The Talmud in Chagigah 12b asks a foundational question: what holds up the world? The answer, according to Rabbi Yosei, is a chain of impossible supports—each one resting on something even more extraordinary than itself.
The earth stands on pillars, as it says: "Who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble" (Job 9:6). The pillars stand on water (Psalms 136:6). The water stands on mountains (Psalms 104:6). The mountains rest on the wind (Amos 4:13). The wind rests on a storm (Psalms 148:8). And the storm hangs on the arm of the Holy One, Blessed be He (Deuteronomy 33:27). Everything, ultimately, is held in God's hands.
Other Sages disagreed on the number of pillars. The Rabbis said twelve—one for each of the tribes of Israel. Others said seven, based on (Proverbs 9:1): "She has hewn out her seven pillars." Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua said just one: a righteous person is the foundation of the world (Proverbs 10:25).
The passage also introduces a dramatic claim about angels. New angels are created every morning from the river of fire, the nehar dinur (נהר דינור). They emerge, sing a song of praise before God, and then cease to exist. Every day, a fresh chorus. Every day, a new hymn. No angel sings twice.
This teaching comes from (Lamentations 3:23): "They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." The verse is traditionally read as referring to God's mercies being renewed each day. The Talmud reads it as referring to the angels themselves—new voices, created at dawn, gone by nightfall.