The Tent Of Heaven

From what place were the heavens created? From the light of the garment of the Holy One, blessed be He, with which He is clothed. He took of it and spread it out like a cloak, and they went on stretching until He said to them: Enough. For this reason His name is called Shaddai, because He said to the heavens, Enough (dai), and they stood still. And from where do we know that they were created from the light of His garment? As it is said (Psalms 104:2): "Who covers Himself with light as with a garment, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain." From what place was the earth created? From the snow that is beneath the Throne of Glory. He took it and cast it upon the waters, and the waters congealed and became the dust of the earth, as it is said (Job 37:6): "For He says to the snow, Be earth." The legs of the heavens are held fast in the waters of the ocean, for the waters of the ocean stand between the ends of the heavens and the ends of the earth, and the ends of the heavens are held fast upon the waters of the ocean. For the waters of the ocean are between the ends of the earth and the ends of the heavens, and the ends of the heavens are spread out upon the waters of the ocean, as it is said (Psalms 104:3): "Who lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters." The structure of the heavens rises upward in the shape of a ball. It is like a spread tent, its edges below and its center above, and all human beings dwell beneath it. So too are the heavens: their edges below and their center above, like a tent, as it is said (Isaiah 40:22): "And He spread them out like a tent to dwell in." There are four winds in the world: the wind of the eastern corner, the wind of the western corner, the wind of the southern corner, and the wind of the northern corner. The wind of the eastern corner: from there light goes forth to the world. The wind of the southern corner: from there dews of blessing and rains of blessing go forth to the world. The wind of the western corner: from there darkness goes forth to the world. The wind of the northern corner: from there the storehouses of snow and the storehouses of hail and cold and heat and rains go forth to the world. Another interpretation: the wind of the northern corner, He created it but did not finish it. He said: Whoever claims that he is a god, let him come and finish this corner that I have left, and then all will know that he is a god.