Kaisipang Hudyo sa Mga Awit 104:14: Akeidat Yitzchak & Kuzari

Bereshit Rabbah 8 tells that the Torah was created two thousand years prior to the universe. This means that until Abraham began to observe Torah laws, only a few people had walked with G-d, hence the real world did not start until then (approx. two thousand years after Adam was created). The years preceding the birth of Abraham are called tohu, empty. (Sanhedrin 97) Similarly, the statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish concerning Psalms 139,5 "You have created me first and last" means that I was first in Your planning, but last in execution. As the stage was prepared for man during the creation of the universe, so the history of mankind up until the time the Torah was given at Mount Sinai is the setting of the stage for a world in which Torah can reign supreme.

Some difficulties in the text of the Parshah.

After the condition of the dry ground had been established, plant life of three different categories would enhance and perfect the barren earth: 1) vegetation growing spontaneously, without need for seeding, 2) shoots spreading seeds, 3) trees bearing fruit and having stems that survive from season to season. The unusual description of "the earth produced," or "the waters swarmed," instead of "G-d made," indicates that earth, i.e. nature, engaged in an activity that becomes a vocation, an ongoing task and activity. The essential part of the fourth directive then is to describe the activity of the earth, i.e. its role in the scheme of things. G-d saw that it was good. Just as at the time of the creation of light, the tohu, void, was removed, so now the bohu, confusion, was eliminated as nature produced vegetation in an orderly and functional manner. This piece of evolutionary progress qualifies for the statement "G-d saw that it was good;" therefore, we find this statement repeated on the third day of creation.