It’s a question that's captivated thinkers for millennia. And surprisingly, there's a bit of a debate about it, even in ancient rabbinic texts.
The verse that sparks this discussion is, of course, Genesis 1:3: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Seems straightforward, right? But, as Rabbi Yitzḥak cleverly points out, quoting Psalms 119:130, “Your opening words enlighten; they bring understanding [to the simple].” The very first utterance, the very first creative act, must be significant.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. We have two rabbis, Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, offering different interpretations, different perspectives on this initial burst of creation. Their discussion is recorded in Bereshit Rabbah, a foundational midrashic text, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis.
Rabbi Yehuda argues that light was created first. He uses a beautiful analogy: Imagine a king who wants to build a palace, but the chosen location is shrouded in darkness. What does he do? He lights lamps and lanterns to see how to lay the foundation properly. Similarly, according to Rabbi Yehuda, God created light first to provide illumination, to make everything else possible. It’s a practical, architectural perspective on creation.
But then, Rabbi Neḥemya offers a counter-argument. He suggests that the world was created first. His analogy is the reverse of Rabbi Yehuda’s: A king builds the palace first, and then adorns it with lamps and lanterns. In this view, light isn't the foundation, but rather an embellishment, a finishing touch to an already-existing creation.
Isn't that fascinating? Two rabbis, looking at the same verse, the same moment of creation, and seeing something different.
Bereshit Rabbah then tells us that Rabbi Yudan used the verse, “Your opening words enlighten” as support for the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda – that light indeed came first.
Then, Rabbi Pinḥas, Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Simon, and Rabbi Ḥanon chime in, invoking Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak. They take us back to that powerful verse from Psalms: “Your opening words enlighten; they bring understanding to the simple.” For them, the opening of God’s mouth itself was the light. The very act of divine speech, the utterance “Let there be light…” that was the illumination.
So, what does this all mean? We're left with a beautiful tapestry of interpretations. Was light created first as a practical necessity? Was the world created first, with light as an adornment? Or was the act of divine creation, the very word of God, itself the source of light?
Perhaps the answer lies in the question itself. Maybe the rabbis aren't trying to give us a definitive, black-and-white answer. Maybe they're inviting us to contemplate the mystery of creation, to wrestle with these ideas, and to find our own meaning in the words of the Torah. It reminds us that understanding isn't always about finding the one right answer, but about appreciating the richness and complexity of the questions themselves. And that, in itself, can be pretty illuminating.