B’REYSHES BORO ELOHIM ES HASHOMAIM V'ES HAORETS . . . . IN THE BEGINNING, GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH ....
In the first creation of heaven and earth, the earth was waste and wild, and God's Throne of Glory hovered in the air over the water.
Now why does the Torah begin with B, beys, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet? To show that just as beys has three sides that are closed and a fourth that is open, so too is the universe. God Blessed Be He closed three sides, but on the northern side, He did not make any heaven. Also, perhaps because beys, B, is the first letter of brokha (blessing). Whereas aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, is also the first letter of orur, meaning curse. That is why God began with the B.
So the aleph flew up to God Blessed Be He and said: "Start the Torah with me, for I am the first letter of the alphabet."
God answered: "I am going to give the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, and I shall begin them with aleph."
Now the Torah begins with the word B'REYSHES, IN THE BEGINNING, to teach us that the world was created for the sake of the Torah, of which it is written in Proverbs 8:22: "God created me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old."
Rabbi Isaac asks: "Why does the Torah describe how God created the world? After all, the Torah is all duties and precepts, and it should have begun with duties and precepts. But then the seven nations of Canaan would have told the Children of Israel: 'You are thieves. You are stealing our earth (erets), the land (erets) of Israel, from us.' The Children of Israel could then reply: 'God Blessed Be His Name created the earth (erets). First he gave it to you, and today he wants to give it to us.' "
Our sages have said: "God created the world for three things: For the Torah, which is called the Beginning of the Way. And for the offerings that were offered up in the Temple, which is called the First Temple, because it was created first, in the Beginning, before the world. And for the tithes, which are the first, the beginning, of the grain."
And because the Torah speaks of the Temple, it also tells us how the Temple will be destroyed. That is why it says: THE EARTH WAS WASTE AND WILD. The earth will be laid waste. For the Shekhina, the Divine Radiance, will turn from us in the Destruction. And that is why it says: AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD HOVERED OVER THE FACE OF THE WATER. This tells us that even when we are in exile, the Torah will not be turned from us. And that is why it says: AND GOD SAID: LET THERE BE LIGHT. This shows us that after the Exile, God will make Zion bright and will send us the Messiah. For it is written in Isaiah 60:1: ARISE AND SHINE UPON US FOR THY LIGHT IS COME.
GOD SAID: LET THERE BE A LIGHT AND LET THERE BE A LIGHT. He created two lights, the sun and the moon, to light the world. And He created one more light, for the righteous, when the Messiah comes. This light is very great. And because the world has not deserved such a great light, God has kept it hidden for the righteous.
Rabbi Simeon says that the word LIGHT (UR) appears five times in this opening portion of Genesis, for the five books of the Torah, because the Torah is like a light:
The first time, LET THERE BE LIGHT, is for Genesis. Because with that light, God created the world. The second time, AND THERE WAS LIGHT, for Exodus, which tells how the Children of Israel left the Egyptian Exile, from darkness to light. For with salvation, it is written (Exodus 10:23): ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL HAD LIGHT IN THEIR DWELLINGS. The third time: AND GOD SAW THE LIGHT THAT IT WAS GOOD. That is for Leviticus, where He speaks about the offerings: A man had to repent when sacrificing, and thus he saw the light. The fourth time, it says: GOD DIVIDED THE LIGHT FROM THE DARKNESS. That is for Numbers. There it is written that the Children of Israel were divided from their evil deeds. And the Temple went with them through the desert and shone upon them. The fifth time, it says: AND GOD CALLED THE LIGHT DAY. That is for Deuteronomy, which contains only laws and duties. They light up like a light.
And that shows us that there are five lights. One light is the one with which the world was created. The second light is Salvation, which is like a light. The third light is when a man repents, and he sees the light. The fourth light is the Temple. The fifth light is the Torah and the laws. And the verse LET THERE BE LIGHT teaches us that God created the world with light. For as soon as God said LET THERE BE LIGHT, the world began to be created.
Now the letters in the word YIHI (LET THERE BE) have a total numerical value of twenty-five. This shows that the world was created on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, the last month of the year. For the Talmud says that Adam the First Man was created on Rosh Hashanah (the first of the year). And that was already the sixth day of the Six Days of Creation.
Now everything else was created before Adam, so that man would not be haughty. He should remember that the beasts and cattle were created before him. Another reason why Adam was created after all creatures was so that he would find everything prepared for him.
AND GOD CALLED THE LIGHT DAY AND THE DARKNESS HE CALLED NIGHT AND IT WAS EVENING AND IT WAS MORNING THE FIRST DAY.
AND GOD SAID LET THE HEAVENS GROW STRONG. On that first day, the heavens were weak. So God shouted at them. The second day, they grew strong from God's shout.
AMID THE WATERS: The heavens (SHOMAIM) made a separation in the waters (MAIM), for above the heavens there are waters just like on the earth. And the waters are as high above the heavens as the heavens are far from the earth. And the waters above the heavens hang in the air by God's bidding.
And the lower waters warred with the higher waters and said:
"Why should we be below, on the earth. We want to be above too, over the earth." So God promised the water on the earth that there should be no offering on the altar without salt. And the salt comes from the water that is on the earth.
On all days, it is written: IT WAS GOOD. But on the second day, it is not written: IT WAS GOOD. That is because the creation of the second day was not quite done. And a thing that is not done is not good. For the creation of the water was not finished on the second day. It was only on the third day that God Blessed Be He finished creating the water. That is why on the third day, IT WAS GOOD appears twice. Once, when the waters were fully created, and a second time, because the creation of the earth was finished on the third day.
Now some sages say: Hell was created on the second day, and that is why IT WAS GOOD does not appear on the second day. And some say: War began on the second day, when the waters began warring. That is why IT WAS GOOD does not appear on the second day, for nothing good comes of war. For that is why Hell was already created on the second day. For the man who wages war will fall down to hell, which is what happened to Corah.
In the Talmud, Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah says that he was once traveling through the desert when a merchant came to him and said: "I will show you where Corah sank into the earth." He saw that the earth was cloven and smoke was pouring forth. So he took a spear, wrapped some wool around the tip, and thrust the spear into the cleft. The wool was burnt up by the fire that was in the cleft. So he put his ear to the cleft and he heard them shouting: "Moses is Truth and his Torah is Truth, and we are liars." And every thirty days, the fire in hell is turned over for them so that they may suffer more and keep shouting: "Moses is Truth and his Torah is Truth, and we are liars." Hence, all men should be warned not to wage war.
Also, some sages say that no trade should be started on a Monday, the second day, for it is not written on that day: IT WAS GOOD. And as of Monday, there was war all the time. And on the third day, we find war. God bade the earth bring forth trees, and they should have a taste like the fruits. But the earth did not do so. On the fourth day, there was also war. The moon said: "Why must the sun shine as brightly as the moon itself." It wanted to shine more brightly. So God made it smaller, along with its light. On the sixth day, Adam sinned and was driven from the Garden of Eden. So we can see that war began with the second day.
LET THE WATERS GATHER.
On the third day, God said: "Let all the waters gather in one place, and let the earth come forth." And so all the waters soon gathered in one place, and that was the Great Sea.
And God said: "Let the earth bring forth trees and let them have a taste like the fruits." But the earth did not do so. Therefore, it was cursed along with Adam.
LET THERE BE LIGHTS!
On the fourth day, God said: "Let there be lights in the heavens." For light was already created on the first day. But the lights were not hung in the heavens until the fourth day. God hung up the sun and the moon, and the constellations and the stars. And the lights were to be signs. If the sun is beaten, that is a sign for those who serve the sun that God shall send destruction to them and when the moon is beaten, that is a sign that God is angry at the Children of Israel because they are not good. For the Children of Israel count by the moon.
And the sun and the moon were signs when to pray. In the morning, the sun is a sign to put on prayer thongs and say morning prayers. And at night, when the stars come up, it is time to say evening prayers.
And the sun and the moon were given so that we may know when to have holy days. For we reckon all holy days by the moon. Also, we are to know from the sun and the moon when it is day or night and we are to know when the year comes to an end.
Rabbi Azariah says:
"The sun was not created to shine alone, for God said: ‘There will be men who see the sun as a god if only the sun shines.’ That is why God created the moon, so that they would not see the sun as a god."
And the sun and the moon were equally great with their light. But the moon said: "Why should we both shine equally? Let me shine alone." So God said to the moon: "Since you want to be haughty and want to shine alone, you have to become small."
The Bkhai writes: "For the sacrifice of the new month, the sacrifice is more for God than for all other sacrifices. This is because God created the sun and the moon equally with their light. But the moon, it has its light from the sun, for the moon itself is black, but it shines from the sun. For the moon said to God: `Lord of the Universe, have you no power to let me shine myself, without the sun? I am useful to the world, like the sun, and people will say, God forbid, that you had no power to make my own light.' Thereupon God grew angry at the moon and said: `Do you want to teach me what to do?' And he said to the moon: `Because you spoke against me, your light, even what you have from the sun, must be lessened.' And the moon said: `Because I spoke amiss, I have to lessen my light.' And God said to the moon: `I know why I created your light to come from the sun. And because you spoke amiss, my Children of Israel are to make an offering at the start of every month when the moon shows itself and renews itself.' "
And the sun was to shine in the day and the moon at night. And if the light of the moon were the same as the light of the sun, men would not know when it is day and when it is night. And they would work in the nighttime as in the daytime, and they would have no rest, and they would soon die of hard work. That was why God said: "People have to know when it is day and when it is night, so that they may rest at night from their work and doings." God also said: "They must have the night to study Torah, for people are silent at night, so they can study."
And God showed that when a man repents, God accepts his penance, as we find with the moon.
And God bade that an offering be offered up at the start of the month, when the moon renews itself. For God said: "Make an offering for what I did to the moon." And that is why it is written for the offering of the new month: "An offering to God, that is to say, for God's sake."
LET THE WATERS ABOUND.
On the fifth day, God said: "Let the waters abound, and let there be a living body, and birds that have wings, and also the great Leviathan." And the Holy Blessed Be His Name did bless the fishes more than other creatures because all people catch the fishes, for they belong to no man, they have no owners. Therefore did God bless them, so they might abound even if many of them were caught. Nor do the beasts have masters, they belong to no man, they have no owners, and people catch many of them. Yet the Holy Blessed Be He wrote no blessing for the beasts, for the serpent was also a beast. And the Holy Blessed Be He wanted to curse her. Therefore He wrote no blessing for any beast, so that the serpent would not be blest.
Now the verse says: THE BIG FISHES. For there are big fishes that are many leagues long, as the Talmud says, and Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah says: "The sea cast forth a big fish, and from tine eye they made three hundred barrels of fat. And a year later, I came back, and they were sawing huge beams from the fish's bones." Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah also says: "Once we came to the middle of the sea, when we saw a very big fish, and his back loomed out of the water, and sand was on his back. So we left the ship and built a fire on the fish's back to cook, for we thought it was a mountain. When the fire grew big and the fish felt the fire, he turned over, and if the ship had not been near, we would all have drowned."
The Bkhai writes: "Because God blest the fishes, they survived the Flood, for all things were doomed in the Flood. Only the fishes survived."
LET US MAKE MAN ....
On the sixth day, God said to the angels: "Let us create a man." God thus taught us that a man should not be proud, he should consult with other people and seek their advice when he wishes to do something. Even if they are lowlier people than he is, he should ask them. And that was why God said to the angels: "Let us create a man." In truth, however, no one helped Him, God alone created man, as it is written: AND GOD CREATED MAN. This means that God alone created man. For God said that if there is no shape on earth like the angels in heaven, then there will be envy in Creation. So God created the same on earth as the angels in heaven, with a mind and with a shape. That is man on the earth. And God said that man shall rule over the fishes in the sea and over the birds that fly under heaven and over the beasts and cattle that are on the earth.
The Bkhai writes that since the verse says AND GOD BLEST THEM AND SAID TO THEM BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY, those were two blessings for man. One blessing was that his food and drink be blest in his body, for the body grows weak every day, and with food he makes it sound again. And the humors in man grow dry for two reasons. One reason is that man has much heat, which dries his humors and moisture. The other reason is that the wind blows upon man and dries his humors. So eating and drinking make his humors moist again. That is why God gave his blessing. So that the food would spread in man's body, through all parts, and make good what he loses every day in his humors, not more and not less, so that he may remain sound.
And the other blessing, BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY, is so that man may cleave to his wife and have children to serve God and to know his Creator.
And God said that man should eat the fruits and all that on earth is sown. But the beasts and birds and cattle should eat no fruits, not even what is sown, but only grass. However, man was not allowed to eat the flesh of any creature, for the beasts and cattle also have living souls. And even though they are not quite equal to man, there is dignity in their souls. But after the Flood, the beasts and birds and cattle spoiled their ways. So after the Flood God said that man may eat flesh. For Noah was a righteous man in the days of the Flood and through his merits some of every creature survived in the Ark. That was why God said to Noah: "You may eat flesh. For the soul of a man was created only to study Torah and to grasp the strength of God and to do his laws."
The Midrash Rabbah in the Sidrah Rabbi Simeon says that when God wanted to create man, the angels gathered together. Some of them said he should not be created because he would be full of falsehood. And some said he should be created for he would be righteous and charitable. Some said he should not be created for he had no peace in him and liked to wage war. What did God do? He took Truth and hurled it down from heaven to earth. For God said: "Man is better than you all, for you each have a mind and a good spirit and you have no evil spirit. Hence you must always be pious. But man on earth has an evil spirit, who talks him into doing evil; and if he is pious, that is more of a wonder than for you angels. And since you say he is full of falsehood and will wage war and will sin, therefore will I let him die. He will be afraid of death and will be pious. And I will take back his holy soul and I will purge it in hell and it will come back to its first place under the Throne of Glory, and I will not lose it."
Therefore, Rabbi Simeon says: "God hurled Truth down from heaven because Truth in Hebrew, emet, is spelled: aleph mem tov. Aleph is the first letter of arun, meaning coffin. Mem is the first leter of mitah, meaning bier. Tov is the first letter of takhrikhim, meaning shroud. This means: Man must die and he is put into a shroud, in the coffin, in the grave, and he is carried to the grave on a bier. That is why God said man would be pious, because he has to die. He would therefore not be haughty."
And our sages have said about that: "It is a great boon." This means that death is very good for man. For the righteous man has the right life after his death. He comes under the Throne of Glory.
The verse (in Psalms) says about that: DEAR TO GOD'S EYES IS THE DEATH OF HIS PIOUS. This means that God would not even have created the pious if it were not for death. For even the pious man must sin. And through death he atones and then he comes to his rest.
Then the angels said to God: "Lord of the Universe, why do you wish to shame your ornament and your likeness and cast him upon the earth? He will be doomed. That is: Man was created in God's form and likeness, and you want to ruin his form and kill it. Keep your likeness above, in heaven." God answered: THROUGH TRUTH FROM THE EARTH. Truth means: coffin, bier, shroud. When man dies, he rises again from earth to heaven. And as the Talmud says: "Three have a share in man: father, mother, and God."?"And as soon as a man dies," says God, "you, father and mother, take your shares, and I want to take my share. That is the soul. My likeness shall come back to me."
Rabbi Honah says that the angels fought with one another. Some said man should be created and some said no. But God went and created man and said to the angels: "Why are you fighting? I have already settled the fight. There is a parable about a great lord who had much wealth and property, and much good wine. But he had no guest. So what good was his property if he could not show his wealth and honor? Likewise, there are many creatures in the world. But if man does not exist, who would know the glory and strength of God?"
THE SIXTH DAY ....
The Torah uses an extra letter, hey, the fifth letter of the alphabet, for the creation of man, because God set one condition: that the Children of Israel receive the Torah, which is made up of five books. If they study the Torah, then the world will survive. The extra hey shows us that everything was created in fives, everything on that condition. On the first day, five lights were created. On the second day, five heavens. And water is written five times on the second day. On the third day, five kinds of . plants were created from the earth. On the fourth day, there were five kinds of light: the sun and the moon, and the constellations, and the stars, and the day shines too. On the fifth day, God created all living things, and they have five ways of moving: some walk on two legs, some on four legs, and some crawl on their bellies, and some fly, and some swim. On the sixth day, God created man, and his soul has five names in Hebrew: nefesh, ruakh, neshamah, yikhrah, khai.
Now it is certain that man was created with more changes than all other living creatures. For in all other creatures there is no war, but there is war in man's body. For when he wishes to do good, the evil spirit comes and tries to stop him. And when he wishes to do evil, then the good spirit comes and tries to stop him. Thus, he has war in his body all his days.
Now why did God create him with war and not with peace? God did it for man's sake so that he would have the power to do what he wishes. However, the beasts and cattle have an evil spirit, but no good spirit. Hence, their nature is for evil: to eat well, to drink well, and to give in to all good lusts. Even the angels have no might to do as they will for they are full of understanding and goodness. So they have to be good. And because no creature in the world has the might to do what it will, God wanted to create a creature that would have might to do as it will. Man is thus equal to God. Just as God has might to do what He will, so too has man. God lets him do as he will, and before he ate of the Tree of Knowledge, he had might to do his will. But his nature was for good and not for evil. And as soon as he ate of the Tree of Knowledge, he began to do evil and good. That is why the tree is called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This means that he who eats of the tree has the intelligence to do good and evil. And so God did not say LET US CREATE IN OUR LIKENESS for any other creature. Only for man does the Torah say: LET US CREATE MAN IN OUR LIKENESS. Which means that man would have might to do as he will. Just as I have might to do what I will, and for man's sake the Torah has written for man: AND GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN LIKENESS, IN GOD'S LIKENESS DID GOD CREATE HIM. And that is why the angels wanted to sing the praises of Adam the First Man and wanted to serve him. For they heard from God that man has might to do what he will, like God.
Now what did God do? He cast a sleep upon Adam and showed the angels that they were better than Adam. For even though man has might to do as he will, then nevertheless, sleep comes over him, and he can do no evil and no good. However, the angels never sleep and they can always do as they will. That is why the angels are called "the Wakeful," for they are always awake. And that is why the beasts and cattle were created on the sixth day, and man too, so that if man were pious, then he would be better than all beasts and cattle, and if he were not pious, then he would be worse than all beasts and cattle, for he has intelligence to do good but would do evil.
AND GOD ENDED ALL HIS WORKS ON THE SEVENTH DAY.
Now the Hebrew word for ENDED also means DESIRED. This means that on the seventh day, God desired that all the things which he had created in the six days remain forever as they were.
AND GOD BLEST . . . AND SANCTIFIED. God blest the Sabbath so that man would have one more soul than during the week. And that is why when the Sabbath goes away, we speak a blessing over spices, because our Sabbath soul has gone away.
AND HE SANCTIFIED.
God sanctified the Sabbath and did no work on that day.
AND HE RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL THE WORKS HE HAD DONE AND CREATED.
That means that the six days are for the six thousand years that the world will exist. On the first day, God created light. That is for the first thousand years, when Adam lived. He was the light of the world, he recognized his Creator. On the second day, God created the heavens and made a separation between the waters. That was for the second thousand years, when Noah was separated from the evil people who lived in his times, and they were drowned in the Flood. And that too is why IT WAS GOOD was not written on the second day. For the Flood was for the second day. On the third day, the earth was seen, and all trees and fruits did grow. That is for the third thousand years, when Abraham was born, and his children received the Torah and the precepts, which are like the fruits of the world. On the fourth day, two lights were created, a great one and a small one. That was for the fourth thousand years, when there were two temples. One shone greatly upon Israel, and one less. On the fifth day, the birds and the fishes in the water were created. That was for the fifth thousand years. On the sixth day, man was created. That is for the sixth thousand years, when the Messiah will come. And just as Adam was created in God's likeness, so too was the Messiah anointed by God, and the spirit of God will be upon him. And we rest on the Sabbath because we will have our rest in the days of the Messiah. The Midrash Rabbah writes in the Sidrah: "God blest the Sabbath, so that we would honor it with good food, and thus will God make man rich."
Rabbi Khai bar Aba says: "Once I stayed with a householder in the city of Lurkia. A silver table was brought in, and it took sixteen men to carry it, and on it were all the things created on the Six Days of Creation. And a child was sitting in the middle of the table and it was shouting: THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S
AND THE FULLNESS THEREOF. And the child was shouting these words so that the master of the house would not be haughty. So I asked him: `What have you done to deserve such riches?' And he replied: `I was a butcher, and whenever I had a good head of cattle, I saved it for the Sabbath. As of Sunday, I saved everything for the Sabbath.' So I said to him: `I know very well that this is why God gives good luck and blessings. If a man honors the Sabbath and the holy days, God will make him rich in this world and He will give him a good reward in the next world:"
It is written: "Once upon a time, a prince sent his servant to buy fish on the eve of Yom Kippur. The servant came to the fisherman. Then a Jewish tailor came, and they bid for a fish and the Jew bought it for twelve ducats and took it away. And so the servant left without any fish. His master was angry at him for not bringing back any fish. The servant replied: `A Jewish tailor outbid me, he bought the fish for twelve ducats.' So the prince sent for the tailor and asked him: `Why did you outbid my servant?' The tailor replied: `How can I help buying fish and all sorts of good food? Tomorrow we have a day which God told us to sanctify, and we hope that He will forgive our sins, which we have committed all through the year. How can I help but be merry?' The prince replied: `You are right.' So the tailor went home and split open the fish and found a pearl inside, from which he was able to live for the rest of his life."
Rabbi Eleazar says about Rabbi Yossi: "God blest the Sabbath with a good fragrance because food on the Sabbath tastes better than during the week."
Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi gave a banquet for Emperor Antoninus on the Sabbath and he served him cold food, and it tasted very good. Then Rabbi Yehudah gave another banquet for the emperor during the week and served him hot food. The emperor said to the rabbi: "Give me the cold food. It tasted better." So the rabbi said: "This food needs spices." The emperor said: "I have enough spices among my treasures." To which the rabbi said: "The spices are the Sabbath. That day is blest with a good fragrance."
Tinius Rufus asked Rabbi Akibah why the Sabbath is better than the other days of the week. Rabbi Akibah replied: "Why are you greater than other men?" Tinius Rufus replied: "The king made me great and wants me to be honored." Rabbi Akibah replied: "God likewise wants the Sabbath to be honored more than other days." So Tinius Rufus said to Rabbi Akibah: "How can you prove that the Sabbath is better than other days and that God ordained it thus?" Rabbi Akibah replied: "The river Sambatyon shows this to be true. For it casts out stones all through the week. But on the Sabbath, it rests." To which Tinius Rufus said: "The man who wants to tell a lie will offer proof from far away, where no people have ever been, so that no man can refute him. That is what you have done. You offer me proof with the river Sambatyon, where no one has been. Could that be a lie?" So Rabbi Akibah said to him: "Try and use magic to bring a dead man back from the dead on the Sabbath." He tried, but the dead man would not come back on the Sabbath. During the week, however, he would come back. And Rabbi Akibah then offered further proof that the Sabbath was greater than all the other days.
Some sages say: "The Sabbath is blest because it has no friend. Sunday has a friend: Monday. Tuesday has Wednesday. And Thursday has Friday. But the Sabbath has no friend." Rabbi Samuel bar Nakhman says: "The Sabbath is blest and cannot he put off on another day, the way a holy day is put off, and Yom Kippur is sometimes put off so that it will not fall on a Friday or
Sunday. For if a man dies, the corpse will have to lie fir two clays, Friday and Saturday, or Saturday and Sunday. But the Sabbath is never put off."
So the Sabbath said to God: "Why don't I have a friend?" And God said to the Sabbath: "Israel will be your friend." And so, when the Children of Israel came to Mount Sinai, the Sabbath said for God: HONOR THE SEVENTH DAY, THE SABBATH. This means: "Remember you promised me that Israel will rest in me and will be my friend."