It’s a question that has captivated Jewish thinkers for centuries. When God set about creating the world as we know it, what did God have to work with?
The tradition tells us that God drew upon six primordial elements: light, darkness, chaos, void, wind (or spirit – the ruach), and water. But where did these elements come from? That’s where things get interesting.
Did they already exist, patiently waiting for God to shape them? Were they leftovers from a previous, perhaps failed, attempt at creation? Or were they, like heaven and earth, created on the very first day? The debate goes way back.
The very idea of pre-existing elements—light, darkness, chaos, void, water, wind, the unfathomable deep—it raises a fundamental question, doesn’t it? Does it somehow diminish God’s singular accomplishment? If the raw materials were already there, does that make the act of creation less…divine?
And here’s a puzzle: the account of Creation in Genesis doesn’t explicitly mention the creation of these elements. So, how do we know God created them?
Well, Rabbi Gamaliel, in Genesis Rabbah, that magnificent collection of rabbinic interpretations, offers prooftexts to show that all seven elements were indeed created by God. He points to Isaiah 45:7, where God proclaims, “I form light and create darkness.” Case closed, right?
Not so fast.
That verse, as often happens with sacred texts, raises as many questions as it answers. The Hebrew is so precise and beautiful. The verse uses the verb yotzer, "form," for the creation of light, and borei, "create," for the creation of darkness. Now, think about it: to "form" something implies that the substance already exists in some fashion. To "create," borei, on the other hand, implies bringing something entirely new into being from nothing.
Could this be a hint that light, in some primordial form, pre-existed creation? As Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 3 suggests?
It’s a fascinating conundrum, isn’t it? Did light exist before God said, "Let there be light?" (Genesis 1:3) If so, what does that say about the nature of creation itself?
Perhaps the answer lies in understanding that creation isn't simply about bringing something from absolute nothingness. Maybe it’s about God taking the raw, unformed potential – the pre-existing light, the chaos, the void – and shaping it, ordering it, breathing life into it. Transforming potential into reality.
Maybe the existence of these primordial elements doesn’t diminish God’s role, but rather highlights the incredible artistry and power of God's transformative act. What do you think?