Chasidut do Rodzaju 1:6

It is written in the Midrash Rabbah (Bereshit, 4): “And God made the firmament in the midst of the waters” (Bereshit 1:7). This is one of the verses where Ben Zoma’s²⁶²Ben Zoma was considered to be one of the greatest interpreters of the Torah of his day (2nd century, CE). He was one of the four sages who “entered the Orchard” of mystical experience. The other three being Ben Azzai, Elisha ben Abuya, and R. Akiva. Due to the intense nature of the experience, Ben Zoma went mad, Ben Azzai died, and Elisha ben Abuya became a heretic and was subsquently known as Acher – “Other.” Only R. Akiva entered and departed in peace. explanation shook the world and perplexed the sages.²⁶³The following passage from the tractate Hagiga (15a) describes the incident: Our Rabbis taught: Once Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiya was standing on a step on the Temple Mount, and Ben Zoma saw him and did not stand up before him. So Rabbi Yehoshua said to him, “What are you contemplating, Ben Zoma?” He replied, “I was gazing between the upper and the lower waters, and there is only three fingerbreadths between them, for it is said (Bereshit 1:6), And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters - like a dove which hovers over her young without touching them.” Thereupon Rabbi Yehoshua said to his students, “Ben Zoma is still outside.” See now, when was it that ‘the spirit of God hovered over the face of the water? It was on the first day of Creation. But the division took place on the second day, for it is written: And let it divide the waters from the waters!’ And what is the size of the division? Rabbi Akha ben Yaakov said, “a hair’s breadth.” According to R. Gershon Hanokh, Ben Zoma was attributing the division between G-d and creation to the very roots of reality – to the first day of creation. However, as Rabbi Yehoshua pointed out, the division between G-d and creation only occurred on the second day, with the creation of the firmament. And even in those terms, Ben Zoma was still wrong, as he perceived a significant division between the upper and lower worlds (three fingerbreadths), whereas the division is no more than a hair; meaning to say, the division between G-d and creation is extremely slight, and exists only from the human perspective, as explained above. For further discussion of this see Living Waters: The Mei HaShiloach, (Tr. Betzalel Edwards), Parshat Emor, on the verse, “and you shall not do so in your land.” Wasn’t the creation of the firmament already included in the statement (Tehillim, 33:6), “The heavens were created with God’s word, and the spirit of His breath all their hosts”?²⁶⁴Verse six in the first chapter of Genesis says, “And God said, let there be a firmament.” Verse seven says, “And God made the firmament.” Yet the psalm teaches us, “The heavens were created with God’s word,” meaning, God’s word created the universe immediately. Thus, if the firmament was already created in verse six, why in verse seven does it say, “God made the firmament”? To Ben Zoma, this implied a division between G-d and His actions. Rashi explains to us that Ben Zoma perplexed the sages by saying that he gazed and saw that the distance between the upper and lower waters was three fingerbreadths. The Midrash goes on to say that it was not long after this that he died. Concerning the creation of the firmament and the division of the waters, the Ramban asked why in verse 6 the Torah says, “Let there be a firmament in the waters,” and then again in verse 7 it says, “And God made the firmament.” Wasn’t the firmament already made in verse 6?²⁶⁵According to Ramban, this is the exact problem that bothered Ben Zoma. It was not only on account of the word, “He made” since on the fourth, fifth, and sixth days it also says, “He made.” Rather, Ben Zoma’s problem was that on other days, immediately after God’s utterance (“let there be”), it is written, “and it was so.” This implies that it came into being immediately after the utterance. Yet on the second day, after it says, “and God said, let there be a firmament,” it goes on to say, “and He made.” (before it says, “and it was so.”) The Ramban suggests that Ben Zoma had some secret interpretation of the verse that he did not want to reveal. (See the Ramban for his own reconciliation of this problem.) Truly, both explanations are true and one. The mistake of Ben Zoma was that he posited too great a distance between the upper and the lower waters. This is the meaning of the statement, “Ben Zoma glimpsed and died.”²⁶⁶According to the Babylonian Talmud, Ben Zoma went mad, but Ben Azzai died. According to Palestinian Tamud, Ben Zoma died, and Ben Azzai went mad. The Mei HaShiloach gives a brief explanation of this. The Gemara (Hagiga, 15b) records Ben Zoma saying, “I was gazing between the upper and the lower waters, and there is only three fingerbreadths between them.” Upon hearing this, Rabbi Yehoshua said to his students, “Ben Zoma is still on the outside.”²⁶⁷Simply explained, this means after his mystical experience, Ben Zoma’s perception became damaged, and the sages of his day felt that they could no longer rely upon him. On a deeper level, R. Yehoshua may have been saying that Ben Zoma perception was outside the realm of unity. What was the actual distance between the upper and lower waters? “Rabbi Aha ben Yaakov said a hairbreadth. And the Rabbis said the space between the boards of a narrow bridge. Mar Zutra (or maybe Rav Assi) said as the space between two garments spread one over the other; and others say, the space between two cups fitted one over the other.” The subject of the space between the upper waters and the lower waters is hinted at in the matter of the firmament, which alludes to the separation between the upper and lower worlds. The creation of the firmament made a division between the upper and lower worlds, as it is written in the Zohar (Bereshit, 17a): “And God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters.” (Bereshit, 1:6) This is the secret of the rectification, specifically of the separation between the upper and lower waters, in the secret of the left… A conflict that is arrayed as above,²⁶⁸D. Matt’s translation was partially used in this passage. which rises and does descend,²⁶⁹Meaning, a conflict exists in this world, similar to the conflict above – i.e. the division between heaven and earth; that is the Talmudic debate between Shammai and Hillel, which was a “makhloket l’shem shamayim” – a dispute for the sake of Heaven, and ultimately reconciled (Pirkei Avot, 5:17), just as the division between heaven and earth will ultimately be reconciled. The opposite is the conflict of Korah, which was a a “makhloket sh’lo l’shem shamayim” – not for the sake of heaven, and thus will not endure. It is similar to the false division perceived by Ben Zoma. and which exists on a straight path, is the dispute of Shammai and Hillel. There God separated between the two and reconciled them. Since this was a conflict for the sake of Heaven, the Heavens mediated the conflict, and because of this it endures.²⁷⁰Matt renders, “and upon this conflict the world was established,” based on another version. This is akin to the creation of the world. Korah (in his dispute with Moshe) went against the work of creation. He was in dispute with the heavens. He wanted to contradict the words of Torah. In his dispute he was certainly cleaving to hell, and hell clove to him. This secret is written in the book of Adam. The reason for the separation between the upper and lower realms is in order give man the ability to serve God. The division creates darkness and a concealment of the Divine Presence. Man can then serve God through the power of his own free choice. This is as was mentioned above in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 70) and is mentioned in the Zohar (Tetsave, 184a): Man only serves God from amidst darkness…²⁷¹G-d’s worship is not complete until it arises out of man’s free will. But in order for many to have free will, he cannot be aware of G-d’s presence. A level of darkness, concealment, or “division” between the upper and lower worlds must exist. Therefore God created the “Tree of Doubt” which is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.²⁷²The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the consciousness that perceives a separation between heaven and earth. When it is used to bring man closer to G-d, it is called a “controversy (i.e. division) for the sake of heaven.” However, when the dualistic perception is taken to its most negative extreme, it posits an unbridgeable gap, which is the root of all irreconcilable controversies, that are “not for the sake of heaven.” In this way man can serve God out of this very uncertainty. This is as it is said (ibid.): Light is only that which comes out of darkness. When this side is subdued, the Holy One, blessed be He, ascends above, and His Glory is magnified.²⁷³The only true service of God is that which arises from a situation of doubt and confusion. Indeed, from the downward evolutions and concatenations of the branches of the Tree of Doubt, there eventually arises the phenomenon of the dispute which is not for the sake of Heaven, like the dispute of Korah.²⁷⁴The Radziner is presenting a tremendously novel concept, namely that the root of all earthly conflicts lie in the contradiction between God’s omnipresence and His concealment. Though He is everywhere, as the Torah states, “there is none else besides Him,” yet our normal human perceptions contradict this. Similarly, though God directs everything in the world, we still have free choice to do as we please. Yet, it is the concealment of the Divine that provides us with the ability to freely serve Him. When the Zohar says, “The Heavens mediated this conflict, and thus it endures,” it means that only through God’s illumination can the human mind grasp the reconciliation of these paradoxes. This is because the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil also contains separate evil. This is included in the divine utterance of creation, “Let there be a firmament,” – which is separate – and creates a division between the upper and lower realms.