With ten Sayings God created the world, although a single Saying would
have sufficed. God desired to make known how severe is the punishment
to be meted out to the wicked, who destroy a world created with as many
as ten Sayings, and how goodly the reward destined for the righteous,
who preserve a world created with as many as ten Sayings.[1]
The world was made for man, though he was the last-comer among its
creatures. This was design. He was to find all things ready for him.
God was the host who prepared dainty dishes, set the table, and then
led His guest to his seat. At the same time man's late appearance on
earth is to convey an admonition to humility. Let him beware of being
proud, lest he invite the retort that the gnat is older than he.[2]
The superiority of man to the other creatures is apparent in the very
manner of his creation, altogether different from theirs. He is the
only one who was created by the hand of God.[3] The rest sprang from
the word of God. The body of man is a microcosm, the whole world in
miniature, and the world in turn is a reflex of man. The hair upon his
head corresponds to the woods of the earth, his tears to a river, his
mouth to the ocean.[4] Also, the world resembles the ball of his eye:
the ocean that encircles the earth is like unto the white of the eye,
the dry land is the iris, Jerusalem the pupil, and the Temple the image
mirrored in the pupil of the eye.[5] But man is more than a mere image
of this world. He unites both heavenly and earthly qualities within
himself. In four he resembles the angels, in four the beasts. His power
of speech, his discriminating intellect, his upright walk, the glance
of his eye—they all make an angel of him. But, on the other hand, he
eats and drinks, secretes the waste matter in his body, propagates his
kind, and dies, like the beast of the field. Therefore God said before
the creation of man: "The celestials are not propagated, but they are
immortal; the beings on earth are propagated, but they die. I will
create man to be the union of the two, so that when he sins, when he
behaves like a beast, death shall overtake him; but if he refrains from
sin, he shall live forever."[6] God now bade all beings in heaven and
on earth contribute to the creation of man, and He Himself took part in
it. Thus they all will love man, and if he should sin, they will be
interested in his preservation.[7]
The whole world naturally was created for the pious, the God-fearing
man, whom Israel produces with the helpful guidance of the law of God
revealed to him.[8] It was, therefore, Israel who was taken into
special consideration at the time man was made. All other creatures
were instructed to change their nature, if Israel should ever need
their help in the course of his history. The sea was ordered to divide
before Moses, and the heavens to give ear to the words of the leader;
the sun and the moon were bidden to stand still before Joshua, the
ravens to feed Elijah, the fire to spare the three youths in the
furnace, the lion to do no harm to Daniel, the fish to spew forth
Jonah, and the heavens to open before Ezekiel.[9]
In His modesty, God took counsel with the angels, before the creation
of the world, regarding His intention of making man. He said: "For the
sake of Israel, I will create the world. As I shall make a division
between light and darkness, so I will in time to come do for Israel in
Egypt—thick darkness shall be over the land, and the children of Israel
shall have light in their dwellings; as I shall make a separation
between the waters under the firmament and the waters above the
firmament, so I will do for Israel—I will divide the waters for him
when he crosses the Red Sea; as on the third day I shall create plants,
so I will do for Israel—I will bring forth manna for him in the
wilderness; as I shall create luminaries to divide day from night, so I
will do for Israel—I will go before him by day in a pillar of cloud and
by night in a pillar of fire; as I shall create the fowl of the air and
the fishes of the sea, so I will do for Israel—I will bring quails for
him from the sea; and as I shall breathe the breath of life into the
nostrils of man, so I will do for Israel—I will give the Torah unto
him, the tree of life." The angels marvelled that so much love should
be lavished upon this people of Israel, and God told them: "On the
first day of creation, I shall make the heavens and stretch them out;
so will Israel raise up the Tabernacle as the dwelling-place of My
glory. On the second day, I shall put a division between the
terrestrial waters and the heavenly waters; so will he hang up a veil
in the Tabernacle to divide the Holy Place and the Most Holy. On the
third day, I shall make the earth put forth grass and herb; so will he,
in obedience to My commands, eat herbs on the first night of the
Passover, and prepare showbread for Me. On the fourth day, I shall make
the luminaries; so will he make a golden candlestick for Me. On the
fifth day, I shall create the birds; so will he fashion the cherubim
with outstretched wings. On the sixth day, I shall create man; so will
Israel set aside a man of the sons of Aaron as high priest for My
service."[10]
Accordingly, the whole of creation was conditional. God said to the
things He made on the first six days: "If Israel accepts the Torah, you
will continue and endure; otherwise, I shall turn everything back into
chaos again." The whole world was thus kept in suspense and dread until
the day of the revelation on Sinai, when Israel received and accepted
the Torah, and so fulfilled the condition made by God at the time when
He created the universe.[11]