the growth and ripening of a variety of plants and fruit in its own fashion. This is also what G’d had in mind in Job 38,31 when He had asked Job: “can you tie cords to Pleiades?” People on earth obtain an insight into G’d’s power by observing the operation of the forces of nature and marveling at the intelligence which created such a system. As a result of their appreciation of G’d’s intelligence and power they praise Him. This is what Isaiah 40,26 spoke of when he urged the people שאו מרום עיניכם וראו מי ברא אלה, “raise up your eyes to the heavens and behold who has created all these?” All of this is meant when our verse reports that G’d took a look at how His directive had been carried out and concluded that the results were good. Another reason G’d referred to all this as טוב, ”good,” is that He foresaw already the great miracle which would be invoked in the future when Joshua would bid the sun and the moon to stop orbiting until he had completed his pursuit of the Canaanites (Joshua 10,12). The wording there is שמש בגבעון דום וירח בעמק אילון, “stand still sun at Gibeon and moon in the valley of Ayalon.” Another reference to a similar miracle is found in Judges 5,20 where the prophetess Devorah describes the stars as having changed their orbit to help Barak fight Siserah.

ישרצו המים “let the waters swarm, etc.” After the Torah had completed its report about the final appearance of heaven, i.e. when both the material for the earthly heavens, “sky” and the material that earth consisted of had been formed and put in their respective places, G’d directed that the waters produce creatures capable of some movement. He used the expression נפש חיה, ”living creature,” meaning a נפש, essence of life, the fish in the oceans. Also the birds which were created from a combination of water and earth are mentioned here when the Torah wrote ועוף יעופף על הארץ, “and birds which will fly above the earth.” We know that the birds contained the raw material earth as the Torah described their coming into existence with the words ויצר ה’ אלוקים מן האדמה כל חית השדה ואת כל עוף השמים, “G’d formed from the soil all the living creatures of the field as well as the birds in the sky” (Genesis 2,19). This prompted our sages in Chulin 27 to state that the birds were created out of the רקק, “mud”. The meaning of that word is “a mixture of water and earth.” Seeing that there is such a thing as נפש without חיות, life, such as the essence of the plants, the Torah had to add the word חיה when it described what we call “living creatures.” נפש is what enables “living creatures to move.” Similarly, the element נפש is what enables plants to grow, i.e. to “move” without leaving their place on earth. [Our sages called the product of earth when it made vegetation sprout forth נפש הצומחת, “an essence of life capable only of growth; my translation. Ed.] We may therefore be correct in understanding the word נפש as “some force enabling growth by the one possessed of that force.” This explains why on the third day there was no mention of the word נפש, seeing that before the sun and moon made their appearance there had not been a manifestation of any plants growing.

There are a total of five different kinds of movement:

1. תנועה עולה
2. תנועה בינונית
3. תנועה תחתונה
4. תנועה משברת
5. תנועה מתפשטת The category of movement called עולה refers to the motions of birds which have a tendency to rise into the atmosphere. The second category called בינונית includes all horizontal movement be it on earth or in the waters. The third category refers to crawling, i.e. “feeling one’s way hesitantly by means of touching objects for guidance.” The fourth category is movement by bipeds, on two legs. The fifth category refers to moving on one’s belly. The reason the day on which all these creatures were introduced is called the “fifth day” is because it was the day on which G’d created five categories of motion by living creatures.

ויברא אלוקים את התנינים הגדולים, “G’d created the large sea-monsters, etc.” According to the plain meaning the Torah speaks about a category of fish. Seeing they are so extraordinarily large, the Torah attributes their creation to G’d Himself instead of to the water. This is in line with the Torah crediting G’d personally with creating Man when we read in 1,27 ויברא אלוקים את האדם בצלמו. “G’d created Man in His image.” In both instances the Torah intended to convey that G’d created these bodies ex nihilo, out of previously non-existent matter. Some Greek scientists, quoted by Nachmanides, claimed that they had personally observed such monsters having bodies 500 miles long. Also our sages in Baba Batra 73 describe the dimensions of these monsters as being gigantic. Rabbi bar bar Chana claims to have encountered them on his voyages. He goes on about unbelievable feats performed by these monsters. [The author lists some; I prefer to direct the reader to the folio in the Talmud. The reader may also be interested in my treatment of the subject in my book “the Just lives by his faith.” Ed.]

According to an homiletical approach the meaning of the words התנינים הגדולים refers to Leviathan, both the male and the female of the species (compare Baba Batra 74). The reason the Torah mentions the word גדולים, ”large ones,” is that Leviathan was extraordinarily large. His carcass was found in the great ocean which spans the globe. The word הגדולים is similar in meaning to the same word applied to the “big luminaries,” which distinguished them from the smaller stars. These luminaries are several times the size of earth. It is quite possible that the absence of the usual ויהי כן after the report of the creation of Leviathan was meant to alert us to the fact that this pair did not endure and that is what the sages meant who told us on the same folio of the Talmud that if the two had been allowed to mate they would have caused the destruction of the globe. What did G’d do? “He castrated the male of the species and killed the female, salting away its flesh for consumption by the righteous at a future time.” This is the meaning of Isaiah 27,1 הרג את התנין אשר בים. “He killed the monster which was in the sea.” This verse also testifies to the fact that there was both a male and a female Leviathan as the verse first referred to לויתן נחש ברח, and continues to speak about ועל לויתן נחש עקלתון, והרג את התנין אשר בים. When Isaiah spoke of “He killed the monster,” this indicates that the male was left bereft of his mate. This may have prompted King David to describe the function of the surviving male Leviathan being for G’d “to have fun with.” (Psalms 104,26). As to the exact wording of the text in Psalms, לויתן זה יצרת לשחק בו, I believe what David meant was for Leviathan to have fun in the ocean. After all, verse 25 spoke of the הים הגדול, “the great ocean.” G’d said to Job (Job 40,25) “can you draw out Leviathan by a fishhook?” All these verses prove that only one of the species remained alive. The reason our verse spoke about את התנינם, may have been to allude to the fish in the ocean which are to serve as food for the Leviathan.

On the other hand, my great teacher Rabbi Shlomoh (Aderet) felt that that the Midrash refers to a real meal which will be served to the righteous in the world to come. He understood the saying quoted in Vayikra Rabbah 7,3 by Rabbi Berechiah literally. [This is at variance with Maimonides who understood all such Midrashim as purely allegorical as Rabbi Chavell pointed out in his notes.] Rabbi Berechiah bases himself on the verse in Leviticus 7,24 which seemed to him extraneous and from which he derived that the righteous who had refrained from eating any diseased animals or any which had died of natural causes, i.e. טרפה ונבלה, would be compensated in the future by participating in a meal from the meat of the Leviathan. The text does not say that these righteous will feast on “Leviathan,” but “on the meat of Leviathan.” This word suggested to my Rabbi that the Talmud discussed a real meal. Naturally, what the sages had in mind with this meal was not something exclusively physical, designed to only provide satisfaction for the body; this would certainly not be germane to the domain of the world of the future. We know that spiritual forces are awakened and strengthened through the intake of physical food. The idea behind this feast therefore is that seeing it would be extremely satisfying from a gastronomic point of view, the spiritual benefits derived from it would be commensurate. It is not unlike the time when Yitzchak asked Esau to provide him with tasty venison to enable him to bestow a spiritual blessing on him (Genesis 27,4). We also encounter such a spiritually uplifting meal when Moses entertained his father-in-law Yitro in Exodus 18,12 where the eating is described as taking place לפני האלוקים, “in the presence of G’d,” i.e. it was a spiritual experience. Another example of such a meal is recorded in Samuel I where we are told that the young prophets stood and prophesied before Samuel as a result of having taken part of that meal. At any rate, it is likely that the meal G’d will serve the righteous in the future will have a similar effect on them. Some commentators believe that the food i.e. both meat and fish served at that meal, possesses special properties as the animals from which it will be prepared had been the original ones created during the six days when G’d made the universe. Our present world simply does not deserve that the people in it experience such delights. This is why the people who will be invited to participate in that meal will be the ones who have led exemplary lives in this life, denying themselves any forbidden pleasures. It is entirely possible that such pure foods had been prepared already when Adam and Chavah were still in Gan Eden prior to their sin. There may even have been an allusion to this when the Torah described the tree of knowledge as inspiring the desire to acquire additional knowledge (Genesis 3,4). Nowadays we are already familiar with a variety of drugs which are helpful in this regard. If that is so, then there can be no question that under the ideal conditions prevailing in Gan Eden some of the plants which were created during the six days of creation must have possessed such power. After all, the manna which the Israelites ate during their trek through the desert, though physical food, was designed for people of an especially high intellectual level. It was meant to enable the Israelites to comprehend abstract concepts and phenomena such as angels. The manna did not contain any superfluous ingredients which had to be excreted by the body as we know from Psalms 78,25 לחם אבירים אכל איש, “each man ate bread designed for highly intellectual persons.” Our sages in Yuma 75 explain that this means that all of the manna was absorbed by the body. Our sages have found an allusion to the food which will be provided for the righteous in the future when they said in Chagigah 12: “G’d grinds manna in the heavens for consumption by the righteous.” Perhaps the period when this meal will be served will coincide with the end of the period when man [his surviving soul? Ed.] will require physical food to sustain him. Subsequent to that meal the period which our sages have described as an era during which the righteous will “sit” with their crowns on their heads enjoying the splendour exuded by G’d’s presence will commence, so that the meal served from the remains of the Leviathan will be the very last physical meal these souls will ever imbibe. Just as the eighth day of the festival of Sukkot, שמיני עצרת, is so named as it represents the pinnacle of the previous seven days of the festival as well as its conclusion, so the meal consisting of the Leviathan may be the pinnacle of physical life on earth to be followed by life of a totally different, exclusively spiritual level.

Looking at our verse from a rational, investigative point of view [this is still a quotation from the writing of Rabbi Shlomoh Aderet on this subject], the subject of Leviathan which G’d created male and female may be an allusion to the relationship of שכל ונפש, mind and soul. The Kabbalists have explained that man, as opposed to the angels, is not obligated to act in a certain manner. Seeing that angels are intrinsically rational beings, they have שכל intelligence, but do not have a soul. As a result they have no free choice. Man who has both נפש ושכל, is different. We may perceive of שכל as the masculine part of man’s spiritual faculties, whereas נפש represents the feminine part of these faculties. Alternatively, you may view שכל as the צורה, “form,” and נפש as theחמר , “material.” The word לויתן, “Leviathan,” means “connection;” it is a combination of the two words לוית חן, (compare Proverbs 1,9 where the word חן describes that there is an element of פאר, ”magnificence” connected with Leviathan, as well as Genesis 30,34 ילוה אישי אלי, “my husband will join me”) The intellect (masculine, active) is perceived as joining the soul, (the feminine, passive). If our sages called this “monster” לויתן, this expressed the idea that it combined both masculine and feminine properties within one whole. It was an unusual species. At other times our sages speak of Leviathan as if it were two different creatures, one male one female. Seeing that both the נפש as well as the שכל aspect of man i.e. his non-tangible components, become attached to the body of man, we can now understand why man was not created similar to the disembodied angels who are dominated by their intellect. The reason is that G’d wanted that נפש and שכל be dependent upon one another at all times so that in fact these two forces operate as if they were disembodied entities. This is what the sages meant when they said that if the male and female Leviathan were tied to one another so that they are indispensable to one another they would ruin the universe. [the Hebrew word is נזקקים, a word which describes the dependence of male and female marriage partners on one another. Ed.] The reason is that the urge to reproduce the species would be absent in the world if its superior creature, man, were to be guided merely by intellectual powers. It is the נפש, the seat of desire, which motivates man to seek physical union with the female and thus to ensure the survival of the species. On the other hand, if intellect would exercise constant and ongoing dominance on נפש this would result in the נפש part of man to become so attached to the divine that just as the prophet Elijah [compare Elijah’s departure from earth in Kings II 2,11. Ed.] the נפש would “drag” its body with it to the celestial regions in order to cleave to G’d. What did G’d do in order to prevent either of these developments to occur? “He castrated the male, the power of שכל, and He “killed” the female power, i.e. נפש. Castration is a denial of the ability to procreate; “killing” is also a form of the denial of life. This is why our sages described the absence of something either as a form of castration or as a form of death. When the Midrash went on to say that G’d “salted away the meat of the female Leviathan for the righteous in the future,” the word “salted” is a simile for everything which keeps for a long time. This is why an eternal covenant between G’d and the Jewish people is described as ברית מלח עולם, “a covenant of salt for all times.” The presence of salt is insurance against loss by deterioration. On the other hand, the sages made fun of people who thought they could stash away their money thus guarding it against loss, and they advised the giving of charity as an insurance against losing one’s money. They coined the phrase (Ketuvot 66) “he who salts his money will experience that it shrinks.” The overall consideration guiding our sages in the way they depicted the Leviathan was that by depriving both male and female of the power to procreate this would lead to the depopulation of earth. By telling us that G’d salted away” the meat of the Leviathan, the sages wanted to remind us that the righteous will have a life to look forward to in the hereafter. In that world their existence would not be limited by time. bרSeeing that the origin of both נפש and שכל is in the region of water, the water created on the second day, they are also frequently described as fish, i.e. they have this in common with the fish that they both were created out of water [though out of different categories of water. Ed ] Thus far I have copied from the words of my teacher, may his light continue to shine. [Rabbi Shlomoh Aderet obviously was still alive at the time Rabbeinu Bachya wrote this part of his commentary. 1235-1310 Ed.]

Now to a kabbalistic approach to the matter of the תנינם. You are aware of a tradition that the angels were created on the fifth day [the view of Rabbi Chaninah in Bereshit Rabbah 1,4 as opposed to views that they were created on the second day. Ed.] The “great monsters” are viewed as the four camps in which the שכינה, the presence of G’d, may be found. The Talmud Taanit 31 called these 4 regions מחול [maybe an acrostic. Ed.] These regions serve the purpose of acknowledging G’d’s greatness in song and thanksgiving. This appears based on Judges 5,11 שם יתנו צדקות ה', ”there they will sing the salvations of G’d.” In describing what was created on the fifth day, the Torah mentions ועוף יעופף, which refer to the angels who fly all over. [the word ועוף in that instance is not understood as a noun, i.e. “bird,” but as part of the activity of flying. Ed.] The reason why the angels are compared to עוף יעופף is because already the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel describe them as having two sets of wings (Isaiah 6,2). The Targum of the word וכפלת, “you will double over, i.e. fold,” in Exodus 26,9 is ותעוף. You know that the Torah calls any bird which flies with two wings עוף. [as opposed to flies, butterflies etc, which have more than 2 wings to fly with. Ed.] It does not matter that the act of flying is of a physical nature or merely a description of the movement by disembodied spiritual creatures such as angels.

When the Torah describes these creatures as flying על הארץ על פני רקיע השמים "over the earth and the sky of the heaven,” the words על הארץ refer to the place upon which the angels stand, whereas the words על פני רקיע השמים are an elaboration on the meaning of the words על הארץ, i.e. in the lower regions of the universe. We find a similar use of this expression in Ezekiel 1,15 where the prophet speaks of והנה אופן אחד בארץ, “and here one wheel was on the ground.” [Rashi understands the word there as “below,” i.e. not in the celestial regions. Ed.] Yonathan ben Uziel also renders the word בארץ there in the same sense.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (compare Zohar Bereshit 46) understands the word ועוף as a reference to the archangel Michael of whom it has been said in Isaiah 6,6 ויעף אלי, “he flew to me.” The word יעופף referred to the archangel Gavriel of whom we are told in Daniel 9,21 מועף ביעף “he was lifted in flight.” The words על פני רקיע השמים refer to the angel Uriel. This is the mystical meaning of the words מרכבו ארגמןin Song of Songs 3,10. The intelligent reader will understand what I refer to. [The word ארגמן is understood as an acrostic of the names of the four angels א-וריאל, ר-פאל, ג-בריאל, מ-יכאל The alternate name for Gavriel is Naftali.]

ואת כל נפש החיה הרומשת “and every thing which has a living soul which moves.” this is a reference to the vision of Ezekiel of the four-faceted חיה, i.e. the phenomenon with the faces of a human being, a lion an ox and an angel. Ezekiel 10,15 mentions it as being a subject of his vision when he stood at the banks of the river Kevar

ואת כל עוף כנף למינהו, “and every winged bird according to its kind.” Here the Torah explained that the angels created on the fifth day were of a variety of categories, of varying degrees of holiness; some of them were the products of the element fire, others of the element water. Some were powerful enough to overpower fire, others would be destroyed by fire if they were in on a collision course.(compare Yuma 21).

ויברך אותם אלוקים ”G’d blessed them.” These creatures required this blessing seeing that the humans would engage in hunting and killing them in order to consume them. You may ask why G’d is not reported as blessing the trees and other plants which humans and animals use to feed on? Seeing that G’d Himself had stated in Leviticus 25,21 that the produce of the field was destined for consumption by the Torah-observant Israelites, why did the produce of field and orchard not qualify for a similar blessing? We need to answer that all the living creatures were created as male and female, similar to man himself. This is why G’d blessed them that they be fruitful and multiply by begetting offspring from one another. Not so with the plants which proliferated all over the earth in great abundance. They did not require such a special blessing as they were not in any danger of extinction by hostile man. As to the reason that we also do not find a duplication of the blessing G’d bestowed to the creatures of the fifth day to those created on the sixth day, this was because the blessing G’d bestowed on the fifth day included the moving creatures not created until the sixth day. All living creatures which were not able to speak are in the same category (compare Nachmanides). You should know that the continued existence of the fish is also due to the power of this blessing; in fact this is why they did not perish during the deluge. The Torah is on record that “all the creatures on dry land perished (Genesis 7,21)” Our sages in Zevachim 113 specifically mention that the fish did not perish. even though all the trees as well as all the moving living creatures perished then. Another feature of the blessing bestowed on the birds and the fish is that they are not restricted to producing offspring to certain periods of the year but can do so on a year-round basis, something that is not the case with either trees or vegetation of the ground. Even the mammals have a tendency to produce their young only at certain times during the year.

תוצא הארץ נפש חיה, “let the earth bring forth living creatures, etc. "Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 7,7 state that this is a reference to the spirit of man. [it refers to the animalistic life-essence of man] which does not share the spiritual qualities of man’s G’d given soul and therefore returns to earth upon his death. This is what Solomon had in mind in Kohelet 3,21 “and the spirit of the animal which returns to earth below.” Another meaning of this word might be that it refers to the spirit of intelligence, in which case the word ארץhere must be a reference to the word הארץ in the very first verse of the Torah, i.e. what we described as ארץ החיים.

According to a Midrash the words נפש חיה actually refer to a variety of souls, seeing that the verse continues נפש חיה למינה, בהמה ורמש וחיתו ארץ למינה. In other words not just one kind of נפש. When the Torah continues in the next verse to describe that G’d (as opposed to earth) “made the wild beasts according to its kind, the domesticated animals according to its category and the creeping things according to their respective categories,” this verse talks about the bodies of these respective species only. The meaning of this Midrash is that the word נפש חיה in verse 24 refers to the collective life-force of the animal world. When the Torah speaks in verse twenty-five about what G’d made, this is a reference to the bodies seeing that in that verse no mention is made of the words נפש חיה .

Another comment in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 7,7) sees in the word נפש חיה a reference to the demons. According to that interpretation G’d did create the spirits of these demons but did not create their bodies. The Sabbath arrived before G’d had gotten around to make the bodies of these creatures. This phenomenon was meant to teach man an important lesson. If, on the Sabbath eve, close to the onset of the Sabbath, man has a chance to complete the purchase of a desirable object, he should desist. It is not appropriate for the servant (man) to insist on completing something at a time when his Maker saw fit to to desist.

נעשה אדם, “let us make Man.” After the waters had been given the power to produce living creatures which swarmed in the ocean and, in the case of earth, it had been given the power to produce mammals, the Torah had used such expressions as ישרצו המים, or תוצא הארץ in the case of the mammals, when it comes to describing the creation of man the Torah speaks of “let us make.” According to the plain meaning of the text the subjects of the words “let us make” are G’d together with the earth which had been the subject of verse twenty four. Earth would contribute the body of Man just as it had contributed the bodies of the animals, whereas G’d would contribute the soul. We have confirmation of this in Genesis 2,7 where the Torah reports וייצר ה’ אלוקים את האדם עפר מן האדמה ויפח באפיו נשמת רוח חיים.”G’d formed man dust from the earth and He blew into his nostrils a living soul. Thereupon man became a human being.” What G’d “blew” into man’s nostrils was a soul which originated in the celestial region. The word בצלמנו in our verse describes an attribute, such as in Daniel 3,19 וצלם אנפוהי אשתני, ”and the form of his face was contorted.” Another verse in which the word צלם describes an attribute is Psalms 39,7 אך בצלם יתהלך איש, ”man walks as a mere shadow.” The word כדמותנו on the other hand, describes the image of the form seeing that things which are similar to one another are described in Hebrew as דומים זה לזה. The thrust of the verse is to inform us that man was to resemble the celestial beings as much as possible while at the same time resembling the creatures in the “lower” world. He would resemble the celestial beings by sharing some of their attributes while he would he would resemble the creatures in the “lower” world by his outer appearance, i.e. that his body would appear to be made from earth (This is what Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman wrote quoting Rabbi David Kimchi.) Other commentators see in the word נעשה, i.e. the plural “we will make,” a pluralis majestatis, a form of expression used by superior beings such as kings when they really only refer to themselves. They use this mode of expression to suggest that though they are only individuals they act on behalf of a multitude. Even a relatively unimportant individual such as Lavan arrogated to himself such importance when he said to Yaakov (Genesis 29,27) ונתנה לך גם את זאת, “and we shall give you also this one (Rachel).” We find another example of this mode of speech when Balak told Bileam (Numbers 22,7) אולי נכה בו ואגרשנו “perhaps we can defeat it (the Israelites) and I will expel them.” Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra, quoting unnamed sources, sees in the word נעשה a form of the intransitive passive form similar to what we find in Isaiah 26,18 ישועות בל-נעשה ארץ “no salvation (victories) were performed on earth.” I do not think there is a need for such contrived explanations.

The Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 8,8) approaches the matter from an homiletical point of view and has Moses ask G’d when he was told to write this text if the wording was not apt to mislead the heretics by confirming their view that there is more than one initial force at work in the universe. G’d is supposed to have told Moses: “go and write; let those who want to err, err.”

An investigative rational approach sees in these words a reflection of how G’d had delegated various powers to various angels each one of whom is in charge of different segments of the universe. In the first instance He addressed Himself to an angel who presides over the other seven domains in the universe. [we had described these as equivalent to the antiquated system of the seven fixed stars. Ed.] When G’d used the plural נעשה, He simply indicated that His instructions would be carried out in conjunction with this angel who is the super-angel, so to speak. Sanhedrin 38 phrases this concept somewhat differently when G’d is described as always consulting with His entourage, פמליה של מעלה, before undertaking any major activity. The word נעשה therefore refers to G’d’s delegates in the universe. We find in Genesis 11,7 prior to G’d dispersing mankind all over the globe and confusing their uniform language that He used the plural, i.e. הבו נרדה, “let us descend, etc.” This too was a reference to this Divine entourage. In other instances, this “entourage” is called “G’d’s court of judgment, בית דינו של הקב"ה. In the case of Sodom G’d made Avraham a “member” of this court when He revealed to him His intention to execute retribution on the people of Sodom (Genesis 18,20) although we do not find this form of the plural where G’d is quoted as speaking. A third expression our sages have used to describe this reaction by G’d prior to His making far-reaching decisions involving mankind is the word נמלך, “He consulted.” There is a verse (Daniel 4,14) בגזרת עירין פתגמא ומאמר קדישין שאלתא, “the matter is by decree of the wakeful ones and by word of the holy ones;” this is an allusion to these delegates whom G’d has appointed and without “consulting” whom He does not orchestrate major changes in the world as we know it. These delegates are nothing but vessels created by His will which He employs in order to make His works manifest. It is similar to when our body reflects the will of our soul. Anyone observing man’s activities does not relate them to a robot within man but to an intelligence and willpower resident within his body. According to Amos 3,7 כי לא יעשה ה’ דבר כי אם גלה סודו אל עבדיו הנביאים, “for G’d does not do anything the secret of which He has not first revealed to the prophets,” the prophet extends the concept of G’d taking His creatures into His confidence even further. We are entitled to extrapolate that if G’d reveals such matters to his prophets who are only flesh and blood, how much more does He do so to the angels He has appointed to supervise the smooth running of the universe? Nonetheless it is evident that G’d has no need of all these agents, otherwise how could He have created the universe in the absence of such angels? Conversely, even these powerful agents of G’d have need of Him all the time.

בצלמו, “in His image.” The term צלם refers to an intellectual achievement. When the Torah wrote the word בצלמנו this was meant to alert us to the fact that the intellectual life-force within man has been emanated from G’d’s own Holy Spirit. As a result there is a great difference between the צלם, ”the abstract image,” and the physical appearance of someone who possesses it, i.e. the תאר, the form in which it is presented. I do not agree with Rabbi David Kimchi who believed that the word צלם is equivalent to the word דמות, “outward appearance, form.” Maimonides also agreed that there is a great difference between the two. At the beginning of his “Guide for the Perplexed,” he writes: “there are many people who understood the word צלם in Hebrew to be a description of the outward appearance which one perceives. These people are in error. In fact their error is so great that it borders on heresy. It might lead them to believe that G’d is corporeal. The fact is that the word צלם and the word תאר refer to two totally different concepts. The word תאר refers to the outward shape and form which we perceive with our five senses, whereas the word צלם applies to the essential core of such a phenomenon. An example of the former is found in Samuel I 28,14 מה תארו “what does he look like?” Another example is found in Judges 8,18 כתאר בני המלך, ”just like the king’s sons.” Concerning the essential core of man’s spiritual makeup the Torah wrote that he is בצלמו , “like our own core,” meaning that the spiritual disembodied essence of man makes him similar to the disembodied phenomena in the world of the angels The Torah emphasised this when it wrote בצלם אלוקים ברא אותו ,”in G’d’s own image He created him.” We know that G’d is not physical, so the word could not refer to a physical appearance This is also the reason for Psalms 73,20 צלמם תבזה, “their image You despise.” One does not “despise” the outward appearance of a person but the inner core such an image may reflect. Clearly, the Torah wanted to tell us by using the word בצלמנו than man and G’d have something in common which is of the essence, the abstract intellectual ability of his soul. Maimonides elaborates further on this theme in his ספר מדע, fourth chapter.

There are others who claim that the word בצלמנו means “the image which has been separated from Us.” This means “the image of our celestial world, the world of angels as well as the terrestrial part of the universe, i.e. all parts of the universe.“ Man is supposedly composed of elements of all three “worlds.” This is the reason that in many philosophical books man is referred to as עולם הקטן a “microcosm.” Job already alluded to this (Job 19,26) when he said ומבשרי אחזה אלוקה, “and though still of my flesh I will behold G’d.” He meant that through different parts of his body (3) he will be able to perceive the three parts comprising the universe, i.e. the work performed by G’d when He created the universe. Man’s head which is the seat of his intellect corresponds to the “highest” part of the universe which is the domain of abstract intellectual beings. The second part of man’s body from the neck down to his loins, is man’s middle part, and the point from which two branches, i.e. his right hand and his left hand branch out. They in turn are known by seven different names, i.e. functions: האצבע, היד, הכף, הטפח, הזרת, האמה ,זרוע “the (index) finger, the hand, the palm of the hand, the “span” (handbreadth), the “span” (distance between small finger and thumb when the fist is opened), the elbow (distance from extended middle-finger to the elbow), and the upper arm. All of these correspond in some way to the “middle” universe, the world of the galaxies. This world contains 7 primary galaxies which have the seven fixed stars attached to them. This part of man also contains the heart which is the origin of his thoughts. It is comparable to a king sitting in the innermost chamber of his palace and is comparable to the fixed star “sun” which is the center of the seven fixed stars and their galaxies. It is that star which bestows its light on this “lower” world on account of which it performs all its tasks. The third part of man begins from his loins downwards. This part contains the ability to procreate, existence as a living organism (ability to excrete, etc.) and loss (of energy). This part corresponds to our “lower” world in which death, procreation, etc. are common phenomena. Our “lower” world, as opposed to the other parts of the universe is subject to constant disintegration and renewal. After having explained this you should remember that at any place in the Torah where G’d appears portrayed as if He were possessed of physical attributes such as mouth, nose, arms, eyes, ears, etc., none of these expressions must be understood at face value, i.e. literally. They are words which teach that in the “higher” worlds there are phenomena which correspond in their functions to these organs of the human body. Every time our sages say דברה תורה כלשון בני אדם, “the Torah used a syntax with which human beings are familiar,” this is what they referred to (compare Berachot 31 and many other places).

In other words: due to the fact that we humans experience certain feelings and emotions we are unable to properly understand beings which are devoid of such feelings. Therefore, in order to give us at least an inkling of what goes on in those worlds, the Torah employs words and concepts with which we are familiar. Once we have learned to appreciate that these terms employed for celestial phenomena are in fact merely similes, we will be able to strip these words of their terrestrial significance in our minds and see in them expressions used to describe attributes of the celestial world which correspond in some way to the meaning of these organs in our own world. Concerning this we are told in Proverbs 28,5 ומבקשי ה' יבינו כל, “those who seek out the Lord will understand all.” If the Torah had not employed expressions used in this terrestrial world to describe phenomena in the celestial regions but had employed terms reserved for application to abstract intellectual beings, most people would not have even had an inkling of what the Torah was speaking about, neither of the subject matter nor of the attributes of these beings. This is why the Torah employed terms which enable a least the educated people to understand what the Torah had in mind. Every individual has to understand these terms based on his own insight into matters super-terrestrial. The one thing that we all have in common is knowledge of the existence of the Creator. Seeing that this is so, all of us are under an obligation to serve Him. Even though the scholar derives some advantage of being more familiar with celestial beings than the ordinary person, as far as his knowledge of the existence of the Creator is concerned this makes him no different from everybody else. The philosophers have tried to illustrate this with the following parable: when a rich man arrives at the home of a man as a guest and he is accompanied by his beasts, the host feeds the rich man all kinds of delicacies, while at the same time feeding his animals food which is appropriate for them. In a similar way, the Torah expands our ability to perceive some super-terrestrial phenomena provided we have first prepared ourselves through the acquisition of both knowledge and the appropriate moral conduct.

A kabbalistic approach to the words נעשה אדם, ”let us make man,” sees in these words an allusion to G’d’s seven attributes. This is made clear by Bereshit Rabbah 5,3 where we are told in answer to the rhetorical question: “with whom did G’d consult? With the souls of the righteous and various phenomena representing the world already in existence The matter may be compared to a king who had a number of advisors who was not in the habit of undertaking anything of importance without consulting with his advisors. On the other hand, Rabbi Ami, in that same section of the Midrash said that G’d consulted “with His own heart;” according to him the matter is comparable to a king who had built a palace having entrusted the project to an architect but when he saw the result he was not pleased. Who was he supposed to be angry at if not at the architect? This is the meaning of the words in Genesis 6, 6 ויתעצב אל לבו, He was saddened at His heart.” Rabbi Assi, in the same paragraph, described the matter differently when he said: the matter can be compared to a king who conducted his business through a broker and was dissatisfied with the result, the broker not having realised a profit for him. Clearly, the king’s displeasure would be directed at the broker. So far the Midrash.

Our verse contains some profound and hidden meaning, which the Kabbalists who have tried to decipher hidden meanings of G’d’s message to man in the Torah have understood as the basis for the system of the ten emanations which include man seeing he has been created in a manner which corresponds to the structure of these emanations. When G’d said: בצלמנו, “in Our image,” the meaning is the “image” which was similar to that of the celestial regions and its inhabitants. The word כדמותנו, “similar to our appearance,” on the other hand, refers to the emanation called תפארת, “harmony,” which applies to the fact that man has a body. Let me now explain the entire verse. Everyone who wants to have an understanding of the uniqueness and the unification of the various components man is made of should concentrate on the following: Man’s head, which is what lends whatever dignity and distinction his body deserves is equivalent to the highest emanation called כתר, “crown,” a description borrowed from the words in Psalms 119, 160, ראש דברך אמת as well as from the same word i.e. ראשו כתם פז in Song of Songs 5,11. Man’s brain and his ability to verbalise it, חכו, corresponds to the emanation חכמה, “wisdom,” which is something internal. This is what is meant by Song of Songs 5,16 חכו ממתקים, “His palate is sweet.” The word חכמה itself also alludes to the letters of the word מוח חיך [the letter ה is subject to being exchanged for either י or ו under certain conditions, see Torat Chayim. Ed.] The word חיך, an allusion to the power of speech, corresponds to the emanationבינה , “insight.” This is the emanation which translates potential into actual forces. In other words, language translates thoughts into an intelligible and usable format. This is meant by Song of Songs 5,16 כלו מחמדים ”they are all a delight.” Just as in the world of emanations בינה translates the wisdom into some applicable form, so in man, language converts his knowledge into something communicable. We have already mentioned on several occasions that in kabbalistic terms the three words כתר, חכמה, תשובה are essentially all the same thing Similarly, when it came to the formation of man, brain-power speech (palate)-language are all part of the same organ called head. The arms of man to the right and the left respectively are patterned after the emanation חכמה which is alluded to in the ספר היצירה according to which ברית הלשון מכריע בינתים i.e. the emanation תשובה corresponds to לשון, communication by means of language. This means that you have five “upper” emanations. The emanation תפארת reinforces and lends strength to all the other emanations. Concerning this emanation תפארת Moses said in Numbers 16,22 אלוקי הרוחות לכל בשר, “Lord of the spirits of all flesh.” Man’s feet, his right thigh and his left thigh correspond to the two emanations נצח, והוד respectively.” The organ on which circumcision is performed corresponds to the emanation יסוד also known as צדיק which is known as ברית, “covenant,” and is situated in the centre (between left and right). This covenant reconciles the opposing emanations נצח והוד. This helps you to understand that the appropriate time for the righteous to sleep with their wives is on the Sabbath seeing the emanation יסוד is the seventh when you consider that the top three emanations (כתר, חכמה, בינה ) are lumped together as one. When Elisha ben Avuyah (known in the Talmud as “Acher,”) observed the essential unity of the body so that the emanation מלכות remained “cut off, separated,” he concluded that possibly there are two domains in the universe each one of which had control of one section of it. He did not consider that the “odd” emanation could be the heart. concerning which G’d had said ויתעצב אל לבו, “He consulted with His (own) heart.” Concerning this “heart,” the Kabbalists (sages of the Midrash) had quoted the parable of the king and his architect. This is also what the sages had in mind when they described the Etrog, the fruit taken on the festival of Sukkot together with the other species which however is kept separate and not bound up together with them, as symbolizing the heart. Although it is not part of the אגודה, the “bunch” it nonetheless invalidates the other three species by its absence. The commandment of “take for yourselves, etc.” cannot be fulfilled without this Etrog. The intelligent reader will understand. Once man has understood this very important insight his eyes will be illuminated and he will be able to ward off any alien philosophies which might otherwise endanger his belief in G’d and His Torah. It will be as clear to him as the sun in the sky that G’d has neither צורה or דמות. This is what Moses told the people in Deut. 4, 15 when he referred to the revelation at Mount Sinai and said לא ראיתם כל תמונה “you did not see any visual image (on that occasion).” Moses made a point of stressing this so that we would understand once and for all that when the Torah speaks of G’d in terms of physical attributes these are only allegorical remarks.

ויברך אותם אלוקים ויאמר להם אלוקים פרו ורבו “G’d blessed them. G’d said to them: ‘be fruitful and multiply.’” If what is written here were meant to be a single blessing, the Torah should have written: “G’d blessed them saying ‘be fruitful and multiply.’” He had done just that when He blessed the fish in the oceans in 1,22. Seeing that the Torah again wrote “G’d said to them,” it is clear that this referred to a separate blessing. whereas the blessing to be fruitful and to multiply was a different blessing. The only reason the Torah repeated the name of G’d was to alert us to the fact that the Torah speaks of two blessings. The first blessing was given to the body’s ability to regenerate itself so that man could live indefinitely both in body and in soul. His food and the nutrients it contained should be blessed. It should replace whatever man’s body sheds in the course of each day, reducing his vitality; as a result man would not experience the process of aging and the progressive weakness associated with that process. The doctors are all agreed that man in this universe needs to add fluids to his body in order to counteract the ongoing loss of such fluids. This loss they ascribe to two causes. 1) The air which surrounds us on all sides and the heat it contains which has a tendency to draw moisture from our bodies. 2) The internal heat of the body which also drains the fluids which man was equipped with at birth. As a consequence of these factors man’s food and drink must be balanced so as to compensate for the loss of fluids and moisture we experience on a daily basis. In our present state, the replenishment of these fluids through the intake of food and drink is not sufficient to replace all the fluids which are being lost so that as a result of this gradual loss of our vital fluids we age and eventually die. If the food and drink intake contained all the ingredients to counteract the natural diminution of our vital fluids no one would ever show signs of age or die of old age. Concerning this blessing the Torah wrote: “G’d blessed them.” He gave them a divine blessing, i.e. the use of the word אלוקים suggests that the blessing was that they should be like G’d, i.e. live forever. This is what Assaph had in mind when he wrote in Psalm 82,6 אני אמרתי אלוקים אתם, “I had said you are G’d-like.”

This is also the meaning of what a philosopher wrote in the book called ספר המגלה that this first blessing given to man was that his food, though based exclusively on produce of the earth, should be sufficient in quality to counteract natural aging. As a result of such a blessing he was inherently capable of living forever.

This is also the meaning of the words in verse 29 “here I have given to you all the herbs containing seed on earth and every tree thereon which produces seed as food to eat.” You will note that when designating what humans were to eat, the Torah underlines the importance of these plants generating seed, זורע זרע, whereas such capability of the food generating seed is not mentioned in connection with the plants designated as fodder for the animals. There the Torah merely wrote (verse 30) כל ירק עשב לאכלה, “all manner of green herbs as food.” These foodstuffs assigned to the animals did not have the power to regenerate themselves by producing seed, hence they could not do so within the animals which consumed them. This blessing was valid for man until he sinned. Once he had sinned, his whole nature underwent a change. In the future this blessing will be restored to man and this is what Isaiah 11,7 had in mind when he described the idyllic situation at that future time when both man and beast will be eating straw. Man will once again be able to derive all the nutrients necessary for his infinite life from the very vegetable matter assigned to him at creation. This may also have been alluded to already in our verse where the Torah phrased such food as serving man “in the future,” i.e., “it will become fit as food for you.” לכם יהיה לאכלה. If the Torah had in mind only the present world it need merely have written לכם הוא לאכלה, “for you it is as food, “or לכם נתתי לאכלה, “to you I have given it as food.” The fact that verse 29 begins with the past tense and concludes with the future tense is a clear hint that the Torah tries to tell us something beyond what is immediately obvious. The additional information contained in that future tense is that in due course G’d will reactivate certain functions of the human body enabling it to absorb certain potential in the food he consumes to be used by his body so that his body completely replaces any vital fluids lost through exposure to the elements. Thus far I have quoted from the author of the book ספר המגלה.

The second blessing deals with being fruitful and multiplying. The reason G’d’s name is mentioned once more in that blessing is to make clear that by reproducing man becomes a partner of G’d in the universe. This is what Chavah had in mind when she said after giving birth to Cain (4,1) קניתי איש את ה', “I and G’d together have acquired a man.” Our sages in Kidushin 30 have said: “three partners between them acquired (contributed to his existence) man. They are: G’d, man’s father and man’s mother.” The purpose of the commandment to procreate profusely is so that the birth of the body be a prelude for the acquisition of the intelligent essence of man, his נפש השכלית. It is this intelligent essence which enables him to serve his Creator. Were it not for that, man’s superiority to the animals would be nil, i.e. מותר האדם מן הבהמה אין, (Kohelet 3,19). When the prophet Ezekiel 23,37 quotes G’d as saying וגם את בניהן אשר ילדו לי, “and also their children who have been born to Me,” he meant the children whose purpose in being born was to serve G’d. The implication of the verse is that all Israelites were born for the sake of His Holy Name, in order to serve G’d. The wicked people who see in the purpose of producing children a function of merely populating the universe, to eat and to drink just like the animals, completely misunderstood what the Torah has in mind with this blessing. Already at the time man engages in impregnating his wife with his seed he must strive to concentrate on this purpose of procreation. He must desire to draw down upon himself some of the Holy Spirit, similar to when an animal was offered up as a sacrifice. This too was done in order to draw G’d’s presence down to us in our part of the universe.

These two verses between them tell how G’d provided food for both man and the animal kingdom to sustain itself on earth. He decreed concerning all other living creatures that they feed only on the part of the vegetation that does not produce seed to perpetuate itself. They were not to feed on either fruit or grain or other forms of seeds. Man was not to eat meat, i.e. creatures which had once been alive, capable of moving on earth or in the air. The reason G’d did not permit man to eat meat (at that stage) was that any creatures which are equipped with the ability to move freely contain some element of a superior life-force which makes them similar to man who has an intelligent soul. Such animals possess enough intelligence to be discriminate in the choice of which foods are beneficial for them and which are harmful to them. They also possess sufficient intelligence (instinct) to avoid danger and to try and save their lives when danger threatens. When the generation of man had become corrupt in their ways and G’d had to bring on the deluge, the animals had copied man’s corrupt ways which eventually led to their meat becoming permitted to man as food. The Torah testified to the corruption of these animals in Genesis 6,13 קץ כל בשר בא לפני כי מלאה הארץ חמס, “the end of all flesh has come before Me for the earth is filled with violence.” At that time only Noach had remained righteous and he saved the nucleus of each species with him in the ark. In return for his keeping the animals alive they became his food henceforth. Even so, G’d never permitted man to consume the life-force of the animal, its נפש. This is why even Gentiles are not permitted to eat tissue from an animal while it is alive. For the Jewish people the eating of blood is also forbidden as it is essential to the preservation of the life-force, נפש. Proof that the animals too had become corrupt is found in Genesis 6,12 כי השחית כל בשר את דרכו, “all flesh has become corrupt.” Nachmanides claims that the reason ritual slaughter is required as the only method which makes the animal’s flesh permissible to the Jews is that it ensures that we will not consume the essence of the animal, its נפש. As far as the Biblical prohibition of צער בעל החיים, “not to cause pain to living creatures” is concerned, (Shabbat 128) the sages introduced the blessing which must be recited before slaughtering an animal which expressly states אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו על השחיטה, “who has sanctified us with His commandments and given us the directive to perform the ritual of slaughtering.” [The author copied much of the latter half of this paragraph from Nachmanides’ commentary. Ed.]

וירא אלוקים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד, “and G’d saw all that He had done and it was very good. According to the plain meaning of the text, the words “very good” include everything that G’d had done during the entire six days. Although during those six days or stages He had characterized the end of each day as having produced results which were “good,” now that He saw the completed project it qualified for the description “very good.”

You must remember that every component of the universe is dependent on its continued existence on another component. Assuming that there was only a single species of living being on earth, this species could not survive unless it had earth to subsist on. On the other hand, earth itself could not endure unless the heavens were operating normally as it depends on the celestial bodies orbiting properly. So you see every single component of the universe is interdependent on other components. Not only the terrestrial parts of the universe are interdependent but even the celestial parts are dependent on the terrestrial parts. [This is part of the meaning of the word אחד in Deut. 6,4 as the author explains there at length when he discusses the mystical implication of the word. Ed.] Translated into our microcosm, the human being, this can be appreciated easily if we consider that legs cannot perform their functions and walk unless they are attached to a torso. This is one of the reasons philosophers refer to man as a microcosm. On the other hand, we also find the universe itself referred to as אדם גדול, when the writer wants to describe the universe and all that exists within it. [Rabbi Chavell substantiates this by quoting from רלב'ג (Gersonides) in his book מלחמות השם. Ed.] This is also what Isaiah 48,13 had in mind when he said קורא אני אליהם יעמדו יחדו, “when I call unto them they all arise simultaneously.” When addressing this verse, and the word יחדו specifically, our sages in Chagigah 12 say that it means “they do not lose contact with one another.” From all the above we may conclude that every component of this universe when considered on its own is merely a potential form of energy or entity. When viewed in this light it is not surprising that G’d reserved the description “very good,” until all components had been created and the entire universe was able to function as He had planned. It is interesting that when the Torah reported the birth of Moses in Exodus 2,2, his mother is reported as ותרא אותו כי טוב, “she saw him that he was good;” surely this is an unusual comment especially in view of our tradition that Moses had been born prematurely. The real meaning of the words is: “she was aware that he had the potential to be good.” When Moses had become a leader of the Jewish people and had proven himself over and over as an outstanding man, the Torah applies the adjective מאד, “very” to him when complimenting him on his modesty and humility. We are told in Numbers 12, 3 והאיש משה ענו מאד, “and the man Moses was very humble.” What his mother had seen as a potential and had described as “good,” had by now become “very good,” seeing he had translated his potential into an actual. The virtue (attribute) called טוב is the greatest virtue of all and it has been reserved for G’d Himself as He alone is the true personification of “good.” We know this from Psalms 145,9 טוב ה' לכל, “G’d is good to all.” The meaning of Psalms 136,1 הודו לה' כי טוב is: “He is good for He has done good for us.”

Looking at our verse from an homiletical point of view, Bereshit Rabbah 9,9 sees in the description והנה טוב a reference to the יצר הטוב, the urge which tells us to be good, whereas in the word מאד it sees an allusion to the evil urge יצר הרע. What the Midrash has in mind is that but for the addition of this יצר הרע, an urge to be “independent, individualistic, etc.,” man would not engage in founding a household, marrying and raising a family; as a result of such lack of enterprise and individuality the world would soon be in ruins. The sages of the Midrash explained further: the words והנה טוב מאד are an allusion to death. Death is the reason that generations of humans feel the need to procreate in order to renew themselves through their offspring. The sages went so far as to institute a benediction to be said in the house of mourners in which one refers to G’d as הטוב והמטיב, “as the One who is both good and metes out goodness.”

The Torah reminds us by using the word וירא in connection with the word עשה that G’d had created that which He presides over including the planetary constellations in their respective orbits. The verse also contains an allusion to the fact that there are a total of nine such planetary constellations as the philosophers have said (Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed 2,9). The word והנה in our verse is a reference to the tenth planet the planet called גלגל השכל. The numerical value of the letters in the word והנה is the same (66) as the numerical value of the word גלגל. This 10th planetary constellation is the one which is responsible for the motion of all the other planetary constellations. (Rabbi Chavell writes that he has found confirmation of this in the liturgical poem כתר מלכות attributed to Shlomoh ben Yehudah Ibn Gabirol born Malaga 1021 died Valencia 1058). In Chagigah 12 this planetary constellation is called ערבות i.e. the highest of the seven “heavens,” רקיעים which are enumerated there. The planetary constellation which encompasses all the others moves them and activates their orbits. This is the constellation which was called טוב in the Torah, the letter ט in that word alluding to the nine planetary constellations. This is why G’d used the words והנה טוב מאד when He reviewed the physical universe He had created. These words were a reference to the גלגל השכל which sets in motion the ninth planetary constellation which in turn causes the orbits of all the eight other constellations within it. By using the word מאד whose numerical value is 45, the Torah provides a clue to the observation made by our sages in the Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 1,1 that there is a distance of five hundred miles between one such planetary constellation and the next one. The number 45 then alludes to the nine times 500 miles the highest of these constellations is removed from earth.

יום הששי, “the sixth day.” According to the plain meaning of the text the additional letter ה which prefaces the word ששי, “sixth” here is merely in deference to the fact that on that day the crown jewel of the universe, i.e. Adam, had been created. His creation marked the completion of G’d’s work of creating the universe. He had been the objective of G’d’s entire undertaking. This is why the word הששי “the sixth day,” alerts us to the fact that finally the day had arrived. Another lesson that the use of the word הששי is meant to teach us is that the day was different from all the other days which represented the number “five,” seeing that on each day the number five played a prominent role. By using the extra letter ה i.e. “five” on this occasion the Torah drew attention to the fact that this day “presided” over the other days which represented only the number “five” each as opposed to the sixth day. Let me illustrate what I mean when I describe all the other days as featuring the number “five.” On the first day we find that the Torah speaks about five different kinds of light. On the second day the Torah mentions five different kinds of רקיע, sky or heaven. It also speaks of מים, water, five times. On the third day the Torah speaks of five different kinds of vegetation. On the fourth day the Torah mentions five different kinds of luminaries. On the fifth day the Torah speaks of five different categories of motion. in relation to the various categories of living creatures. On the sixth day we learn about the five senses which distinguish man’s body, as well as about five kinds of spiritual movements and about five types of sensory perceptions which distinguish man’s soul. We are also told about five different names applicable to the living soul (based on Bereshit Rabbah 14,11. They are called נפש, רוח, נשמה, יחידה, חיה respectively). For all these reasons the Torah sealed its report of the six days of creation with the letter ה.

You should consider further the reason why each of the phenomena which were created during the six days had to be created on their respective days and not on any other day. Also, you should appreciate why the day on which light was created was called יום אחד, and why the day on which the sky was created was called יום שני, etc. The reason is that on each of these days something unique occurred. On the first day, the day light was created, this very light was meant to remind us of the One, the Unique One, the Creator. G’d Himself, in His capacity as being unique, is associated with light as we know from Psalms 27,1 ה' אורי וישעי, “G’d is my light and my salvation.” There were actually two categories of light; one existed prior to these six days, the other was something that became manifest for the first time on the first day. The day on which the sky was created was called יום שני because it alluded to the presence of a “twosome,” whereas previously there had not been any divisions. As of the time the sky (heaven) was created there was heaven on the one side and earth on the other. The description יום שני, commonly understood as “a second day,” may be just as aptly translated as “the day when two domains were separated.” Basically, what happened on that day was that the same element “water” was divided, separated into “upper waters” and “lower waters.” In other words: “what had been one now became two.” The third day was so named because on that day it became evident that the globe had been divided into three parts. One third was meant for civilisation, one third was wasteland and the remaining third was made up of water. [the author does not think in terms of how much of the globe was allocated to each of these three categories but to the division between water, habitable land, and land unsuitable for human habitation. Ed.]. The fourth day was so called as on that day the luminaries and the stars were hung in the sky; they, especially the sun, divided the year into the four seasons, the day into four periods of six hours each, and the month into approx. four weeks. The fifth day was called “fifth,” as on it the living creatures on earth were created all of whom possessed five modes of motion. The sixth day was called “sixth” as on it man who extends into all six directions of the globe was created.

The Talmud in Shabbat 88, concentrating on the homiletical aspect of the word הששי instead of merely ששי, concentrates on a covenant entered into by G’d with His universe according to which it would continue in existence only on condition that the Jewish people would accept the Torah on the sixth day of Sivan when the appropriate year would arrive.

A kabbalistic approach sees in the letter ה in the word הששי a reference to the sixth of G’d’s seals. G’d had sealed the activity of every day with one of His seals and on the sixth day He affixed the sixth of these seals. In addition, the previous five days were still part of the month of Ellul, seeing He had commenced creating the universe on the twenty-fifth of that month. Now on the sixth day, it was the first day of the month of Tishrey, a day that represented New Year in the future. In our prayers on that day we refer to it as the first of G’d’s creations, i.e. the first day the universe operated as a complete unit. It was the day Adam was judged, and has ever since remained the annual day on which G’d sits in judgment of mankind. Another explanation for the word הששי is that it does not refer to the previous word יום at all. Rather, it is a possessive clause and means that this day “belongs” to the sixth. It is a day known as “the sixth.” The reference is to the sixth seal of G’d we have mentioned previously.