Kaisipang Hudyo sa Isaias 40:29: Akeidat Yitzchak

Peace and harmony are trademarks of G'ds creation and handiwork. Nothing is functional or endures in this universe unless it represents the successful merging of a variety of elements. Death, destruction, and decomposition are the dissolution of this process of harmony, peace and collaboration which enabled any creature or object to perform its function previously. Even the most basic materials are combinations of earth, fire, air and water; according to our sages they are the fundamental raw materials of the physical universe. Isaiah describes the process of disintegration as ya-ef, tired, fatigued, when he describes G'd as "He gives strength to the tired." (Isaiah 40,29) This means that matter as such is imbued by G'd with the potential to become active, form a variety of combinations. Fusing unlikely candidates for mergers such as matter and spirit, i.e. human beings, requires the presence of shalom, harmony, in an even greater degree than usual. If Isaiah (45,7) says of G'd "I form light, create darkness, and make peace," this is an overriding attribute of G'd, since it is basic to all the things He has created. When Zecharyah in chapter fourteen, describes the distant future of mankind, the messianic era, he writes as follows: "The Lord will be king over the whole earth, on that day He will be One and His name will be One." The prophet envisages a period when historical strivings will have achieved their desired objectives. At that time, even creatures that appear at odds with one another in the universe as we know it, will be seen to be at peace with one another and with their Creator. There will no longer be any apparent dichotomies. Kingdom, dominion and unity are essentially the same thing. For that reason, after having recited the opening verse of the keriyat shema, "Hear O Israel the Lord our G'd the Lord is One," this is followed by the line "blessed be His glorious Majesty." Only after there is unity can malchut, Majesty have any real meaning. G'd is portrayed as "making" peace, whereas in the same verse He is described as "creating" evil, ra, evil, is the equivalent of pirud, dissolution, separating things that ought to be joined. Concerning such activity, G'd only "creates," i.e. provides the potential for it. He does not "make" evil. Having made shalom, harmony, He must be the originator of ra, as a corollary, but He does not bring its potential into actual existence.