Musar על בראשית 1:16

When Moses refers to G–d having "arrived from Sinai" (33,2), he refers to an event which occurred on the third day of the week, i.e. the numerical value of the word בא in this verse is 3. You will now understand why the Torah commences with the letter ב as a symbol of blessing. There is an interesting Aggadah in the Otiyot d'Rabbi Akiva: They asked the letter ב who had created it, whereupon the letter pointed at the letter א with its עוקץ, the "sting" projecting from the right side of the bottom of this letter. It is a fact that when the Torah was actually given to the Jewish people, i.e. when G–d revealed Himself by means of communicating the Ten Commandments, these commandments commenced with the letter א i.e. אנכי ה' אלוקיך. This shows that the letter א is the true root of blessing. This root is אור, light, the original light which was concealed from this earth at the time Adam sinned in Paradise. We quoted the Midrash as saying that the world was created for the sake of Torah which is called ראשית; we may deduce that the letter ב preceding this word is a reference to the two Torahs, i.e. the written and the oral Torah. These two Torahs may also be meant when the Torah reported the creation of the "two great luminaries, the great luminary and the small luminary" (Genesis 1,16). The "great" luminary would be the מעשה מרכבה, the esoterics, as expressed by the written Torah which is a combination of letters of the Holy Name of G–d; the "small" luminary would refer to what the Talmud describes as the הויות של אביי ורבא, the discussions exploring the oral law which were carried on by such Talmudic giants as Abbaye and Rava. The written Torah is symbolized by the letter א, the great light which nowadays is kept hidden and which contains the secrets called "the soul of souls" (Zohar on פרשת בהעלותך). These secrets will remain hidden till such distant future when Man too will be able to wear the garments made of אור, light -as had been the case before the sin- and to benefit from this great light. Nowadays, when we are forced to make do with כתנות עור, garments made of hide, i.e. a corrupt form of "light" spelled with the letter ע, we must be content with "only" seventy facets of the written Torah, i.e. with the letter ע symbolizing the light of the written Torah. Once our world will be filled with knowledge of G–d as envisaged by Isaiah 11,9 this letter ע will be replaced by the mystical dimension of עין, "eye." At that time all the hidden secrets which no human eye has ever beheld will be revealed. Why does the "sting" of the letter ב point at the letter א? Because the oral Torah [being merely based on unwritten tradition. Ed.] is always at pains to demonstrate its validity by establishing a link with the written Torah. The relationship of the oral to the written Torah is similar to the relationship between the first woman and the first man, about which Adam said: כי מאיש לוקחה זאת, "for she has been detached from Man" (Genesis 2,23). The oral Torah is perceived of as having been derived from the written Torah. The relationship of איש to אשה is the same as the relationship of זה וזאת; hence the relationship of the written Torah to the oral Torah is as the relationship of זה to Tת. Oral Torah in fact has its origin in the written Torah. This is the reason why the Talmud keeps raising the question: מנלן, i.e. "where is the source for this teaching in the written Torah?" The word אור appears five times in the story of creation. This alludes to the five books comprising the written Torah.

We know that the sun and moon had originally been created equal in size and power (compare Genesis 1,16, את שני המאורות הגדולים, i.e. the two great lights). The Talmud, חולין 60 describes that the moon argued with G–d that two kings cannot reign simultaneously, and was told to diminish its size. Whereas the Talmud, of course, refers to the physical sun and moon, the ones we can see, the story mirrors a corresponding dichotomy in the higher Celestial Regions.

Since we are already on the subject of the relative importance of the sun and the moon, I will now proceed to explain the discussion in Chulin 60b described as having taken place between the moon and G–d. So many commentators, and especially Kabbalists, have written on this subject that all I want to do is deal with it on the most fundamental basis, i.e. the פשט. I believe that the sun and moon in the story are to be accepted at face value; they may, however, be symbols of the relationship between study and performance at the same time. Just as the moon depends on the sun, so performance depends on the knowledge of what is to be performed, when it is to be performed, and where it is to be performed. The wording of the statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Pezzi in the Talmud illustrates this point. The Rabbi questioned the verse in Genesis 1,16 according to which G–d made "two large luminaries, the great luminary to dominate by day and the small luminary to dominate by night." In order to deal with the apparent contradiction of there being two great luminaries, the Rabbi tells us a parable in which the moon complained to G–d about two kings not being able to wear one single crown (to rule simultaneously). G–d thereupon invited the moon to reduce itself in size. The moon replied that it could not see why it should be punished for having made a valid observation. Thereupon G–d told the moon to dominate (shine) by day as well as by night. To this the moon replied that there was no point in shining by day since its light would not be noticed (after the sun already shone by day). G–d then consoled the moon by telling it that in the future Israel would base its calendar on the lunar cycles. The moon responded that Israel would not count its days according to the lunar cycles because the Torah already stated in Genesis 1,14 that the luminaries would determine the seasons, i.e. solstices. G–d then told the moon that the righteous, i.e. Jacob would share its adjective "small" also with Samuel and David, all of whom would be called "small" in the Bible, (cf. Amos 7,5, and Samuel I 17). When G–d realized that the moon was still not satisfied He told the Jewish people to offer a sin-offering on His behalf on every New Moon in order to expiate for His having reduced the moon in size.

To illustrate the loftiness of Israel’s prayers we will cite here the continuation of the passage from the Zohar. To begin with you must know that there are certain angels assigned over all the entrances, gates and windows of every firmament by day and by night. The appointed ministers of the day are called, “the rulers of the day,” while the appointed ministers of the night are called, “the rulers of the night” (Bereishis 1:16). At every entrance, gate and window there is one appointed minister, under whom are thousands of ministers and governors. Who can count or even conceive of all the ministers of these ministers and all the hosts and bands that are under them? Every day at nightfall and again at daybreak an announcement is made throughout all the firmaments instructing the appointed ministers to take up their positions, whereupon each one goes to its station. Then the Holy One Blessed is He descends and all Israel go to their synagogues to give praise to their Master with songs and prayers. If a person approaches Hashem’s service with awe and trembling and prays with full concentration, so that his mouth and heart are as one as they declare the unity of the holy Name, then the Holy One Blessed is He is gratified and joyful with his prayer. Then each word he utters ascends On High to be received joyfully by the appointed angels until it reaches the highest heights where it is fashioned into a crown upon the head of the King of the Kings of Kings, the Holy One Blessed is He.

Perhaps this is also alluded to in the Halachah that one may not eulogize someone during the Chanukah festival. The Rabbis described an adequate eulogy as one in which one smites the palm on the thigh as a symbolic infliction of pain upon oneself in commemoration of what Samael did to Jacob [based on Jeremiah 31,18 Ed.]. In the future the פך, cruse, will be exchanged for a קרן, horn; the body will once more be fit to wear garments made of light, and both soul and body will radiate light. This is the mystery behind the words in Genesis 1, 16 where we hear about the "great light and the little light." The great light is the light emitted from the soul. The Torah instructs both body and soul to function as מאורות, sources of enlightenment. The body is the receptacle of the soul; under the proper conditions the body enables the soul to shine forth brightly. The cruse in our parable is the body which, when filled with oil, spreads light. The light of the candelabra illuminates upwards. It is in the nature of light to strive upwards. This is why the soul is called "the great light."