Pensamiento judío sobre Génesis 1:4

Furthermore, King David praises God “Who makes the great luminaries,”¹⁸Tehillim 136:7. using the present tense. King David similarly uses the present tense in the phrases,¹⁹Ibid. 136:5. “Who makes the heavens with understanding,” and, “Who spreads out the land over the waters.”²⁰Ibid. 136:6. Without a doubt, God “renews every day, continually, the work of Creation.”²¹Tosfos Yom Tov is citing the daily Shacharis liturgy. Unquestionably, were God to withdraw His Creative energy from the created beings, they would all cease to exist immediately.²²Tosfos Yom Tov is emphasizing that Creation is not a historical event that happened at the beginning of time, but an ongoing process. This concept is explained in Shalah (Asarah Maamaros, Discourse 3 and 4) and at length in Tanya (Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah). The underlying concept is that since the world was created yesh me’ayin, i.e., existence came into being from an absolute void, its fundamental state is nothingness. Therefore, were God not to continually renew His creative energy, all of existence would return to that initial state of absolute nothingness. Accordingly, it can be said that if the sun and the moon could both be considered as great luminaries even though they are not identical, because they are “great” in comparison to other celestial bodies, then the words of praise “Who makes the great luminaries” are appropriate, the intent being that the “great luminaries” brought into being at the time of Creation are renewed each day. If, however, one postulates that the sun and the moon were identical at the time of Creation, and the moon was diminished because of its complaint, how could King David praise God as the One “Who makes the great luminaries”? At present, they are not the same as they were originally. Thus, this verse also appears to contradict the logic advanced by Gur Aryeh.

k) The passage concludes, “And God saw that it was good.” After God created light on the first day, it is written,¹¹Bereishis 1:4. “God saw the light, that it was good.” Seemingly, the same pattern should have been repeated here, i.e., the verse should have said, “God saw that the luminaries were good.”

On this basis, we can understand the rationale for the creation of the two luminaries as equal in size, although the original intent was that ultimately one luminary would be diminished. This pattern resembles God’s creation of the light at the beginning of Creation, and His subsequent concealment of it for the reason explained by our Sages.²¹Chagigah 12a. That source states that God’s original light was concealed so that the wicked would not benefit from it. Accordingly, in this verse, the focus is on the original intent, when the sun and the moon were created as equals, and the original light radiated forth. This passage relates that after creating this original light, vayavdel E-lohim, “and God made a distinction.”²²Bereishis 1:4. The words vayavdel E-lohim allude to the concealment of the light on the first day of Creation, i.e., God made a distinction concerning this light, and set it aside for the righteous in the Ultimate Future, as Rashi explains.²³See Rashi’s commentary to Bereishis 1:4. It is in this very thought that the impulse that the moon would be diminished arose. The moon would shine in “the expanse of the heaven” as explained, and the primeval light would no longer shine forth because it would be concealed.