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IMO Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch's commentary on the first pasuk in
Bereishis gives fundamental insight into the was Yahadus views the world
as opposed to the way the gentile world views the world . Below are some
selections from this commentary. I have posted his entire commentary on
this pasuk at
<a href="http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/Bereshis_1_1.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/Bereshis_1_1.pdf</a><br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>Our verse, then, means: “In the
beginning of all existence, it was<br>
God Who created”; or, if we add to the predicate the two objects
that<br>
follow: “From the very beginning God created the heaven and the
earth.”<br>
In any event, “<i>Bereishis</i>” proclaims that nothing existed prior to
God’s<br>
act of creation, and that heaven and earth were created only through<br>
God’s Word. Scripture thus teaches us that the world was brought
into<br>
existence from nonexistence,
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Yeish Ma
ayin</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>. This constitutes
the basis of the<br>
conviction that the Torah seeks to instill within us.<br><br>
The opposite notion is the belief in the eternity of the world,
which<br>
is the cornerstone of pagan belief until this very day. This belief is
not<br>
only a metaphysical falsehood, a misrepresentation of the origin of
the<br>
universe, but even worse: it undermines all morality, and denies all<br>
freedom in both God and man. If matter had antedated Creation, then<br>
the Creator of the universe would have been able to fashion from the<br>
material given Him not a world that was absolutely good, but only
the<br>
best world possible within the limitations of the material. In that
case,<br>
all evil — natural and moral — would be due to the inherent
faultiness<br>
of the material, and not even God would be able to save the world
from<br>
evil, natural or moral. God would not be master over the material of<br>
the world, and man would not be master over his body. Freedom would<br>
vanish, and the whole world, including its God and the men who live<br>
in it, would be propelled by a blind, immutable fate.<br><br>
And just as God rules freely over His world, so has He made man<br>
master over his small world. God breathed into man a spark of His<br>
Own free essence, so that man should freely master his body and its<br>
forces. Thus, He created man in His image, in the free image of the<br>
free God; He placed man as an image of God in a world governed by<br>
His omnipotence.<br><br>
The world that was created
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Bereishis</i>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>is not the best one that can
be<br>
fashioned with the given material; rather, it is the only good
world.<br>
This world — with all its seeming flaws — corresponds with the wise<br>
plan of the Creator; He could have created a different world, had
such<br>
a world corresponded with His Will. Man who was created
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>Bereishis
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>—<br>
with all his moral shortcomings — has the ability to attain the
moral<br>
perfection set before him by the Creator. The possibility of sinning
is<br>
part of his moral perfection; it is a basic condition for his moral
freedom.<br>
Both, the world and man, will reach the highest ideal of the good,<br>
for which both were created. They will achieve this level of good
because<br>
God, Who has placed this goal before them, has created them both for<br>
this goal, in accordance with His free and unlimited Will. He could<br>
have created a different creation, a different world and a different
man,<br>
had this served the purpose that He set before them in freedom.<br>
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