Shabbos Parashas Bereishis - 5775

Shabbos Parashas Bereishis - 5775

Rabbi Hal Miller And G-d saw the light that it was good, and G-d separated between the light and the darkness. [Bereishis 1:4]

Our verse is packed with potential for confusion. What does it mean that G-d 'saw' something? Did He open His eyes and suddenly observe some facet that He had not expected? Did the light change from 'bad' to 'good', maybe on a timer? What does it mean that the light was 'good': would He have created it in any other way? What does

it mean that G-d 'separated'? Onkelos translates "G-d saw" as "G-d knew". meaning G-d understood that it was not proper for darkness and light to function in confusion, so He separated them and set their boundaries as day and night. Rashbam takes the verse more literally: "He looked at its appearance and it was good." He explains this that G-d "arranged for the day to be divided into 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night." Thus according to both, the 'appearance'refers to the separation.

Ibn Ezra explains "separated" as "gave different names", and "G-d saw" in the same way as "and I saw" [Koheles 2:13] which refers to a thought of the heart (not the eyes). Sforno is close to this when he says, "This describes the reason why G-d created the light, not that He 'saw' something new which He had not been aware of previously. It was because it was 'good' that G-d had created the light."

Rashi also ties 'seeing' to 'separation'. "He saw it, that it does not deserve that the wicked use it, and He set it aside for the righteous for the future. According to its simple meaning, explain it as follows: He saw it that it is good, and it is not proper for it and the darkness to be functioning in a jumble, so He assigned to this one its sphere during the day, and this one its sphere during the night."

Ramban thinks that these explanations indicate a change of heart in G-d''s thinking,

which is by definition impossible. Instead Ramban explains that bringing something

into existence is 'amirah', or 'saying', and that making its existence permanent is 'ra-ah', or 'seeing'. This explains our prayers about the daily renewal of creation. In addition, each verse "let there be" (amirah) is followed by "and G-d saw". In this

way, we would understand the 'separation' as a division from 'potential' to 'actual' in

the state of an object's existence.

Rabbi Yonasan Eybeschutz finds that good qualities are typically recognized only in contrast to their opposites. A good person is defined as opposite to an evil person. by contrasting him with the evil of the second. Therefore, the recognition of the goodness of light would only come as a result of its contrast to darkness. He notes, though, that this only applies to human beings. G-d knows the value of everything in absolute terms. "G-d saw that the light was good" even before there was darkness in the world. Nevertheless, in order that people appreciate the goodness of light, they would need to contrast it with darkness. Thus, He "distinguished between the light and the darkness."

(As explained by the Talelei Oros.) Rav Hirsch asks about the construct of our verse. "But the verse does not say G-d saw that the light was good, rather G-d saw the light that it was good." This may seem

a fine semantic point, but the Gemora in Chagigah [12a] discusses it. In the name of R'Elazar, it explains that G-d withheld the light from the wicked [Iyov 38:15]. "And for whom did He hide it? For the righteous people in the future, as it says, 'And G-d saw the light that it was good.' And 'good' refers to none other than a righteous person", from Mishlei [13:9] "The light of the righteous is gladdened."

G-d created us in His image, which by definition would have to be 'good'. He also created all else according to His will, which by definition also has to be 'good'. The fact that we humans may define something as other than good is just our own point of view. If He created it, He had a reason, and that reason was good whether we recognize it or not. He separated things to make it easier for us to understand the

limits of each object. Let us take the opportunity to understand His separations, and

through that learn His will.