What a Wonderful World
This time of year presents a philosophic conundrum, well, at least for me. We restart our annual Torah cycle with the readings of Breishit and Noach, and I always feel the need to ask: Why are we reading this? I feel little connection to these Torah readings. Emotionally, I only start getting interested and intensively invested with chapter 12: Avraham go forth towards Eretz Yisrael! Towards historic relevance! From there on I’m on board, but the first 11 chapters, not so much.
So what is the purpose of the first 11 chapters? The Netivot Shalom beautifully presents a fascinating proposition. The stories of Adam, Noach and the Generation of the Flood present us with three scenarios of human failure. The sins of Cain, the generation of the Flood and the builders of the Tower, and our beloved Patriarchs were the antidote (TIKUN) for those human failures, three failures, three Avot.
The first ever human failure is, of course, the eating of the Forbidden Fruit. That fiasco was not fixed by the Patriarchs. Only the entire Jewish nation can undo that damage. It could have happened at Sinai but for the Sin of the Golden Calf. So, we await Mashiach who will unite the Jews and bring humanity back to Eden.
This past year of unimaginable horrors and difficulties pushes towards another very famous explanation for these chapters. These chapters make us aware of the beauty and wonder which is our universe. Human frailty has compromised part of that beauty. Our hopes for future redemption include a dream of Paradise Regained.
To make my point I’m going to look at two verses, the first is from Chapter 1 of the Creation Canon:
And God saw all that had been made, and found it very good…(Breishit 1:31).
So, it was ‘very good’. Previously, God had declared that specific creations were TOV (good). What does the ‘very’ (MAOD) add?
The Sforno suggests:
The accomplishment of a project containing many different parts is greater than the accomplishment of each part of such a project successfully. Now that God had completed the entire project successfully, the Torah described this with the additional word MAOD instead of merely TOV. The whole is greater than the parts.
Cool! But many commentaries suggest that the word MAOD is an anagram for ADAM or human. The Ramban offers: This signifies their permanent existence. The meaning of the word MAOD is ‘mostly’. On this sixth day He added this word because God is speaking of creation in general which contains evil in some part of it.
So, the ‘goodness’ was so superior that it could suffer a small presence of evil. Why? Well, Prof. Umberto Cassuto suggests:
Here at the end of the Creation process, we have an extended and celebratory version of God’s approval. It points to a greater level of harmony which pervades the cosmos of God. Earlier it is said just KI TOV in relation to a specific item. Now God views ET KOL, the entirety of reality. Individual items are TOV, but when seen in its entirety every detail fits to make a general harmony. Even though some negative things exist they help form the perfect unity when viewed together (like mosquitoes as an individual item stinks, but when the cosmos is seen in its entirety even mosquitoes play a role).
We can now conclude that God wanted us to know that the universe began as a wonderful place. Do we have testimony to the continued excellence of our cosmos? Well, yes mostly from the Psalms. There are three wonderful examples of statements of how marvelous our world truly is. 1.How great are your works, O Lord, how profound your thoughts! (92:6); 2. O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creations (104:24); 3. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork (19:2).
I’d like to focus on the third verse. What is the declaration of the heavens? Rav Steinzaltz explained:
Understanding a universe that through its existence a person can sense the presence of God. It is not the act of creation which establishes this reality; rather it is the rhythm derived from the very existence of the universe. Therefore, the ‘heavens declare’, through their very existence. When a person stares at the sky there is a certain revelation of the Glory of God. The poet doesn’t come to reveal God amidst the world: For him the cosmos is an expression of Divine Revelation.
Rebbe Nachman claims:
For there is a song that corresponds to the natural order…This is the melody and song of the natural order, the properties of heaven, the songs and praises with which we extol God for the present manner of governance which directs the world through the natural order.
This beautiful concept of the ‘music’ of the heavens has been espoused by many astronomers. Johannes Keppler called it the Music of the Spheres, a harmonic song produced by the movement of the celestial bodies, stars, planets, comets, etc.
This reference to the beauty of nature requires us to appreciate the wonders of the world which God gave us. We express this awe in the blessings over natural phenomena. The Mishne teaches:
On seeing zikin [comets or shooting stars?], earthquakes, thunderclaps, storms and lightning one should say, blessed be he whose strength and might fill the world. On seeing mountains, hills, seas, rivers and deserts he should say, blessed be he who wrought creation.
There’s a famous story about Rav Shimshon Rephael Hirsch. Towards the end of his life, he surprised his students and followers by making an arduous journey to the Swiss Alps, some 500 km from his home in Frankfurt for the purpose of making this blessing over natural phenomena. He is supposed to have said: When I stand shortly before the Almighty, what will I say when God asks – and he is certain to ask – “Shimshon, did you see my Alps?”
We read the beginning of Breishit to remind us that God did, indeed, provide us with a Wonderful World. We should make the effort to appreciate it and thank God for its wonders.