כִּ֤י לַשֶּׁ֨לַג ׀ יֹאמַ֗ר הֱוֵ֫א אָ֥רֶץ וְגֶ֥שֶׁם מָטָ֑ר וְ֝גֶ֗שֶׁם מִטְר֥וֹת עֻזּֽוֹ׃
Pois à neve diz: Cai sobre a terra; como também às chuvas e aos aguaceiros: Sede copiosos.
Ezra ben Solomon
Behold King Solomon made for himself a palanquin. From the outpouring of Wisdom and its luminescence, He radiated light, and from it drew forth emanation. Concerning this it states in Genesis Rabbah [3:4]: “Whence was the light created? The Holy One, blessed be He, enwrapped Himself as in a robe, and radiated His luster from one end of the world to the other.” The robe designates the invocation of the emanation of wisdom which encompasses the totality of all things. The act of enwrapping conveys that He received radiance from that emanational outflow and literally sparked forth light. This is furthermore the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer the Great who said:
Whence were the heavens created? He took from the light of His garment; He wrapped Himself as in a robe. The light extended outwards, as it says: “wrapped in a robe of light, You spread the heavens like a tent cloth” [Ps. 104:2]. Whence was the earth created? God took hold of some of the snow underlying the Throne of Glory and cast it downwards. As it says: “He commands the snow: ‘Fall to the ground!’” [Job 37:6].88Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer, 3. Havei aretz, “fall to the ground,” means literally “become ground.”
This accords with the opinion of Plato, who argued that it was vain to believe that the Creator created something from nothing, but rather there was a preexistent matter. This is not the same as clay in the potter’s hands or the smith’s iron, who shape from them whatsoever they desire, so that the Creator, be He praised, shaped heaven and earth from primordial matter, but sometime might create something else of it. That God does not create something from nothing should not be considered a diminution of His power, just as there is no diminution in His inability to create logically impossible entities, such as a square whose diagonal is equal to its side or the simultaneous conjunction of two opposites. Just as in these cases, there is no diminution in His capacity, so too there is no denigration if He does not emanate something from nothing, but rather uses a primal element. For this too is included in the general category of impossibility. Solomon too spoke of this, revealing lucid wisdom and sound reasoning, through the aegis of the holy spirit of prophecy.
Whence were the heavens created? He took from the light of His garment; He wrapped Himself as in a robe. The light extended outwards, as it says: “wrapped in a robe of light, You spread the heavens like a tent cloth” [Ps. 104:2]. Whence was the earth created? God took hold of some of the snow underlying the Throne of Glory and cast it downwards. As it says: “He commands the snow: ‘Fall to the ground!’” [Job 37:6].88Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer, 3. Havei aretz, “fall to the ground,” means literally “become ground.”
This accords with the opinion of Plato, who argued that it was vain to believe that the Creator created something from nothing, but rather there was a preexistent matter. This is not the same as clay in the potter’s hands or the smith’s iron, who shape from them whatsoever they desire, so that the Creator, be He praised, shaped heaven and earth from primordial matter, but sometime might create something else of it. That God does not create something from nothing should not be considered a diminution of His power, just as there is no diminution in His inability to create logically impossible entities, such as a square whose diagonal is equal to its side or the simultaneous conjunction of two opposites. Just as in these cases, there is no diminution in His capacity, so too there is no denigration if He does not emanate something from nothing, but rather uses a primal element. For this too is included in the general category of impossibility. Solomon too spoke of this, revealing lucid wisdom and sound reasoning, through the aegis of the holy spirit of prophecy.
Ramban
[FOR THE LAND, WHITHER THOU GOEST IN TO POSSESS IT, IS] NOT AS THE LAND OF EGYPT — “but better than it. This assurance was given to Israel upon their departure from Egypt, for they said, ‘Perhaps we will not come to a Land as good and beautiful as this’ [hence they were assured that the Land whither they were going was far better than Egypt]. One might, however, think that Scripture speaks in disdain of the Land, and Moses said thus to them: ‘It is not as the land of Egypt — but worse than it!’ Scripture states, therefore, Behold, Hebron ‘nivnethah’ (was built) seven years before Zoan in Egypt.301Numbers 13:22. One person [Ham] built [both] of them. Usually, a person builds the better city first and afterwards the inferior one etc.”302“For the material that is not good enough for the first he puts into the second etc.” (Rashi). Thus you learn that Hebron was superior to Zoan. There is more on this theme in Numbers 13:22 (Vol. IV, pp. 126-127). This is Rashi’s language from the Sifre.303Sifre, Eikev 37. And he further quoted what the Rabbis have interpreted in the Gemara of Tractate Kethuboth304Kethuboth 112a. Among the sons of Ham, Mitzraim was older than Canaan (Genesis 10:6). Therefore, why would Ham, who built both Hebron and Zoan, have erected Hebron for Canaan, his youngest son, seven years before he built Zoan for Mitzraim, his older son? But the meaning is etc. with a different point of view: “Is it possible that a man would build a house for his younger son first and afterwards for his elder son?304Kethuboth 112a. Among the sons of Ham, Mitzraim was older than Canaan (Genesis 10:6). Therefore, why would Ham, who built both Hebron and Zoan, have erected Hebron for Canaan, his youngest son, seven years before he built Zoan for Mitzraim, his older son? But the meaning is etc. But the meaning of the expression, Behold, Hebron ‘nivnethah’ seven years301Numbers 13:22. is that it was ‘built up’ superior to Zoan sevenfold.”
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture the verse here is said by way of the warnings [with which Moses has been admonishing the Israelites]. For he said to them, “Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments etc. that you may possess the Land etc. a Land flowing with milk and honey,305Verses 8-9. since G-d will give the rain of your Land in its season306Further, Verse 14. and the Land shall yield her produce. But know you that it is not like the land of Egypt [where one can find sufficient water] to irrigate it with his feet from the streams and the pools as a garden of herbs.307In Verse 10 before us. See Vol. I, p. 179, Verse 10. Instead, it is a Land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water as, the rain of heaven cometh down,308Verse 11. not in any other way. Therefore it requires that G-d care for it always by giving it rain because it is a very thirsty Land and needs rain all year. If you transgress G-d’s Will and He does not care for it [the Land] with ‘rains of benevolence’309Taanith 19a. These are rains which come with blessing and graciousness, and are not destructive nor inadequate. it is a very bad one, it cannot be sown, nor beareth, nor any herb groweth310Further 29:22. on its mountains.” All this he reviews and explains in the following section, that if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments,311Verse 13. then I shall give the rain of your Land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain312Verse 14. always, and if you will not listen He shall shut up the heaven etc.313Verse 17. and ye shall perish by famine from off the good Land,313Verse 17. since you will not be able to live therein without rain.
Thus this section warns in terms of the laws of nature. From it we learn that although everything is within His authority and it was but a light thing in the sight of the Eternal,314II Kings 3:18. blessed be He, to destroy the inhabitants of the land of Egypt and to dry up their rivers and streams, the land of Canaan, however, could be destroyed more quickly, by His not providing the showers of His mighty rain.315Job 37:6 — Ramban’s reasoning is as follows: Even if the Land of Israel were similar to the land of Egypt, G-d could also have easily destroyed it by drying up its rivers and streams; yet, due to the fact that this section warns in terms of the laws of nature, and the Land of Israel is a Land of mountains and deep valleys, it is more vulnerable to destruction by lack of rain (Bachya). The sick person needs merits and prayer in order that G-d heal him more than the healthy one who is not struck by illness, and such is also the way with the poor and the rich, [although] the Eternal giveth light to the eyes of them both.316Proverbs 29:13.
And because he said, a Land which the Eternal thy G-d careth for, when he should have said, “and it drinketh water as the rain of heaven cometh down ‘whenever’ the Eternal thy G-d careth for it,” the following interpretation of our Rabbis317Sifre, Eikev 40. is alluded to in the text: “But does He not care for all lands, as it is said, to cause it to rain on a land where no man is?318Job 38:26. [The answer is that the verse tells us] as it were, He exercises care for that Land alone, but through the particular care that He bestows on it, He cares also for all lands. The eyes of the Eternal thy G-d are always upon it319Verse 12. to see what it requires and to enact new decrees for it, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad etc.”320“ ‘Sometimes for good.’ In what respect? For instance, if Israel on the New Year [when judgment is passed] were found to be utterly wicked, and it was decreed that very little rain fall for them, but later they repented, [what could be done in such a case?] To increase the quantity of rain cannot be done, since the decree had already been given. But the Holy One, blessed be He, causes it to come down at the proper time, when it is necessary for the benefit of the Land. ‘Sometimes for bad.’ In what respect? For instance, if Israel on the New Year were perfectly righteous etc.” (Rosh Hashanah 17b). as it is written in Tractate Rosh Hashanah.320“ ‘Sometimes for good.’ In what respect? For instance, if Israel on the New Year [when judgment is passed] were found to be utterly wicked, and it was decreed that very little rain fall for them, but later they repented, [what could be done in such a case?] To increase the quantity of rain cannot be done, since the decree had already been given. But the Holy One, blessed be He, causes it to come down at the proper time, when it is necessary for the benefit of the Land. ‘Sometimes for bad.’ In what respect? For instance, if Israel on the New Year were perfectly righteous etc.” (Rosh Hashanah 17b). There is also in this verse a profound secret, being that this Land is cared for “in all things” which is [called] Kol (All),321See Genesis 24:1 (Vol. I, pp. 291-292). and all lands are sustained from it in truth.
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture the verse here is said by way of the warnings [with which Moses has been admonishing the Israelites]. For he said to them, “Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments etc. that you may possess the Land etc. a Land flowing with milk and honey,305Verses 8-9. since G-d will give the rain of your Land in its season306Further, Verse 14. and the Land shall yield her produce. But know you that it is not like the land of Egypt [where one can find sufficient water] to irrigate it with his feet from the streams and the pools as a garden of herbs.307In Verse 10 before us. See Vol. I, p. 179, Verse 10. Instead, it is a Land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water as, the rain of heaven cometh down,308Verse 11. not in any other way. Therefore it requires that G-d care for it always by giving it rain because it is a very thirsty Land and needs rain all year. If you transgress G-d’s Will and He does not care for it [the Land] with ‘rains of benevolence’309Taanith 19a. These are rains which come with blessing and graciousness, and are not destructive nor inadequate. it is a very bad one, it cannot be sown, nor beareth, nor any herb groweth310Further 29:22. on its mountains.” All this he reviews and explains in the following section, that if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments,311Verse 13. then I shall give the rain of your Land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain312Verse 14. always, and if you will not listen He shall shut up the heaven etc.313Verse 17. and ye shall perish by famine from off the good Land,313Verse 17. since you will not be able to live therein without rain.
Thus this section warns in terms of the laws of nature. From it we learn that although everything is within His authority and it was but a light thing in the sight of the Eternal,314II Kings 3:18. blessed be He, to destroy the inhabitants of the land of Egypt and to dry up their rivers and streams, the land of Canaan, however, could be destroyed more quickly, by His not providing the showers of His mighty rain.315Job 37:6 — Ramban’s reasoning is as follows: Even if the Land of Israel were similar to the land of Egypt, G-d could also have easily destroyed it by drying up its rivers and streams; yet, due to the fact that this section warns in terms of the laws of nature, and the Land of Israel is a Land of mountains and deep valleys, it is more vulnerable to destruction by lack of rain (Bachya). The sick person needs merits and prayer in order that G-d heal him more than the healthy one who is not struck by illness, and such is also the way with the poor and the rich, [although] the Eternal giveth light to the eyes of them both.316Proverbs 29:13.
And because he said, a Land which the Eternal thy G-d careth for, when he should have said, “and it drinketh water as the rain of heaven cometh down ‘whenever’ the Eternal thy G-d careth for it,” the following interpretation of our Rabbis317Sifre, Eikev 40. is alluded to in the text: “But does He not care for all lands, as it is said, to cause it to rain on a land where no man is?318Job 38:26. [The answer is that the verse tells us] as it were, He exercises care for that Land alone, but through the particular care that He bestows on it, He cares also for all lands. The eyes of the Eternal thy G-d are always upon it319Verse 12. to see what it requires and to enact new decrees for it, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad etc.”320“ ‘Sometimes for good.’ In what respect? For instance, if Israel on the New Year [when judgment is passed] were found to be utterly wicked, and it was decreed that very little rain fall for them, but later they repented, [what could be done in such a case?] To increase the quantity of rain cannot be done, since the decree had already been given. But the Holy One, blessed be He, causes it to come down at the proper time, when it is necessary for the benefit of the Land. ‘Sometimes for bad.’ In what respect? For instance, if Israel on the New Year were perfectly righteous etc.” (Rosh Hashanah 17b). as it is written in Tractate Rosh Hashanah.320“ ‘Sometimes for good.’ In what respect? For instance, if Israel on the New Year [when judgment is passed] were found to be utterly wicked, and it was decreed that very little rain fall for them, but later they repented, [what could be done in such a case?] To increase the quantity of rain cannot be done, since the decree had already been given. But the Holy One, blessed be He, causes it to come down at the proper time, when it is necessary for the benefit of the Land. ‘Sometimes for bad.’ In what respect? For instance, if Israel on the New Year were perfectly righteous etc.” (Rosh Hashanah 17b). There is also in this verse a profound secret, being that this Land is cared for “in all things” which is [called] Kol (All),321See Genesis 24:1 (Vol. I, pp. 291-292). and all lands are sustained from it in truth.
Rabbeinu Bahya
A scientific approach to the words כמעשה לבנת ספיר: this is a reference to a vision of the original substantive matter in the universe, which exists immediately beneath the throne of G’d (compare Maimonides Moreh Nevuchim section 1 chapter 28). It looked to them like snow. Our sages in Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer 3 ask the rhetorical question: “whence (from what raw material) was the heaven created?” Answer: “from the light of His (G’d’s) garments.” This is what David meant when he said (Psalms 104,2) “You are wrapped in a robe of light. You spread the heavens like a tent cloth.” The earth was created out of the snow beneath the throne of glory. We have proof of this from Job 37,6: “He would command the snow: ‘become earth!’”
Onkelos, who translated the words as ”a splendid throne like the work of a gem stone,” understands the words “under His (its) feet” as a reference to the oceans which form the legs of that throne. The words רגליו means “its causes.” We encounter the words רגל in that sense in Ezekiel 1,7 ורגליהם רגל ישרה, or ועמדו רגליו in Zecharyah 14,4. The meaning in these verses is that the raw material emanates from beside it (G’d’s throne) and its proximity is the reason (cause) that it exists and endures.
Applied to our verse here, the word כמעשה, means that just as in the instances mentioned by Ezekiel and Zecharyah, these prophets were granted insights, these אצילי בני ישראל were granted these insights by means of the visions they experienced at this time. The word לבנת is a reference to the white of the egg which was beneath the throne of G’d and formed the original raw material from which earth was constructed. The reason the Torah did not write כלבנת ספיר but כמעשה לבנת ספיר, was to warn us that raw material is something passive, subject to outside influences, but unable to exert its own influences. It may have one colour one day and another colour on a different day depending on external stimuli. A ספיר is not white. If it were white it could not then have become all kinds of colours. Similarly, a raw material does not have a specific shape or form. This is why potentially it can assume any shape or form. This is the opinion of Maimonides in chapter 26 of the second part of his Moreh Nevuchim. I have copied his words. [a perusal of that chapter will reveal that Maimonides understands Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer as distinguishing two basic raw materials, one “beneath the throne,” i.e. materials used to create what is in the terrestrial universe, and the other “materials” used for the creation of the celestial universe. Maimonides came to this conclusion in order for the wording of Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer not to mislead us into thinking that he thought that the raw material preceded G’d the Creator. Ed.]
Onkelos, who translated the words as ”a splendid throne like the work of a gem stone,” understands the words “under His (its) feet” as a reference to the oceans which form the legs of that throne. The words רגליו means “its causes.” We encounter the words רגל in that sense in Ezekiel 1,7 ורגליהם רגל ישרה, or ועמדו רגליו in Zecharyah 14,4. The meaning in these verses is that the raw material emanates from beside it (G’d’s throne) and its proximity is the reason (cause) that it exists and endures.
Applied to our verse here, the word כמעשה, means that just as in the instances mentioned by Ezekiel and Zecharyah, these prophets were granted insights, these אצילי בני ישראל were granted these insights by means of the visions they experienced at this time. The word לבנת is a reference to the white of the egg which was beneath the throne of G’d and formed the original raw material from which earth was constructed. The reason the Torah did not write כלבנת ספיר but כמעשה לבנת ספיר, was to warn us that raw material is something passive, subject to outside influences, but unable to exert its own influences. It may have one colour one day and another colour on a different day depending on external stimuli. A ספיר is not white. If it were white it could not then have become all kinds of colours. Similarly, a raw material does not have a specific shape or form. This is why potentially it can assume any shape or form. This is the opinion of Maimonides in chapter 26 of the second part of his Moreh Nevuchim. I have copied his words. [a perusal of that chapter will reveal that Maimonides understands Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer as distinguishing two basic raw materials, one “beneath the throne,” i.e. materials used to create what is in the terrestrial universe, and the other “materials” used for the creation of the celestial universe. Maimonides came to this conclusion in order for the wording of Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer not to mislead us into thinking that he thought that the raw material preceded G’d the Creator. Ed.]