How did the Holy One blessed be He create His world? Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Holy One blessed be He took two skeins, one of fire and one of snow, mixed them with one another, and from them the world was created. Rabbi Ḥanina said: Four, for the four directions of the world. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: Six, four for the four directions and one for above and one for below.
Hadrian, may his bones be crushed, once asked Rabbi Yehoshua bar Ḥananya, saying to him: ‘How did the Holy One blessed be He create His world?’ He said to him in accordance with what Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said. He said to him: ‘Is it possible that it was so?’ This was a rhetorical question.
He took him into a small house and said to him: ‘Extend your hand to east, west, north, and south.’ He said to him: ‘Such was the action done by the Holy One blessed be He.’