Jewish tradition offers a fascinating possibility: that at the very beginning, God created not one world, but two.
Think about that for a moment. Two worlds, springing forth from the very essence of the Divine. Where does this idea come from? Well, it's tied to the most sacred name of God, the Tetragrammaton, usually written as YHVH. These four Hebrew letters are so holy, we don't even pronounce them directly. The Zohar tells us that these letters hold incredible power, and that two worlds came into being from the first two letters.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. Which letters, specifically, were used to create which world? Some say that this world – Olam ha-Zeh, the world of here and now – was created with the letter heh. While the World to Come – Olam ha-Ba – was created with the letter yod. This idea is linked to the verse in Genesis (2:1), "The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array."
But hold on! It's not quite that simple.
There's a rabbinic debate about this very point. Midrash Tehillim 114:3 throws a curveball, declaring that no one is actually certain which letter was used for which creation. It has remained a mystery, to this day. All that is known is that with those two letters God brought two worlds into being.
Why the ambiguity? Why the uncertainty surrounding something so fundamental? Perhaps it's a reminder that some aspects of creation are simply beyond our grasp, mysteries meant to inspire awe and wonder rather than definitive answers.
As we find in Midrash Tehillim 62:1, this myth of two worlds is linked to the verse, "Truly my soul waits quietly for God" (Psalm 62:2). It then adds, "Know you upon whom you wait? Upon Him who created two worlds with the letters of His Name: with yod and heh He created worlds, this world and the World to Come."
Interestingly, not everyone agrees that there are two distinct worlds created separately. Genesis Rabbah 1:15 recounts a lively debate between the schools of Shammai and Hillel – two major schools of thought in Jewish history – about whether heaven or earth was created first.
Shammai's school argued that heaven came first, like a king who first makes his throne. Hillel's school countered that earth came first, like a king building a palace who starts with the foundation. Rabbi Simeon wisely observed that they were likely created simultaneously, like a pot and its lid.
Eliyahu Rabbah echoes this idea of simultaneous creation, suggesting that God created the heavens and the earth at the same time, in their entirety, shaping and perfecting them together.
So, what does all this mean?
Whether you believe in two distinct worlds or a single, unified creation, the underlying message is one of profound connection. We are part of something vast and mysterious, a creation that extends beyond our immediate perception. Maybe the real question isn't how the worlds were created, but how we choose to live in the world – or worlds – we inhabit.