Chasidut su Salmi 118:19

Though it is true that God runs the world through the medium of the planets and stars, as we say in the Sabbath prayers, “He gave them power and strength to exert their rule over the earth,” yet still, their names are not mentioned in the Torah. Therefore, they are not even considered terms (or metaphors) for God. This is as it is written in the Gemara (Shevuot, 35a), “If one says, ‘I swear to you on the heavens and the earth,’ then his vow is disqualified.” The Gemara goes on to explain that if one swears in the name of “The Merciful,” or, “The Compassionate,” his vow is valid even though these are names that one may erase without penalty. Surely he is swearing in the name of God who is called “the Merciful,” or, “The Compassionate.” It is unlikely that he means anything other than God who is the source of mercy or compassion. However, when he swears in the name of the heaven and the earth, he could easily mean the physical heaven and earth, and not the Creator of heaven and earth.⁷⁶And thus, his oath is invalid. So to is it written in the Bereshit Rabbah (parsha 1), “If the first verse in the Torah had been phrased differently and had said, ‘בראשית ברא ה’ שמים וארץ, In the beginning God Heaven and Earth created,’ it would have implied that the heaven and the earth were gods, creating just as God does.⁷⁷The grammatical function of the direct object את (et) is to signify the object of the verb. The absence of the את creates an ambiguity, where the verse could mean either, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” or, “In the beginning God, the Heavens and the Earth, created.” Therefore the verse reads, בראשית ברא ה’ את השמים ואת הארץ” – “In the beginning, God created the Heaven and Earth.” It says in the Sefer HaBahir (at the section which begins, “Rabbi Berachia explained the verse, “take for Me and offering.”), “From were do we know that the word ‘Heavens’ signifies God? Shlomo HaMelech said (Melakhim 1, 8:32), ‘and may You, O Heavens, hear.’ Clearly Shlomo is not asking the physical heavens to hear his prayer, yet he his praying to God who is called in the name of the Heavens.” It says in the Zohar (Midrash Ne’elam, Bereshit, 11): ‘And You, O Heavens, hear!’ Sholdn’t the verse say, ‘May You hear from the heavens’? Rabbi Yohanan said that the verse is implying something not expressed. There is a spiritual firmament Shamayim (Heavens) is a kind of half way station that receives the prayers before the Holy One. In the Zohar, (Ha’azinu 287a) Rabbi Shimon concluded the discussion in this way: Rabbi Shimon said, ‘I raise my hand in prayer to the Supernal Holiness, and ask that my words be clear and revealed in the Upper world, just as they are revealed in my heart. We do not go in the way of other teachings⁷⁸Pre-Sinaitic teachings discussed sefirot and divine knowledge using the metaphors of the stars. Yet we learn only from the names revealed in the Torah, as the transmission of the pre-Sinaitic teachings, though initially correct, was corrupted and ended up leading to idol worship. . We go in the ways of the Torah!’ Rabbi Yehuda said, ‘We don’t find anyone with wisdom greater that David HaMelech or his son Shlomo HaMelech, and these “other teaching of the ways of Torah” use the crown on these two great kings (meaning their language). David HaMelech called righteousness “the moon,” for it possessed righteousness. This is as it is written, “Open for me the gates of Righteousness, I will go there and thank God.” Shlomo HaMelech did this also. The moon was called righteousness, and these teachings called the sun both “Brit (covenant),” and “Justice.” Rabbi Shimon said, ‘For how long will my fellowship use these words? For us, we go after the Holy One, blessed be He! We know these things. And we possess knowledge that was not revealed to the generations before us!’