Or HaGanuz: The Hidden Light
Bereshit 5785 Plaut p. 19
Source Sheet by Yair Robinson
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(1) When God began to create*When God began to create Others “In the beginning God created.” heaven and earth— (2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from*a wind from Others “the spirit of.” God sweeping over the water— (3) God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (4) God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light Day and called the darkness Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.*a first day Others “one day.” |
(א) בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ב) וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃ (ג) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃ (ד) וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ (ה) וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃ {פ} |
We prepare to read the first day of creation, and we note that the first thing that is created is light. Light and darkness. But as my teacher Rabbi Larry Kushner is apt to point out, this can’t be visual light, for after all, the sun, moon and stars—that is, our sources of light— aren’t created until the fourth day. So, what is this light? This is the light, the kabbalists and the Hasidic masters point out, was a primordial light, a moral light, God’s true light, the light, it was taught, that allowed a person to see from one end of reality to another. But we are taught that God, seeing the misdeeds of future generations, hid this light from everyone but the righteous. Where was the light hidden? We are taught—it was hidden in the Torah. And the rabbis asked: if we, in our study of Torah, discover some of that hidden light, that moral light, what should we do? And the answer came: we should reveal that light in the way we live.
There is enough darkness in the world to leave that light hidden, and we may feel helpless against that darkness we see in every corner. We could succumb to the darkness, or we could go back to our Torah, go back to learning, seek out that hidden light, and strive that much harder to reveal it in our actions, our choices, our lives. May it be so, Amen.