Musar do Rodzaju 1:17

It is obvious that anything that is desired testifies to the nature of him who desires it and that every deed testifies to the nature of him who performs it. It is, therefore, fitting for every intelligent person to engage in the choicest of occupations so that this will be a sign of his intelligence. From this we know that there is no occupation more choice and no deed more honored than the service of God, may He be exalted. For this testifies to the degree of intelligence that a man possesses and to his perfection. All the wise men of the world believe and understand that the intellect is able to grasp only two concepts: first, the Creator and second, that which was created. There is nothing else besides these. They thus believe that the Creator is first¹See Bahya Ibn Paquda, Hovat La-Levavot (Duties of the Heart), Book 1:10, (Jerusalem: Eshkol, 1969-5729), p. 75. and that that which was fashioned is created ex nihilo, that the Creator is without a beginning and an end, and that every living thing has a beginning and an end. They thus believe that the Creator has no need of anything. For one who is in need lacks the thing of which he is in need, and by securing the thing which he needs, he becomes complete. But since the Creator is perfect, He has no need of anything at all. Since. He has no need of anything, it follows that He did not create the world to fill any need of His. Since He did not create the world for any need of His, we can deduce that He created it as a loving act to reward the good who merit such reward. Even as it is said (Isaiah 43:7), “Everyone that is called by My name, [And whom I have created for] My glory, I have formed him.” Proof of this is in the way Scripture describes the Creation of the world. In the act of the Creation concerning the lights, it says (Genesis 1:17), “And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth”, and it does not say, “to give light to the heavens” or “toward the heavens,” but “upon the earth.” If this is so, we know that the luminaries were not created for any use of the Creator and not to give light to the heavens, but to give light to the earth and its inhabitants. We can also recognize logically that if that which was created was for the benefit of the Creator, then it would be just as eternal as He, for His benefit would not be separated from Him, but would be found with Him always. But since we know that the world is created and not eternal, we know that before there was a world the Creator did not have any need of it. Just as He had no need of it before it came into being, so did He have no need of it after it came into being; but all of His intent in His creation of the world was for our benefit.

You may ask how it is that Joseph is included in the list of patriarchs, and even contributed more than the other patriarchs combined? The answer is that Joseph was the moral equal of all the other patriarchs combined, seeing that all our literature describes him as יוסף הצדיק, Joseph the righteous. In that capacity he "illuminated the moon," the symbol of all that is feminine, more than any of the others. This is why he could contribute more years of life to David than all the others. The allusion to this in our scriptures is found in Genesis 1,17: ויתן אותם אלוקים ברקיע השמים להאיר על הארץ , "G–d positioned them in the sky of the firmament to give light on earth." Thus far the Zohar.