The Upper Waters Held Aloft by the Divine Word

It is written, "who roofs His upper chambers with water" (Psalms 104:3). In the way of the world, a king of flesh and blood builds his palace and roofs it with wood, with stones, and with earth; does he roof it with water? But the Holy One, blessed be He, roofed His world only with water, as it is written, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters." The middle drop froze and the lower heavens and the heaven of heavens above were made. Rav said: the heavens were moist on the first day, and on the second they congealed. "Let there be a firmament" means let the firmament grow firm. Had it said "and He divided between the waters that are upon the firmament," I would have said the water is set upon the body of the firmament; but since it says "between the waters that are above the firmament," you must say the upper waters are suspended by command, like this lamp, and their fruit is the rains. A certain Samaritan asked Rabbi Meir: Is it possible that the upper waters are suspended by command? He said to him: Bring me a funnel. He brought it. He placed a plate of gold upon it and the water did not stay; a plate of silver, and the water did not stay; when he placed his finger upon it, the water stayed. He said to him: Are you putting your finger on it? He said: If I, who am flesh and blood, can hold up water with my finger, how much more the finger of the Holy One, blessed be He. Thus you must say the upper waters are suspended by command. He said to him: Is it possible that the One of whom it is written, "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" (Jeremiah 23:24), was speaking with Moses from between the poles of the ark? He said to him: Bring me large mirrors. He brought them. He said: Look at your reflection. He saw it large. He said: Bring me small mirrors. He brought them. He said: Look at your reflection. He saw it small. He said to him: If you, who are flesh and blood, can change your appearance to whatever you wish, then the One who spoke and the world came to be, how much more so. Sometimes the world and its fullness cannot contain His divinity; sometimes He speaks with a person from between the hairs of his head, as it is written, "And the LORD answered Job out of the storm" (Job 38:1), from between the hairs of his head. And again he asked him: Is it possible that "the channel of God is full of water" (Psalms 65:10) since the six days of creation and lacks nothing? He said to him: Go into the bathhouse and wash yourself and weigh yourself before you enter, and weigh yourself after you enter. He went and did so and lacked nothing. He said to him: All the sweat that came out, was it not from you? He said: Yes. He said to him: If you, flesh and blood, and your spring lacked nothing, how much more the spring of the Holy One, blessed be He. Rabbi Yochanan said: the Holy One, blessed be He, took all the waters of creation and placed half in the firmament and half in the ocean, as it is written, "the channel of God," half. The firmament resembles a pool, and above the pool is a dome, and it sweats thick drops, and they descend into the salt water and do not mix. Do not be astonished: this Jordan passes through the sea of Tiberias and does not mix with it. A man sifts wheat or straw in a sieve, and before they descend two or three fingers they mingle, yet these travel a journey of many years and do not mix. Every single drop that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings down to us He diminishes one from the other, as you say, "for He draws up the drops of water" (Job 36:27), and it is written, "and it shall be diminished from your valuation" (Leviticus 27:18). And He brings them down by measure, as it is said, "and He metes out the waters by measure" (Job 28:25). As the thickness of the earth, so is all the thickness of the firmament, as it is said, "who sits upon the circle of the earth" (Isaiah 40:22), and it is written, "and He walks on the circle of heaven" (Job 22:14): "circle" and "circle" by a verbal analogy [the matching word teaches a matching measure]. Rabbi Acha said: like this plate. Rabbi Yehoshua bar Nachmani said: two or three fingers. Rabbi Shimon ben Pazzi said: the upper waters exceed the lower by about thirty measures, for between "water" and "water" the letter lamed [whose numerical value is thirty] occurs. The Rabbis say: half and half. (Genesis 1:7) "And God made the firmament": this is one of the verses with which Ben Zoma shook the world. "And He made"? How astonishing, was it not by speech? as it is written, "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made" (Psalms 33:6). Why is "that it was good" not written on the second day? Because Gehinnom was created on it, as it is said, "for Tophet is set in order from yesterday" (Isaiah 30:33), a day that has a yesterday but not a day before. Rabbi Chanina says: because division was created on it, as it is said, "and let it divide between waters and waters." And if division that is for the order and settling of the world has "that it was good" not written of it, division for the confounding of the world how much more so.