Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Bereshis 2

Corrections

[11:05] I said Hashem extinguished the moon. In fact He made it smaller; it then could not be seen until Adam prayed for it (Chullin 60b).
[15:45] The number 137 is the fine-structure constant, about 1/137, which sets the strength of electromagnetism everywhere in the universe. The gematria of קבלה is 137.
[21:50] The story of King David and the spider is a Midrash.
[32:15] The 2,000 years of Torah began with Avraham, in the year 2000, and ended in the year 4000, around 240 CE (Avodah Zarah 9a).

Days four and five of creation: the sun, moon and stars, then the fish, the birds and the great creatures of the sea. Where the light of the sun came from if light was already made on day one, why the moon is the smaller light, and what the Livyasan is. Then a look past our own world, at the seven earths, the planets and the stars, and the Jewish calendar that follows the moon. One idea runs through it: all of this vast creation was made for people who keep the Torah, and none of it runs by itself.

The pesukim

Bereshis 1:14-15

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יְהִ֤י מְאֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַיּ֖וֹם וּבֵ֣ין הַלָּ֑יְלָה וְהָי֤וּ לְאֹתֹת֙ וּלְמ֣וֹעֲדִ֔ים וּלְיָמִ֖ים וְשָׁנִֽים׃

God said, "There shall be lights in the heavenly sky to divide between day and night. They shall serve as omens [and define] festivals, days and years.

וְהָי֤וּ לִמְאוֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהָאִ֖יר עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃

They shall be lights in the heavenly sky, to shine on the earth." It happened.

On the fourth day Hashem says, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven" to divide day from night, to mark the seasons, the days and the years, and "to illuminate the earth." But light was already created on the first day, so what is new here? The Ramban explains that the light of the first day was the light of creation itself. On the second day the firmament (rakia, the expanse of the heavens) came between that light and the world, and when dry land appeared on the third day it stood in complete darkness. On the fourth day Hashem took a portion of the original light and formed it into the sun and the moon, so that it could reach the earth. That is why the verse says "to illuminate the earth": the light already existed; now it would shine here. The rest of that first light Hashem hid away, for the righteous in the World to Come and within the Torah.

Bereshis 1:16-19

וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־שְׁנֵ֥י הַמְּאֹרֹ֖ת הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים אֶת־הַמָּא֤וֹר הַגָּדֹל֙ לְמֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת הַיּ֔וֹם וְאֶת־הַמָּא֤וֹר הַקָּטֹן֙ לְמֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת הַלַּ֔יְלָה וְאֵ֖ת הַכּוֹכָבִֽים׃

God [thus] made the two large lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the smaller light to rule the night. [He also made] the stars.

וַיִּתֵּ֥ן אֹתָ֛ם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם לְהָאִ֖יר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

God placed them in the heavenly sky to shine on the earth,

וְלִמְשֹׁל֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם וּבַלַּ֔יְלָה וּֽלְהַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֣ין הַחֹ֑שֶׁךְ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃

to rule by day and by night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. God saw that it was good.

וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם רְבִיעִֽי׃

It was evening and it was morning, a fourth day.

"God made the two great lights": the large light to rule the day, the small light to rule the night, and the stars. The Torah calls both of them great because the sun and the moon were created equal, in size and in brightness. The moon complained, "Two kings cannot rule with one crown," and Hashem made it smaller instead, until it could not be seen at all. Only when Adam prayed was it restored to some of its light, and it has no light of its own to this day: it shines only by reflecting the sun. To comfort the moon, Hashem surrounded it with the stars, which is why the verse ends "and the stars." The day closes with "God saw that it was good": nothing made on the fourth day could have been made better. A sun a little closer would burn the world; an orbit a little different would scorch the summers and freeze the winters. Everything was set exactly where it belongs.

Bereshis 1:20

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יִשְׁרְצ֣וּ הַמַּ֔יִם שֶׁ֖רֶץ נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֑ה וְעוֹף֙ יְעוֹפֵ֣ף עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ עַל־פְּנֵ֖י רְקִ֥יעַ הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃

God said, "The water shall teem with swarms of living creatures. Flying creatures shall fly over the land, on the face of the heavenly sky."

On the fifth day Hashem says, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let flying creatures fly over the earth." The fish and the birds came from the same place, and the sages give two opinions on how the birds were made. Some say from the water, like the fish, only with the element of air stronger in them, which is why they fly. Others say from the fine mud at the bottom of the sea, or the foam on its surface, a mixture of earth, air and water. Either way the bird stands halfway between the creatures of the water and the creatures of the land, and this is the reason behind a law of shechitah (kosher slaughter). A fish, made from water alone, needs no shechitah. A bird needs one of its two simanim (the windpipe and the food pipe) cut. An animal, made from the earth, needs both. How a creature was made shapes how it is treated even today.

Bereshis 1:21

וַיִּבְרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִ֖ם הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים וְאֵ֣ת כׇּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּ֣ה ׀ הָֽרֹמֶ֡שֶׂת אֲשֶׁר֩ שָׁרְצ֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם לְמִֽינֵהֶ֗ם וְאֵ֨ת כׇּל־ע֤וֹף כָּנָף֙ לְמִינֵ֔הוּ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃

God [thus] created the great sea monsters, along with every particular species of living thing that crawls, with which the waters teem, and every particular species of winged flying creature. God saw that it was good.

"God created the great taninim," the great creatures of the sea. Nothing earlier in creation is singled out this way: these creatures were unique, and the Torah tells us that even they came from Hashem's word. According to our sages they are the Livyasan (Leviathan), the great fish created male and female on this day. Had the two of them multiplied they would have filled the world, so Hashem killed the female and salted it away for the feast of the righteous in the World to Come. The Torah hints at it in the spelling: taninim is written without its second yud, a plural with one missing. That feast is not food for the body. Like the mann in the desert, which was absorbed completely, it is nourishment for the soul: the ability to perceive the radiance of the Shechinah (the Divine Presence). And it is earned with the mouth, by one who eats only kosher food, keeps away from lies and gossip, and avoids needless oaths.

Bereshis 1:22-23

וַיְבָ֧רֶךְ אֹתָ֛ם אֱלֹהִ֖ים לֵאמֹ֑ר פְּר֣וּ וּרְב֗וּ וּמִלְא֤וּ אֶת־הַמַּ֙יִם֙ בַּיַּמִּ֔ים וְהָע֖וֹף יִ֥רֶב בָּאָֽרֶץ׃

God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and become many, and fill the waters of the seas. Let the flying creatures multiply on the land."

וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם חֲמִישִֽׁי׃

It was evening and it was morning, a fifth day.

"God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the waters of the seas, and let the flying creatures multiply on the earth." This is the first time anything in creation receives a blessing. Only one pair of each creature was made, a male and a female, so the fish and birds needed a blessing to fill the world. Plants needed none, because they already come with their seeds. The verse also shows the birds leaving the water for the land, where Hashem told them to multiply. Some say the blessing was given because fish and birds come from eggs: a life forming inside an egg, apart from its parent, is a wonder, and the blessing teaches that it happens by Hashem's word. So a person should never say that something is "just nature." It is nature, but Hashem set the laws of nature in place, and the rain, the growth and the egg are all His will. Seeing that is how a person comes to praise Him.

English from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, used with the permission of the Kaplan family. Hebrew: Miqra according to the Masorah (CC BY-SA).

Takeaways

The light of the first day still exists. Hashem hid it for the righteous and in the Torah, and it is found by learning.
The moon wanted to be greater than the sun and lost its own light. Wanting more at someone else's expense diminishes you.
Even the flies and the mosquitoes have a purpose. Sometimes they are a message to wake up and get moving.
The feast of the Livyasan is earned with the mouth: kosher food, no lies or gossip, no needless oaths.
Never say "it's just nature." Hashem made the laws of nature and runs them.
The whole vast universe was created so that people with a body and a soul would choose to keep the Torah. Our actions matter in every world.

Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

The sun and the moon

Before the fourth day, one opinion holds that light and darkness served together, by day and by night. Another reads the verse closely: yehi me'oros, "let it be lights," uses a singular verb with a plural noun. One light, the light of the first day, became the many lights of the sky.
On the fourth day the sun and moon were first set together in a single window of the sky, for the first three hours of the day.
The sun and moon stayed equal for somewhat less than twenty-one years, or according to another opinion twenty-one hours, until the moon's complaint. The moon is not truly the one complaining: everything in creation has an angel appointed over it, and the dispute was between the angels of the sun and the moon.
Every month the moon wanes until it vanishes for seven or eight hours, and then comes the molad, its rebirth. On Shabbos morning, in Kel Adon, we say "He saw and set the form of the moon": its form, not its light. The moon is a body without light of its own, lit by the sun.
The Torah calls the moon one of the "two great lights" even though many stars are far larger. It is great in brightness, not in size: it is the closest to us, so it shines brightest of all the lights of the night.

When creation began

One view in the Gemara holds that the world was created in Nissan. On that view the sixth day, when Adam was created, was the first of Nissan, so the first day of creation was the 25th of Adar and the sun and moon were made on the 28th. The world's "birthday" is the day of mankind, not the first day.

A world set exactly in place

"God saw that it was good" means that nothing on that day lacked anything. Every planet is in its place; a small change in the sun's distance or its angle would make the world unlivable.
Physics has a number for the strength of electromagnetism, the force that holds every atom together: about one over 137. The gematria (numerical value) of the word kabbalah, קבלה, is also 137. The world is built with precision, and the code of it is in the Torah.

Nothing was created for nothing

Every creature has a purpose, even the ones that seem useless, like flies, lice and gnats. Some harmful creatures exist to punish wrongdoing. Lice and ticks wake a person from sleep, so that he will learn Torah rather than sleep the whole night away. More broadly, they wake a person who is asleep in life.
A Midrash tells that King David once wondered why Hashem created the spider, until a spider spun its web over the mouth of the cave where he was hiding from Shaul, and saved his life.

Rabbah bar bar Chanah's great fish

The Gemara (Bava Basra 73b-74a) records the travel stories of the sage Rabbah bar bar Chanah. He tells of a fish so large that when a small parasite entered its nostril and killed it, the sea cast it ashore and it destroyed sixty cities. Sixty cities ate from its flesh and sixty more salted it, a great quantity of oil was drawn from a single eye, and a year later the cities were being rebuilt from its bones.
Once at sea he saw what looked like an island, with grass growing on it. The sailors landed, walked about and lit a fire to cook. When the ground grew hot the "island" rolled over: it was a great fish, and only the ship nearby saved them.
These stories are not simple tall tales. The great commentators explain them as hints to deep ideas, and their full meaning is beyond us. We take them as they are.

Why the fifth day never says "and it was so"

Every day of creation includes the words vayehi chen, "and it was so," except the fifth.
The six days correspond to the six thousand years of the world, one thousand years for each day. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 97a) divides them into three periods of two thousand: two thousand of tohu, chaos and void; two thousand of Torah, beginning with Avraham; and two thousand of Mashiach, the age we live in now.
The fifth day introduced war between nations, and the final war, the war of Gog and Magog, belongs to the "fifth day" of history, the fifth millennium. Because of our sins it did not happen then, and its time is not fixed, so the Torah does not say "and it was so."
The redemption is in our hands. Hashem does not want to take responsibility for what He has left to us. If we return to Him and keep the Torah, Mashiach can come at any time.
A second reason: "and it was so" means that something was set in place permanently. The birds were made from the water but did not stay there, so their creation did not end the way it began.

The blessing to multiply

Were the animals of the sixth day included in this blessing? One opinion says yes. Another says it was given to the fish especially, because they are caught and eaten in great numbers and needed a blessing so that no kind would disappear.
Another reason given: the whole world was created so that people would have good food with which to serve Hashem, and the fish and birds were blessed to be healthy food. The blessing also means that the evil eye has no power over fish.

The seven earths

Just as there are seven heavens above, there are seven earths below, each one parallel to one of the heavens: Eretz, Adamah, Gei, Neshiyah, Tziyah, Arka and Tevel. Tevel is our own world, parallel to Aravos, the highest heaven, where the souls of the righteous dwell.
In the Zohar's account the earths are seven mystical habitations, each floating on its own waters like a ship on the sea. Each has its own angels, and each affects our world. The first, Eretz, is completely dark, a place of winds and storms whose winds blow in our world unseen; its angel, Tahariel, glows like a flame by night and descends to the abyss when day comes. The second, Adamah, has some light. Its angels, under the great angel Kadumiel, lead people toward the wrong path, and they rise to report every deed, good and bad, so that everything is written in a book. The third, Gei, the root of the word Gehinnom, holds the light and flames that punish the wicked, under Samael, who looks for a different way to make each person sin. The fourth, Neshiyah, is bright, full of merciful angels under Padael, who holds the keys of mercy and opens the gates for a prayer said with real feeling, or for one who does teshuvah. The fifth, Tziyah, is the brightest of all. Its angels of fire and water, under Kadashiel, sing to Hashem at midnight and at dawn, and all the stars sing with them. That is why we rise early to pray, when all of creation is praising Him. The sixth, Arka, holds the angels Hashem sends on special missions, under the angel Uriel. The seventh, Tevel, is our world, the most important of all: here the souls of Aravos live in bodies that serve Hashem by keeping His mitzvos.
When a person does teshuvah, the destroying angels have no power to come near him. When a person takes Judaism lightly, they surround him little by little, until small wrongs lead to great ones.
Man stands in the middle of it all: seven heavens above, seven earths below. He is the only creature with both a body and a soul, half animal and half angel, and he chooses. Every deed is written in a book (Pirkei Avos 2:1). As the Mesillas Yesharim teaches, when a person rises the world rises with him, and when he falls he brings the world down with him. Our actions reach far beyond our own lives.
According to another opinion, all seven earths are inhabited, and the Land of Israel is higher than them all, with Yerushalayim the highest point; it was the first land created. Others take the seven earths as real places, each separated from the next by a firmament, with strange inhabitants: creatures with two faces or four, who live about ten years; in Gei, the fire of Gehinnom, and people who plant trees but grow no grain; in Neshiyah, small people with poor memories (neshiyah means forgetfulness). Only our world has bread. Our own world has four names, one for each season: Eretz for spring, when the fruit runs (ratz) to ripen; Tevel for summer, when it gains its flavor (tavlin); Adamah for autumn, when the land dries into clods; and Arka for winter, when it stands empty (rek).
The point of learning all this is not the details. It is to see how vast creation is, and that all of it was made for one small people, two tenths of one percent of mankind, who keep the Torah. Seeing that brings a person to fear Hashem and to love Him.

The Jewish calendar

The Jewish months follow the moon. From one molad to the next is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds (793 chalakim - an hour is divided into 1080 chalakim). A month must be made of whole days, so some months have 29 days and some 30.
Twelve lunar months come to about 354 days - 10 days, 22 hours, 11 minutes, and 20 seconds short of the solar year. So about every three years a thirteenth month is added by doubling Adar. It is always Adar, because Adar must remain "the twelfth month" (Esther 3:13), and Nissan, the month of the Exodus, must always fall in the spring (Devarim 16:1).
Rosh Chodesh, "the head of the month," is a minor holiday. When the previous month has 30 days, Rosh Chodesh is two days: the thirtieth of the old month and the first of the new.
Each month we bless the new moon (Kiddush Levana). We can see it renew itself, which no other heavenly body shows us, and seeing it is like greeting the Shechinah. Even a blind person may say it, because it thanks Hashem for the order of the universe.
Every 28 years the sun returns to the exact place it stood when it was created on the fourth day. That Wednesday at sunrise we say Birkas HaChamah, "Blessed are You... who makes the work of creation." It was last said on April 8, 2009; the next time is April 8, 2037.

The planets, the stars and the covenant

There are seven heavenly bodies, each with its own sphere and its own influence on the world: the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The Hebrew names describe them: Mercury is Kochav, "star"; Venus is Nogah, "brightness"; Mars is Ma'adim, "the red one"; Jupiter is Tzedek; Saturn is Shabsai. Each day of the week has its own ruling sign.
Saturn brings misfortune and death; Jupiter, life, peace and wealth; Mars, war and destruction; the sun, wisdom and growing things; Venus, grace, love and fruitfulness; Mercury, the light between day and night, and success in travel for business; the moon holds the keys of heaven and earth. Yet none of them can bring good or evil unless Hashem wills it. They always follow His decree.
Beyond them is the sphere of the twelve mazalos, the signs of the zodiac, one for each month, from Taleh, the ram, in Nissan to Dagim, the fish, in Adar. The word mazal comes from azal, "to move." The stars of that sphere complete their own slow circuit once in 24,000 years, or 36,000 according to another opinion, and even that movement affects the world.
The ancient count of the visible stars was 1022, the gematria of bris kodesh, the holy covenant of circumcision. One who guards the covenant and keeps himself pure is above the stars: even if his signs foretell poverty or loss, his destiny changes through that merit.

Why look at the heavens at all

We cannot know Hashem Himself, only His works. A person who contemplates the size of the universe comes to stand in awe, and longs to praise Him. That is how the Rambam teaches us to come to love and fear of Hashem (Yesodei HaTorah 2:2).
It also brings humility. Seeing how little a person knows, he learns to be humble, as Moshe was, who said "what are we?" (Shemos 16:7) and was called the humblest of men.
The moon teaches charity. The rich are the "great light" and the poor the "small light." Just as the moon, with no light of its own, receives from the sun, the rich must let the poor receive from them.
The heavens never disobey. The sun has never risen in the west; the sea has never crossed its boundary. They have no reward and no punishment, and still they obey. How much more should we, who do.
Angels are pure form, without bodies. Their names describe their missions: Refael, "God heals," is the angel sent to heal. The Gemara (Berachos 4b) says Michael crosses the world in a single flight, Gabriel in two, Eliyahu in four, and the Angel of Death in eight, but in a time of plague in one.

Eclipses

Everything made on the fourth day is a sign for the world. An eclipse is a warning that there is anger on high because of people's sins, like a king who takes the lanterns away from servants who have angered him and leaves them in the dark. The Gemara (Sukkah 29a) lists the wrongs that bring it about. An eclipse is a call to teshuvah. And as the prophet says, when Israel does Hashem's will, it need not fear the signs of the heavens (Yirmiyahu 10:2).

Review questions

If light was created on the first day, what did the fourth day add, according to the Ramban?
Why is the moon smaller than the sun, and why does it have no light of its own?
Why does a fish need no shechitah, a bird one siman and an animal two?
What does the missing yud in the word taninim hint at?
Who merits the feast of the Livyasan, and what kind of feast is it?
Give two reasons why the fifth day never says "and it was so."
What is the bris kodesh, and how does it relate to the power of the stars?

Sources

Ramban on Bereshis 1:14 — the light of the first day formed into the sun and moon
Chullin 60b — the moon's complaint, and the stars given to comfort it
Chullin 27b — birds created from the mud of the sea; one siman for a bird
Shabbos 77b — nothing was created for nothing
Bava Basra 73b–74b — Rabbah bar bar Chanah's great fish; the Livyasan and its mate
Rashi on Bereshis 1:21 — the female Livyasan salted for the righteous
Sanhedrin 97a; Avodah Zarah 9a — the six thousand years
Rashi on Bereshis 1:22 — why the fish were blessed
Zohar, Bereishis 39b; Vayikra 9b; Zohar Chadash 11b — the seven earths
Bereishis Rabbah 13 — the four names of our world
Mesillas Yesharim, chapter 1 — the world rises and falls with man
Rambam, Hilchos Kiddush HaChodesh — the molad, the months and the leap year
Rambam, Yesodei HaTorah 2:2 and 3 — the spheres; contemplation leads to love and fear
Berachos 4b — the flight of the angels
Sukkah 29a — eclipses
Me'am Loez (The Torah Anthology, trans. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan), Bereshis vol. 1, chapters 3–5

Bereshis 2

The pesukim

Takeaways

The sun and the moon4:12

When creation began8:02

A world set exactly in place13:59

Nothing was created for nothing20:18

Rabbah bar bar Chanah's great fish23:33

Other readings of the "great taninim"27:34

Why the fifth day never says "and it was so"31:16

The blessing to multiply36:27

The seven earths38:26

The Jewish calendar59:29

The planets, the stars and the covenant1:00:16

Why look at the heavens at all41:12

Eclipses1:03:35