Before the third day, the earth was a watery expanse. Then, God commanded, "Let the waters be gathered together," and suddenly, mountains and hills burst forth, creating basins for the water to collect. But the water, it seems, had a mind of its own! According to Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, the water resisted God's command, threatening to overflow the newly formed earth. Only when God forced the waters back and encircled the sea with sand did they relent. Now, anytime the water gets a little too ambitious, it sees the sand and remembers its boundaries.
This watery rebellion mirrors a celestial one. The angel of the sea, Rahab, also refused God's command to take in the water, declaring, "I have enough." The consequence? Death. Rahab's body, Ginzberg continues, now rests in the depths of the sea, its foul odor constantly dispelled by the surrounding water.
But the third day wasn't just about water control and rebellious angels. It was also the day plant life exploded onto the scene – terrestrial plants and, remarkably, the plants of Paradise itself! The towering cedars of Lebanon were among the first to be created. Filled with pride, they stretched towards the heavens, considering themselves the most favored. But God, as the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teaches us, hates arrogance. "I hate arrogance and pride, for I alone am exalted, and none beside," He declared, and on that very day, He created iron, the substance that would eventually bring those proud trees crashing down.
The trees, understandably, wept. "We cry because Thou hast created the iron to uproot us therewith," they lamented. "All the while we had thought ourselves the highest of the earth, and now the iron, our destroyer, has been called into existence." God, in His wisdom, offered a curious consolation: "You yourselves will furnish the axe with a handle. Without your assistance the iron will not be able to do aught against you." It’s a reminder that even our destroyers can't harm us without our unwitting participation.
A fascinating detail: God commanded trees alone to bear seed after their kind. But the grasses, ever the independent thinkers, reasoned that if God hadn't desired species distinctions, He wouldn't have instructed the trees to bear fruit after their kind. So, they too reproduced after their own kinds. This prompted the "Prince of the World" to exclaim, "Let the glory of the Lord endure forever; let the Lord rejoice in His works."
And then there's Paradise, the Gan Eden, the most significant creation of the third day. Imagine two gates of carbuncle, guarded by sixty myriads – that's 600,000 – of ministering angels, each shining with the light of the heavens. When a righteous person arrives, they're stripped of their burial clothes and dressed in seven garments of clouds of glory. They receive two crowns, one of precious stones and pearls, the other of gold of Parvaim, and eight myrtles for their hand. Angels sing praises, inviting them to "Go thy way, and eat thy bread with joy."
It gets even more idyllic. The righteous are led to a place of rivers, surrounded by eight hundred kinds of roses and myrtles. Each person has a canopy according to their merits, under which flow four rivers: milk, balsam, wine, and honey. Vines of gold hang from the canopy, adorned with thirty pearls that shine like Venus. Underneath, a table of precious stones and pearls awaits, attended by sixty angels who encourage them to partake, reminding them that they earned this joy through their devotion to Torah, sweeter than honey and more intoxicating than wine.
Even the least fair of the righteous are as beautiful as Joseph or Rabbi Johanan, radiant as silver pomegranates under the sun. There is no need for artificial light, "for the light of the righteous is the shining light." They even experience four transformations daily, reliving the joys of childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age.
Paradise teems with eighty myriads of trees in every corner, the most humble among them more exquisite than any spice tree. Angels sing with sweet voices, and in the center stands the Tree of Life, shading all of Paradise. It offers fifteen thousand different tastes and perfumes, and winds carry its fragrance to every corner of the world. Underneath, scholars gather to explain the Torah, sheltered by canopies of stars, sun, and moon, separated by curtains of glory.
Beyond Paradise lies Eden, containing three hundred and ten worlds and seven compartments for the pious, each group distinguished by their righteous deeds. This includes martyrs, those who drowned, disciples of Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, penitents, youths who never sinned, and the poor who lived lives of decency and Torah study. And in the midst of them all, God Himself expounds the Torah.
The sheer scale of Paradise is mind-boggling. Each of the seven divisions stretches twelve myriads of miles in width and length. The first division houses converts to Judaism, overseen by the prophet Obadiah. The second, made of silver, is for those who repented, presided over by Manasseh, the penitent son of Hezekiah. The third, built of silver and gold, is home to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Israelites who left Egypt, and David. Moses and Aaron lead this division.
The fourth division, built of rubies, houses the perfect and steadfast in faith. The fifth, adorned with silver, gold, and the river Gihon, is where the Messiah resides on a palanquin made of Lebanese wood, comforted by Elijah who tells him, "Be quiet, for the end draweth nigh." Patriarchs, kings, and even Korah and his company visit him, seeking solace and answers about the coming redemption. The sixth division is for those who died performing a pious act, and the seventh for those who died from illness as atonement for the sins of Israel.
So, what does this all mean? The third day is more than just about land and plants. It's about the consequences of obedience and rebellion, the surprising origins of our tools, and the incredible, almost unimaginable reward that awaits those who live righteously. It's a reminder that even in the earliest stages of creation, the seeds of both destruction and eternal bliss were being sown. And it leaves us pondering: what seeds are we planting today?
Up to this time the earth was a plain, and wholly covered with water. Scarcely had the words of God, "Let the waters be gathered together," made themselves heard, when mountains appeared all over and hills, and the water collected in the deep-lying basins. But the water was recalcitrant, it resisted the order to occupy the lowly spots, and threatened to overflow the earth, until God forced it back into the sea, and encircled the sea with sand. Now, whenever the water is tempted to transgress its bounds, it beholds the sand, and recoils. The waters did but imitate their chief Rahab, the Angel of the Sea, who rebelled at the creation of the world. God had commanded Rahab to take in the water. But he refused, saying, "I have enough." The punishment for his disobedience was death. His body rests in the depths of the sea, the water dispelling the foul odor that emanates from it. The main creation of the third day was the realm of plants, the terrestrial plants as well as the plants of Paradise. First of all the cedars of Lebanon and the other great trees were made. In their pride at having been put first, they shot up high in the air. They considered themselves the favored among plants. Then God spake, "I hate arrogance and pride, for I alone am exalted, and none beside," and He created the iron on the same day, the substance with which trees are felled down. The trees began to weep, and when God asked the reason of their tears, they said: "We cry because Thou hast created the iron to uproot us therewith. All the while we had thought ourselves the highest of the earth, and now the iron, our destroyer, has been called into existence." God replied: "You yourselves will furnish the axe with a handle. Without your assistance the iron will not be able to do aught against you." The command to bear seed after their kind was given to the trees alone. But the various sorts of grass reasoned, that if God had not desired divisions according to classes, He would not have instructed the trees to bear fruit after their kind with the seed thereof in it, especially as trees are inclined of their own accord to divide themselves into species. The grasses therefore reproduced themselves also after their kinds. This prompted the exclamation of the Prince of the World, "Let the glory of the Lord endure forever; let the Lord rejoice in His works." The most important work done on the third day was the creation of Paradise. Two gates of carbuncle form the entrance to Paradise, and sixty myriads of ministering angels keep watch over them. Each of these angels shines with the lustre of the heavens. When the just man appears before the gates, the clothes in which he was buried are taken off him, and the angels array him in seven garments of clouds of glory, and place upon his head two crowns, one of precious stones and pearls, the other of gold of Parvaim, and they put eight myrtles in his hand, and they utter praises before him and say to him, "Go thy way, and eat thy bread with joy." And they lead him to a place full of rivers, surrounded by eight hundred kinds of roses and myrtles. Each one has a canopy according to his merits, and under it flow four rivers, one of milk, the other of balsam, the third of wine, and the fourth of honey. Every canopy is overgrown by a vine of gold, and thirty pearls hang from it, each of them shining like Venus. Under each canopy there is a table of precious stones and pearls, and sixty angels stand at the head of every just man, saying unto him: "Go and eat with joy of the honey, for thou hast busied thyself with the Torah, and she is sweeter than honey, and drink of the wine preserved in the grape since the six days of creation, for thou hast busied thyself with the Torah, and she is compared to wine." The least fair of the just is beautiful as Joseph and Rabbi Johanan, and as the grains of a silver pomegranate upon which fall the rays of the sun. There is no light, "for the light of the righteous is the shining light." And they undergo four transformations every day, passing through four states. In the first the righteous is changed into a child. He enters the division for children, and tastes the joys of childhood. Then he is changed into a youth, and enters the division for the youths, with whom he enjoys the delights of youth. Next he becomes an adult, in the prime of life, and he enters the division of men, and enjoys the pleasures of manhood. Finally, he is changed into an old man. He enters the division for the old, and enjoys the pleasures of age. There are eighty myriads of trees in every corner of Paradise, the meanest among them choicer than all the spice trees. In every corner there are sixty myriads of angels singing with sweet voices, and the tree of life stands in the middle and shades the whole of Paradise. It has fifteen thousand tastes, each different from the other, and the perfumes thereof vary likewise. Over it hang seven clouds of glory, and winds blow upon it from all four sides, so that its odor is wafted from one end of the world to the other. Underneath sit the scholars and explain the Torah. Over each of them two canopies are spread, one of stars, the other of sun and moon, and a curtain of clouds of glory separates the one canopy from the other. Beyond Paradise begins Eden, containing three hundred and ten worlds and seven compartments for seven different classes of the pious. In the first are "the martyr victims of the government," like Rabbi Akiba and his colleagues; in the second those who were drowned; in the third Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai and his disciples; in the fourth those who were carried off in the cloud of glory; in the fifth the penitents, who occupy a place which even a perfectly pious man cannot obtain; in the sixth are the youths who have not tasted of sin in their lives; in the seventh are those poor who studied Bible and Mishnah, and led a life of self-respecting decency. And God sits in the midst of them and expounds the Torah to them. As for the seven divisions of Paradise, each of them is twelve myriads of miles in width and twelve myriads of miles in length. In the first division dwell the proselytes who embraced Judaism of their own free will, not from compulsion. The walls are of glass and the wainscoting of cedar. The prophet Obadiah, himself a proselyte, is the overseer of this first division. The second division is built of silver, and the wainscoting thereof is of cedar. Here dwell those who have repented, and Manasseh, the penitent son of Hezekiah, presides over them. The third division is built of silver and gold. Here dwell Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Israelites who came out of Egypt, and the whole generation that lived in the desert. Also David is there, together with all his sons except Absalom, one of them, Chileab, still alive. And all the kings of Judah are there, with the exception of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, who presides in the second division, over the penitents. Moses and Aaron preside over the third division. Here are precious vessels of silver and gold and jewels and canopies and beds and thrones and lamps, of gold, of precious stones, and of pearls, the best of everything there is in heaven. The fourth division is built of beautiful rubies, and its wainscoting is of olive wood. Here dwell the perfect and the steadfast in faith, and their wainscoting is of olive wood, because their lives were bitter as olives to them. The fifth division is built of silver and gold and refined gold, and the finest of gold and glass and bdellium, and through the midst of it flows the river Gihon. The wainscoting is of silver and gold, and a perfume breathes through it more exquisite than the perfume of Lebanon. The coverings of the silver and gold beds are made of purple and blue, woven by Eve, and of scarlet and the hair of goats, woven by angels. Here dwells the Messiah on a palanquin made of the wood of Lebanon, "the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom of gold, the seat of it purple." With him is Elijah. He takes the head of Messiah, and places it in his bosom, and says to him, "Be quiet, for the end draweth nigh." On every Monday and Thursday and on Sabbaths and holidays, the Patriarchs come to him, and the twelve sons of Jacob, and Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, and all the kings of Israel and of Judah, and they weep with him and comfort him, and say unto him, "Be quiet and put trust in thy Creator, for the end draweth nigh." Also Korah and his company, and Dathan, Abiram, and Absalom come to him on every Wednesday, and ask him: "How long before the end comes full of wonders? When wilt thou bring us life again, and from the abysses of the earth lift us?" The Messiah answers them, "Go to your fathers and ask them"; and when they hear this, they are ashamed, and do not ask their fathers. In the sixth division dwell those who died in performing a pious act, and in the seventh division those who died from illness inflicted as an expiation for the sins of Israel.
