Jewish tradition is rich with answers to these questions, and Shemot Rabbah, a classical Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) text, offers a fascinating glimpse into the Divine blueprint of creation.
"This month shall be for you" – that’s how the Torah introduces the month of Nissan, the month of Passover, the month of freedom. But what does it really mean? The text connects this to a verse in Psalms, "He made the moon for festivals; the sun knows its setting" (Psalms 104:19). According to this interpretation in Shemot Rabbah, the verse hints at a deeper understanding of God's actions as they are recorded in the Torah. the text suggests that some of Moses's descriptions are, shall we say, a bit cryptic, leaving room for later interpretation. And who steps up to the plate? None other than King David, the sweet singer of Israel, who clarifies these mysteries!
Take the very beginning, the act of Creation itself. Genesis tells us, "In the beginning God created [the heavens and the earth]" (Genesis 1:1), and then, "God said: Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3). But David, in Psalm 104, offers a different sequence: "He covers Himself with light like a garment" (Psalms 104:2), and then, "He stretches the heavens like a curtain" (Psalms 104:2). According to this understanding, light came first, then the heavens. It's like God wrapped Himself in light and then unfurled the universe!
But wait, there's more! The Midrash continues, "Three creations preceded the world: Water, air [ruaḥ], and fire." Ruaḥ, that amazing Hebrew word that can mean air, wind, or even spirit! Each of these elements then gave birth to something else: water to darkness, fire to light, and ruaḥ to wisdom. With these six creations – spirit, wisdom, fire, light, darkness, and water – the world is sustained. It’s a beautiful, interconnected web of existence.
And this leads to a profound sense of awe. "May my soul bless the Lord. Lord my God, You are very great" (Psalms 104:1), David proclaims. The text then poses a thought-provoking analogy: "A person sees a beautiful pillar and says: Blessed is the quarry from which this was quarried." The world is beautiful, so blessed is the Omnipresent who brought it forth! : We marvel at human creations, but how much more should we marvel at the ultimate Creator?
The Midrash contrasts human creation with Divine creation. A human artist etches an image on a tablet, but the tablet is always larger than the image. God, however, is different. God’s image, so to speak, is greater than the world itself! As it says in Isaiah, "For the Lord is God, an everlasting Rock [tzur olamim]" (Isaiah 26:4). Tzur olamim – the Rock of the Ages. Relative to Him, the two worlds – olamim, this world and the World to Come – are as nothing. That's why David exclaims, "Lord my God, You are very great."
The text goes on to describe how God fashioned the world, building upon the atmosphere, installing His chariots of clouds, and placing His dais on the storm. And who reveals all this to us? Again, it's David, who explains the deeds of God to inform all humanity of His might.
The Midrash then draws another contrast between human and Divine construction. A person builds a house and then adds an upper story. But God? He built the roof, then the upper story, and then positioned it all on the atmosphere of the world, on nothing! It’s mind-boggling! And these upper stories aren't made of stone, but of layers of water.
Consider chariots, too. We build strong chariots of iron or bronze to bear burdens. But God makes clouds His chariots, light and ephemeral as they are. And while we walk on solid ground, God walks on the invisible wind.
The text even delves into the creation of angels and Gehenna, often translated as hell. On the second day of creation, the day that lacked the phrase "that it was good," God created Gehenna. Why? So that if people sin, they will have a place to descend. It's a sobering thought, but it underscores the importance of our choices.
The narrative then shifts to the third day, the creation of dry land. God gathered the waters, exposing the earth and covering the depths. But the waters protested! Where would they go? So, God kicked Ocean, personified here as a monstrous being, and crushed Rahav (Job 26:12). Some say Ocean cries to this day. But God is destined to heal even the Dead Sea, as it is written in Ezekiel: "To the sea it will flow, and the water will be healed" (Ezekiel 47:8).
The waters, scattered and confused, were eventually directed to their proper place, the place of leviathan, the mythical sea monster. God set a boundary, a line in the sand, that the sea may not cross. It's a powerful image of divine order and control.
Finally, the Midrash returns to the moon and the festivals. "He made the moon for festivals," David declares. The sun and moon travel through windows in the firmament, but the moon doesn't enter all of them. The sun is considered greater, because the solar year is longer than the lunar year. But the moon, with its waxing and waning, serves as a reminder of Israel's own cycles of growth and decline, always ultimately returning.
So, what does all this mean for us? It's a reminder that the world around us is not just a random collection of objects, but a carefully crafted masterpiece, infused with Divine wisdom and purpose. It invites us to look beyond the surface, to see the hand of God in every aspect of creation, and to appreciate the profound interconnectedness of all things. As we celebrate the festivals, let us remember the moon, the sun, and the light that shines within us all.
Another interpretation: “This month shall be for you” – that is what is written: “He made the moon for festivals; the sun knows its setting” (Psalms 104:19). There are many [of God’s] deeds that Moses recorded in the Torah that are unclear and David arose and explained them. We find in the act of Creation, that when He created the heavens and the earth, He created light, as it is stated: “In the beginning God created [the heavens and the earth]” (Genesis 1:1), and afterward: “God said: Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). David explained it: After God created light, He created the heavens, as it is stated: “He covers Himself with light like a garment” (Psalms 104:2), and then, “He stretches the heavens like a curtain” (Psalms 104:2). Here we have learned that after He created light He created the heavens. Three creations preceded the world: Water, air [ruaḥ],51The Hebrew word ruaḥ can mean air, wind, or spirit. and fire. Water became pregnant and gave birth to darkness. Fire became pregnant and gave birth to light. Air became pregnant and gave birth to wisdom. With these six creations the world is conducted, with spirit, with wisdom, with fire, with light, with darkness, and with water. That is why David said: “May my soul bless the Lord. Lord my God, You are very great” (Psalms 104:1). A person sees a beautiful pillar and says: Blessed is the quarry from which this was quarried. The world is beautiful; blessed is the Omnipresent who quarried it and created it with speech, happy are you O world, that the Holy One blessed be He reigns over you. [A person of] flesh and blood etches [tzar] his image on a wooden tablet, and the tablet is larger than his image. God, may His name be blessed, is great, and His image is great. The world is small, and He is greater than the world, as it is stated: “For the Lord is God, an everlasting Rock [tzur olamim]” (Isaiah 26:4).52In contrast to an image created by flesh and blood, where the image is necessarily smaller than the object upon which it is drawn, God’s image is greater than the world. What is taught when Scripture states: Tzur olamim? Relative to Him, the two worlds [olamim]53This world and the World to Come. are considered nothing. That is why it is stated: “Lord my God, You are very great.” After He covered Himself with light, He then created the world, as it is stated: “He covers Himself with light like a garment; [He stretches the heavens like a curtain]” (Psalms 104:2). [A person of] flesh and blood, after he builds the house, he builds the upper story. God is not like that; after He built the roof, He built the upper story, and after He built the upper story, He positioned it on the atmosphere of the world, on nothing. Then He installed His chariots, clouds; and then His dais on the storm. Who informs you about all these matters? It is David, who explained the deeds of God to inform all humanity of His might, as it is stated: “He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot” (Psalms 104:3); not from copper, not from iron, but with balconies of water. Then He constructed the upper stories, not from stone and not from hewed stone, but from layers of water, as it is stated: “He lays the beams of Your upper chambers in the waters.” [A person of] flesh and blood makes his chariot strong to bear his entire burden, and he makes it from iron, bronze, silver, or gold. But God, may His name be blessed, a cloud has no substance, and He makes clouds His chariots, as it is stated: “He makes the clouds His chariot.” Flesh and blood, if there was a muddy path before him, he walks on stones that are hard. But God is not so; rather, He leaves the visible cloud and walks on the invisible wind, as it is stated: “Who walks upon the wings of the wind” (Psalms 104:3). Flesh and blood conscripts strong, powerful soldiers capable of wearing helmets, and armor, and weapons. But the Holy One blessed be He conscripted His soldiers that are invisible, as it is stated: “Who makes winds His messengers” (Psalms 104:4). The wind emerges, followed by lightning, as it is stated: “The flaming fire His servants” (Psalms 104:4). After He created the sky, He created angels on the second day, and on that same day He created Gehenna, as “that it was good,” is not written about it [the second day]. Like [a person of] flesh and blood who acquires slaves and says [to his associates]: ‘Make swords.’ They say to him: ‘Why?’ He says to them: ‘So if they rebel, they will receive a death sentence.’ So, the Holy One blessed be He said: I created Gehenna [on the second day], about which “that it was good” is not written, so if people sin, they will descend into it. From where is it derived that Gehenna was created on the second day? It is as the prophet explains: “For Hell has been prepared from yesterday” (Isaiah 30:33), from the day that a person could say yesterday. When would a person be able to say yesterday? It is on the second day, as the first day of the week precedes it. Afterward, He created dry land on the third day, as it is stated: “He established the earth upon its foundations” (Psalms 104:5). At that moment, one was naked and one was clothed, like [a person of] flesh and blood who has two servants; he stripped the garment off of one and clothed the other with it. So, God said: “Let the waters be gathered” (Genesis 1:9) – He exposed the earth and covered the depths. So said David: “You covered the depths as with a garment” (Psalms 104:6). “From Your rebuke they flee” (Psalms 104:7) – like flesh and blood who saw his winepress filled with grapes and a vineyard to harvest. People said to him: ‘Where will you put the rest of the grapes, since the winepress is small?’ He said to them: ‘I will make a winepress that will hold all the grapes in the vineyard.’ What did he do? He trampled the grapes and trod on one [pile] after another, and then brought the grapes that were in the vineyard, and the winepress held all the grapes.54The winepress could not contain all the grapes at once but could contain all the juice. So, the entire world was filled with water, and the earth was immersed in the water. The Holy One blessed be He said: “Let the dry land appear” (Genesis 1:9). The waters said: ‘We fill the world, and until now it is crowded for us; where will we go?’ May His name be blessed, He kicked Ocean and killed it, as it is stated: “With His power, He calmed the sea, and with His understanding, He crushed [maḥatz] Rahav” (Job 26:12). Maḥatz means nothing other than killing, as it is stated: “She crushed [maḥatza] and pierced his temple” (Judges 5:26).55This is a description of how Yael killed Sisera. When he killed it, some say that it is crying until today, as it is stated: “Have you entered into the springs of [nivkhei]56The midrash reads nivkhei as though it derives from the term bekhi, weeping. the sea?” (Job 38:16). Why did He kill them? It is because a house that holds one hundred living people holds one thousand dead. That is why Ocean is called the Dead Sea; but the Holy One blessed be He is destined to heal it, as it is stated: “To the sea it will flow, and the water will be healed” (Ezekiel 47:8). When the rest of the waters saw that He kicked Ocean, its fellows fled at the sound of its scream. It is like a donkey driver of flesh and blood who was walking and there were two servants in front of him; [when the donkey driver whips the donkeys], those [servants] in front [of the donkeys] run and flee. So, the rest of the water in the world fled at the sound of the scream of Ocean, as it is stated: “From Your rebuke they flee.” They fled, but they did not know to where they were fleeing, as it is stated: “They rose to the mountains, descended in the valleys, to this place You established for them” (Psalms 104:8). It is like a servant of flesh and blood to whom his master said: ‘Wait for me in the marketplace,’ but did not tell him where to wait. The servant began saying: Perhaps he told me to wait for him near the basilica, perhaps he told me near the bathhouse, or perhaps he told me alongside the platform. He [the master] entered [the city], found him and slapped him. He said to him: ‘I sent you to the gate of the prefect’s palace.’ So, the waters were wandering, when they heard that He said to them: “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place” (Genesis 1:9). He did not say to them to the north or to the south, but rather they scattered, “they rose to the mountains, descended in the valleys.” The Holy One blessed be He slapped them. He said to them: ‘I said to you to go to the place of the leviathan.’ From where that it is so? It is as it is stated: “To this place You established for them” (Psalms 104:8), and that is the place of leviathan, as it is stated: “This leviathan, whom You created to frolic in it [the sea]” (Psalms 104:26). “You set a boundary that they may not cross” (Psalms 104:9). Like flesh and blood that put his animal into a pen and locked the gate before it so it would not go out and graze on the grain. So, the Holy One blessed be He locked the sea with sand and administered an oath to it that it would not go beyond the sand, as it is stated: “That I placed the sand as the boundary of the sea” (Jeremiah 5:22). “Who sends springs through the ravines” (Psalms 104:10) – like [a person of] flesh and blood who has baskets [for the pressing] of olives. He pressed the beam onto them, and the oil came out from above and oil descended below. So, the mountain from this side and the mountain from that side press on the springs and they burst forth and emerge from between the mountains. That is why it is written: “Who sends springs through the ravines.” Afterward, what did David say? “He made the moon for festivals” (Psalms 104:19) – the Holy One blessed be He created three hundred and sixty-five windows in the firmament; one hundred and eighty-three in the east and one hundred and eighty-two in the west; some of them He created for the sun and some of them He created for the moon, so that the world would follow it. The sun goes through all of them, as does the moon except for eleven windows that the moon does not enter any of them. This is like a prefect and a duke who were receiving gifts. The prefect took commensurate with his honor and the duke commensurate with his honor. So, the sun is called great and the moon is called small. This is why the sun is called great, because it is eleven days greater than the moon.57The solar year is roughly eleven days longer than twelve lunar months. This is why He created the moon for the festivals, so that Israel would increase and decrease like the moon [waxes and wanes]. But this [waxing and waning] is not harmful to it [the moon], but it is for the setting of the festivals.58Similarly, though Israel’s fortunes increase and diminish, it will ultimately prevail. All the years are counted by the sun [by the solar calendar], the years of the world and the years of [the lives of] people, and it [the sun] knows the span of every person, how long he saw the sun. All this to say that He created the moon for the festivals? David rose and explained: “He made the moon for the festivals.” They said to David: ‘While we were in Egypt, we received [the consecration of] the month by the moon’; that is what is written: “This month shall be for you” (Exodus 12:2).
