Let there be Light

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September 21 2010
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We are about to begin a new cycle of Torah reading.  Given that we are speaking of the beginning of the Torah I would like to point out by way of introduction that the breakdown of the Torah into units of perakim/chapters is not of Jewish origin. What is important to us are the parshiyot, what you would refer to in English as the paragraphs.  The first parsha (paragraph) of the Torah deals with the first day of creation.
 
Let us first introduce the creation, where and how did it all begin.  Chazal teach us the entire creation is included in the first day of creation, whatever makes up the universe appeared at that first moment.  How many stages were there to the creation?  The Mishna in Pirke Avot writes "be-asara maamarot bara Hashem et haolam" "With ten sayings Hashem created the world".  This means that the word "vayomer" - He said - is written ten times.  There is a striking parallel between these ten sayings and the asseret (10) "hadibrot" - why here it's "amira" and at Matan Torah it is "dibra" is the subject of a lengthy discussion for another time.
 
Hashem created the world with "amirot" - through speech.  We also create through speech "chayim vemavet beyad halashon" "life and death are in the hands of the tongue".  When we are in a bad mood and let everyone know it then we are having a negative effect on our environment, we are in a sense spreading impurity - a form of death.  Words, speech, can provide life or chalila, the opposite.
 
Those of you who are counting how many "vayomers" there are will notice that the number ten is not precise - there are really only nine "vayomers" in the Torah's description of the creation.  Are Chazal just rounding off?  Absolutely not!  The Gemara actually asks the question.   The Gemara answers that Bereishit is considered one of the maamarot.  Why is this considered a maamar?  After all the word vayomer does not appear?  In fact if the world was created through Hashem's sayings, why does the Torah not begin with the word vayomer?
 
Just as an aside, we compared the ten sayings of creation with the Ten Commandments, this forms another comparison.  The opening dibra is anochi Hashem Elokecha, it is referred to as a commandments even though in actuality there is no commandment here (whether or not it is a mitzvah is the subject of a machloket in the rishonim). 
 
The other amirot appear after there was some primordial matter which had no form and the vayomer molded it - let this emerge, let that emerge.  When there is a tangible reality to speak of then it can be changed and formed.  Bereishit is the command to put everything there, something which can be spoken to. For example, Hashem now commands the light to be taken from the darkness.  The word Bereishit implies the beginning of a progression, of space, of time.
 
Creation involves many levels of separation and distinguishing - light and darkness, water and dry land.  The first of these separations as we just mentioned is light from darkness.  What is light as opposed to darkness?  We associate light with life, what is the meaning of that?  What else do we associate with light?  The Torah, as the pasuk states: "ki ner mitzvah veTorah ohr" "for a candle is a mitzvah and the Torah is light".  If life is light and the Torah is light, then the Torah is life - it is the Tree of Life - etz chayim hee.  What is light?  Light is clarity - when the sun rises and you can finally see after a night of darkness then you can now make sense of it all. 
 
Light is not a bunch of light beams, it is rather my ability to perceive.  Torah is light, Torah is my guide to this world.  The stronger the light the clearer my perception.  Rashi teaches us in Bereishit that the original light was hidden for the tzaddikim in the distant future - our ability to perceive absolute reality is limited.  Don't we see that in our lives today?  Have we not all been negatively influenced by Western and scientific doctrine that the world is purely physical and material, that there is nothing beyond what my eyes can see? 
 
What we actually see is but a small portion of reality.  Torah is however, the absolute light, the absolute reality - learn Torah and your eyes will open up and you will discover things you have never discovered before.  This each person must experience on his own - nobody can feel the light that you feel.  Many people discover a Torah insight and get all excited expecting everyone around them to share their feeling, "don't you see, how can you not get excited?"  Relax - light is felt differently by each individual - the more Torah you learn the more clearly you see.
 
On the second day of Rosh Hashana we read about Akeidat Yitzchak.  The Torah tells us that Avraham and Yitzchak were accompanied by a donkey and two young lads which Rashi explains were Yishmael and Eliezer.   On the third day "Avraham raised his eyes" and saw the place from afar.  Where is the "the place" - HaMakom?  There are many places where Hashem is referred to as HaMakom because as Chazal teach us He is the space - the world is contained within Him not the other way around.  Hashem is not just one other item in the universe, as the idol worshippers believe.  What did Avraham see?  There was no way he could have seen the site of the Beit HaMikdash for as we know Yerushalayim is full of mountains which obstruct the view.  What then did Avraham see?  Rashi writes that he spotted the cloud of the Divine Presence hovering over the mountains.  Avraham wishes to proceed but he first instructs the two young lads to remain behind with the donkey.  Why did the Torah feel the need to inform us that they remained behind with the donkey?  After all, many details are left out - we are not told, for example, what food they took for the journey?
 
Chazal tell us that Avraham turned to Yitzchak and said: "did you see what I saw, did you see that cloud hovering above?"  To which Yitzchak responded in the affirmative.  When he posed the same question to Yishmael and Eliezer they replied that they did not notice anything unusual.  Avraham then decided that they are no better than the donkey and they should therefore remain behind with the donkey.  Was the donkey blind?  Presumably not.  However, the donkey, as well as Eliezer and Yishmael, were unable to perceive the cloud of the Shchina hovering above the mountain. 
 
We find a similar happening in the incident involving Yoseph and Potiphar's wife.  The Gemara in Sotah teaches us that she spent an entire year trying to seduce him, when Yoseph was finally on the verge of succumbing he suddenly held himself back.  What happened?  He told her that he saw his father's image in the window and cannot continue.  She responded: "what are you talking about, I don't see anything in the window".  Of course she doesn't, she descends from a people who are like donkeys.  Interestingly enough, with Bilaam we find the exact opposite - the donkey was able to see what he was unable to. 
 
The donkey plays a very key role in Judaism culminating with the arrival of Moshiach on a donkey.  The Gemara in Sanhedrin teaches us that when body and soul separate when a person leaves this world, they arrive at the Beit Din Shel Maala and each blames the other one for the sins and misdeeds.  The body blames the soul claiming - look at me now I can't even move.  The soul says "what do you want from me, I have no physical abilities - I can't move at all."  The Gemara explains that Hashem speaks back to them with the following parable: two guards were placed in charge of guarding a beautiful orchard belonging to the king - one guard can see but can't walk while the other can walk but cannot see. The one with the eyesight spots delicious juicy-looking fruits and tells this to the one who can walk but cannot see.  What do they do?  The blind man places the crippled man on his shoulders and they proceed towards the tree guided by the crippled man who is able to see.
 
The king returned noticed his fruits missing, and shouted: "what happened to my fruits?"  The crippled answered, it was not me I can't even walk while the blind guard said it certainly wasn't me, and how could I possibly have seen those fruits?  The king picked up the crippled/seeing man and placed him on the shoulders of the blind man and said: "this is how you did it".  What does Hashem do?  He takes the soul reconnects it with the body and judges them together.  The neshama cannot physically see but it sees very well.
 
The donkey does not see - the word for donkey, chamor, comes from the word chomer - the physical, the material.  There is something about this animal which emphasizes the materialistic world.  The prophet Yechezkel referred to the flesh and physical desires of the Egyptians as similar to that of a donkey.  The soul is what actually sees - the donkey, Yishmael, and Eliezer were not able to see in the true sense of the word.  A human being can go through life viewing the world through his physical body but not through his soul.  He does not see, he does not perceive.  When he views life through his soul then he is able to perceive.
 
The Maharal explains the significance of the moshiach arriving on a donkey - the world has reached the stage where the soul is in total control over body.  We live in a world where we are enslaved to our bodies - the donkeys are riding over us.  We are told that Coca cola is the taste of life.  Life today is about Coca Cola and giving in to our physical urges.  Imagine, here in Israel words from loshon hakodesh are used to espouse such nonsense.  I am not saying that food is not important, in fact we save our best foods for Shabbat - but the food is a platform for an elevated Shabbat experience of divrei Torah, tikkun hamiddot, and much more. 
 
Learning Torah is what opens our eyes to what life is truly about.  Kohelet says "hachochma techaye be-aleha" - the wisdom gives life to its owner.  Wisdom must be acquired, we must become owners by developing it ourselves, being spoon-fed is not enough.  This is what life is all about.  I had the privilege of taking care of my grandfather in his old age - he could hardly move.  But you could see the light in his eyes when he would hear a nice dvar Torah.  Wisdom gave him life.  There are countless similar stories told about talmidei chachamim.  How sad it is to hear that people feel a breath of life from a bottle of Coke.  Torah brings us true life, new energies, but the wisdom of Torah must be acquired.
 
Man's passions are limited, the same passion that can turn you on to Torah can also turn you on to purely physical urges.  That passion is necessary, the Zohar writes that a man who does not have a desire for women will not have a desire for Torah. We all have a zest for life the question is how we channel it.  A person who channels it towards his physical desires, who does not see reality, will descend to the depths of depravity while one who channels it to Torah will enter the world of the profound aspects of life, he will be a person of chesed and want to live life in the highest possible form.  This in our generation is a greater challenge than ever before.


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    Learning on the Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah site is sponsored today by Judy & Mark Frankel & family l'ilui nishmos מרדכי בן הרב משה יהודה ע"ה and משה יהודה ז"ל בן מאיר אליהו ויהודית