The Torah's Introductions - Bereshit

(1) In the name of the great G-d, and the fearful,¹Daniel 9:4. It could not be Deuteronomy 10:17 since there the attribute mighty is mentioned. It is possible that the author chose the verse from Daniel rather than that of Deuteronomy in order to allude to the rest of the verse there: And I prayed unto the Eternal my G-d, and made confession and said, O, Eternal the great and fearful G-d, and Who keepest the covenant and mercy with them that love Thee and keep Thy commandments. There is thus here an allusion to a prayer for G-d’s mercy in the author’s work before him. I will begin to write novel interpretations On the explanation of the Torah, With terror, with fear, With trembling, with sweat, with dread,²See Berachoth 22 a, where it is explained that these are the ways in which the Torah was given and by which it was studied. Praying and confessing With a humble heart and a broken spirit, Asking forgiveness, Seeking pardon and atonement,³That is, in case he errs in his interpretations and especially in his refuting the opinions of the other masters. With bowing to the ground, With kneeling, with prostration, Until all the vertebrae of the spine Seem to be loosened.⁴Berachoth 28 b. And that my soul knoweth right well,⁵Psalms 139:14. In clear awareness, That the egg of the ant is not as small In comparison to the outermost sphere As is my little wisdom And brief knowledge Against the hidden matters of the Torah⁶A reference to the Cabala — the mystic teachings of the Torah — elements of which the author intends to include in his commentary, but here he confesses his brief knowledge thereof. That lie hidden in her house, Concealed in her room; For every precious thing and every wonder, Every profound mystery and all glorious wisdom Are stored up with her, Sealed up in her treasure By a hint, by a word, In writing and in speaking; Just as the prophet — who was adorned With royal garments and a crown, The annointed of the G-d of Jacob,⁷II Samuel 23:1. The author of the sweetest of songs — said: I have seen an end To every purpose; But Thy commandment Is exceedingly broad,⁸Psalms 119:96. And it is said, Thy testimonies are wonderful; Therefore doth my soul keep them.⁹Ibid., Verse 129. (2) But what shall I do Since my soul craves for Torah And she is in my heart As a consuming, burning fire¹⁰See Jeremiah 20:9. In my kidneys restrained; To go forth in the steps Of the former ones, The lions of the group,¹¹A reference to the most distinguished scholars of the generations. The exalted of the generations, The men of might;¹²That is, in their knowledge of the Torah. “A man of might” is he who knows to answer in a discussion of the Torah. (Sanhedrin 93 b.) To enter with them “The thickest part of the beam,¹³The heart of the problem. To write as they did Explanations of the verses, And Midrashic interpretations On the precepts, And the Agadah [homily], Ordered in all things, and sure.¹⁴II Samuel 23:5. The preceding part of the verse reads: For an everlasting covenant he hath made with me. Ramban thus suggests that his part in the Torah was assured from on high, and therefore he need not fear to go forth in the steps of the former giants of the Torah. I will place as an illumination before me The lights of the pure candelabrum,¹⁵Exodus 31:8. The commentaries of our Rabbi Shlomo [Rashi], A crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty,¹⁶Isaiah 28:5. Adorned in his ways, In Scripture, Mishnah and Gemara. The right of the first-born is his.¹⁷Deuteronomy 21:17. A reference to the fact that Rashi’s commentary to the Torah was the first great commentary to be accepted by all Israel. In his words will I meditate, And in their love will I ravish,¹⁸See Proverbs 5:19. And with them we will have Discussions, investigations and examinations, In his plain explanations And Midrashic interpretations, And every difficult Agadah Which is mentioned in his commentaries. And with Abraham the son of Ezra We shall have open rebuke and hidden love.¹⁹Ibid., 27:5. The exact quotation: Better is open rebuke than love that is hidden. Ramban thus suggests that while he will criticize Ibn Ezra openly on many of his interpretations, yet his admiration of his work will not be lessened. (3) And G-d Whom alone I shall fear He shall save me from the day of wrath.²⁰Zephaniah 1:15. He shall keep me from mistakes And from all sin and transgression, And He shall lead me in the straight way And open for us the gates of light, And He shall deem us worthy To see the day of tidings,²¹“The day of tidings” was to Ramban a reality which was to transpire in the very near future. See his commentary further, 2:3, towards the end of the verse. As it is written: How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of the messenger of good tidings That announceth peace, The harbinger of good tidings That announceth salvation, That saith to Zion: ‘Thy G-d reigneth.’²²Isaiah 52:7. (4) Thy word is tried to the uttermost, And Thy servant loveth it.²³Psalms 119:140. (5) Thy righteousness Is an everlasting righteousness, And Thy law is truth.²⁴Ibid., Verse 142. (6) Thy testimonies are righteous forever; Give me understanding, And I shall live.²⁵Ibid., Verse 44. (See my Hebrew commentary, p. 20, for the reason why Ramban mentions these three verses from Psalms.)

Moses our teacher wrote this book of Genesis together with the whole Torah from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He. It is likely that he wrote it on Mount Sinai for there it was said to him, Come up to Me unto the mount, and be there; and I will give thee the tablets of stone and the Torah and the commandment which I have written, to teach them.¹Exodus 24:12. The tablets of stone include the tablets and the writing that are the ten commandments. The commandment includes the number of all the commandments, positive and negative. If so, the expression and the Torah includes the stories from the beginning of Genesis [and is called Torah — teaching] because it teaches people the ways of faith.

Upon descending from the mount, he [Moses] wrote the Torah from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the account of the tabernacle. He wrote the conclusion of the Torah at the end of the fortieth year of wandering in the desert when he said [by command of G-d], Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Eternal your G-d.²Deuteronomy 31:26. This view accords with the opinion of the Talmudic sage who says³Gittin 60 a. The name of the authority is Rabbi Yochanan. that the Torah was written in sections.⁴When a section was declared to Moses, he immediately wrote it down. When all the sections were completed, he compiled them together into one Torah. Rashi, Ibid. However, according to the sage who says that the Torah was given in its entirety,⁵Resh Lakish is the authority who maintains that Moses wrote the whole Torah at one time after all sections had been given to him intermittently during the forty years and were properly systematized in his mind. everything was written in the fortieth year when he [Moses] was commanded, Now write ye this song for you and teach it unto the children of Israel; put it in their mouths,⁶Deuteronomy 31:19. and, as he was further instructed, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Eternal your G-d.²Deuteronomy 31:26.

In either case it would have been proper for him to write at the beginning of the book of Genesis: “And G-d spoke to Moses all these words, saying.” The reason it was written anonymously [without the above introductory phrase] is that Moses our teacher did not write the Torah in the first person like the prophets who did mention themselves. For example, it is often said of Ezekiel, And the word of the Eternal came unto me saying: ‘Son of man,’⁷Ezekiel 3:16—17; 12:1, etc. and it is said of Jeremiah, And the word of the Eternal came unto me.⁸Jeremiah 1:4. Moses our teacher, however, wrote this history of all former generations and his own genealogy, history and experiences in the third person. Therefore he says And G-d spoke to Moses, saying to him⁹Exodus 6:2. as if he were speaking about another person. And because this is so, Moses is not mentioned in the Torah until his birth, and even at that time he is mentioned as if someone else was speaking about him.

Now do not find a difficulty in the matter of Deuteronomy wherein he [Moses] does speak about himself — [as he says,] And I besought the Eternal;¹⁰Deuteronomy 3:23. And I prayed unto the Eternal,¹¹Ibid., 9:26. — for the beginning of that book reads: These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel.¹²Ibid., 1:1. Thus throughout Deuteronomy he is like one who narrates things in the exact language in which they were spoken.

The reason for the Torah being written in this form [namely, the third person] is that it preceded the creation of the world,¹³Shabbath 88 b. and, needless to say, it preceded the birth of Moses our teacher. It has been transmitted to us by tradition that it [the Torah] was written with letters of black fire upon a background of white fire.¹⁴Yerushalmi Shekalim 13 b. See also Rashi on Deuteronomy 33:2. Thus Moses was like a scribe who copies from an ancient book, and therefore he wrote anonymously. However, it is true and clear that the entire Torah — from the beginning of Genesis to in the sight of all Israel¹⁵Deuteronomy 34:12. [the last words in Deuteronomy] — reached the ear of Moses from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, just as it is said elsewhere, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.¹⁶Jeremiah 36:18. Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, is explaining the manner in which he wrote down his master’s prophecies: he [Jeremiah] pronounced all these words, etc.

G-d informed Moses first of the manner of the creation of heaven and earth and all their hosts, that is, the creation of all things, high and low. Likewise [He informed him of] everything that has been said by prophecy concerning the esoterics of the Divine Chariot [in the vision of Ezekiel]¹⁷Ezekiel, Chapter 1. and the process of Creation, and what has been transmitted about them to the Sages. [Moses was informed about these] together with an account of the four forces in the lower world: the force of minerals, vegetation in the earth, living motion, and the rational soul. With regard to all of these matters — their creation, their essence, their powers and functions, and the disintegration of those of them that are destroyed¹⁸The rational soul in man is not subject to destruction. Hence Ramban writes of “those of them that are destroyed,” not all. — Moses our teacher was apprised, and all of it was written in the Torah, explicitly or by implication. Now our Sages have already said:¹⁹Rosh Hashanah 21 b. “Fifty gates [degrees] of understanding were created in the world, and all were transmitted to Moses with one exception, as it is said, Thou hast made him but little lower than the angels.”²⁰Psalms 8:6.

[Concerning this statement of the Sages] that in the creation of the world there are fifty gates of understanding, it is as if it said that there is one gate of understanding pertaining to the creation of the minerals, their force and their effects, one gate of understanding pertaining to the creation of the vegetation in the earth, and similarly, as regards the creation of trees, beasts, fowl, creeping things and fish, that there pertains to each of these one gate of understanding. This series culminates in the creation of the rational soul [for the gate pertaining to this latter creation] enables man to contemplate the secret of the soul, to know its essence and its power in “its palace” [namely, the body]²¹See Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Deuteronomy 32:2, which states that the body is the palace of the soul. and to attain [that degree of understanding] which is alluded to in the saying of the Sages:²²Heichaloth Rabboth 1:3. “If a person stole, he [who has the aforesaid understanding] knows and recognizes it on him; if a person committed adultery, he knows and recognizes it on him; if one is suspected of having intercourse with a woman in her state of uncleanness, he knows and recognizes it on him. Greater than all is he who recognizes all masters²³“Masters”; in Heichaloth Rabboth: “kinds.” of witchcraft.” And from [that level of understanding] a man can ascend to the understanding of the spheres, the heavens and their hosts, for pertaining to each of these there is one gate of wisdom which is unlike the wisdom of the others. The total number of different gates as ascertained by tradition is fifty less one. It is possible that this fiftieth gate concerns a knowledge of the Creator, blessed be He, which is not transmittable to any created being. Pay no regard to the Sages’ saying that [“Fifty gates of understanding] were created,”²⁴Since the fiftieth gate of understanding was never transmitted to any created being, how could the Sages say that fifty “were created”? The answer is that the statement relates to the majority of the gates. for that statement relates to the majority even though one gate was indeed not created. This number [49] is clearly alluded to in the Torah in the counting of the Omer,²⁵Leviticus 23:15:Seven weeks shall there be complete…. and in the counting of the Jubilee,²⁶Ibid. 25:8. the secrets of which I will disclose when I attain thereto by the Will of the Holy One, blessed be He.

Everything that was transmitted to Moses our teacher through the forty-nine gates of understanding was written in the Torah explicitly or by implication in words, in the numerical value of the letters or in the form of the letters, that is, whether written normally or with some change in form such as bent or crooked letters and other deviations, or in the tips of the letters and their crownlets, as the Sages have said:²⁷Menachoth 29 b. “When Moses ascended to heaven he found the Holy One, blessed be He, attaching crownlets to certain letters of the Torah. He [Moses] said to Him, ‘What are these for?’ He [G-d] said to him, ‘One man is destined to interpret mountains of laws on their basis.’”²⁸Ibid. Moses said to G-d: “Show me this man.” G-d showed him Rabbi Akiba sitting with eight ranks of disciples. Moses sat down in the eighth rank but was not able to follow the discussions, a fact which deeply grieved him. But then he heard the disciples asking Rabbi Akiba, “Whence dost thou know this?” See now in text of Ramban. “‘Whence dost thou know this?’ He [Rabbi Akiba] answered them: ‘This is a law given to Moses on Mount Sinai.’”²⁹Now Moses was content. Ibid. For these hints cannot be understood except from mouth to mouth [through an oral tradition which can be traced] to Moses, who received it on Sinai.

Based on this tradition, the Sages have said in Shir Hashirim Rabbah³⁰Not found in our text. See, however, Shir Hashirim Rabbah 3:3, and see also my Hebrew commentary, p. 4, for further reference on this matter. concerning King Hezekiah [when he was visited by a delegation from the king of Babylon]:³¹Isaiah, Chapter 39. “He showed them the Book of Tagin [crownlets].” This book is known and is available to everyone. In it is explained how many crownleted alephs there are in the Torah, how many beths, and the [frequency of the] rest of the letters and the number of crownlets on each one. The praise which the Sages bestowed on this book and the disclosure of Hezekiah’s secret to the delegation were not for the crownlets themselves but rather for a knowledge of their essence and their meanings, which consist of many exceedingly profound secrets. There, in the Midrash Shir Hashirim Rabbah,³²1:28. they [the Sages] have also said: “It is written, And He declared unto you His covenant,³³Deuteronomy 4:13. which means: He declared unto you the Book of Genesis, which relates the beginning of His creation;³⁴The interpretation is based upon the similarity between the words b’riyah (creation) and b’ritho (His covenant). which He commanded you to perform, even the ten words,³³Deuteronomy 4:13. meaning the ten commandments, ten for Scripture and ten for Talmud.³⁵“Ten for Scripture and ten for Talmud.” Thus the Oral Law is made equal to the Written Law. The basis for the interpretation seems to be the extra word la’asoth (to perform), which is taken to refer to the Oral Law since it teaches us how to perform the commandments. For from what source did Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite³⁶Job 32:2. come and reveal to Israel the secrets of the behemoth³⁷Ibid., 40:15. See following note. and the leviathan?³⁸Ibid., 40:25. The Behemoth and the Leviathan are mentioned in G-d’s response to Job (Chapter 40) and are not found in Elihu’s speeches. Rabbi David Luria (in his notes to the Midrash) amends the text of the Midrash to read: “the secrets of the winds and the rains.” These are mentioned by Elihu in Chapter 37. And from what source did Ezekiel come and reveal to them the mysteries of the Divine Chariot?¹⁷Ezekiel, Chapter 1. It is this which Scripture says, The king hath brought me into his chambers,”³⁹Song of Songs 1:4. meaning that everything can be learned from the Torah.

King Solomon, peace be upon him, whom G-d had given wisdom and knowledge, derived it all from the Torah, and from it he studied until he knew the secret of all things created, even of the forces and characteristics of plants, so that he wrote about them even a Book of Medicine, as it is written, And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.⁴⁰I Kings 5:13.

Now I have seen the Aramaic translation of the book called The Great Wisdom of Solomon,⁴¹One of the books of the Apocrypha. In Weisel’s Hebrew edition, Verses 4-6 in Chapter 7 come close to the text here mentioned. and in it is written: “There is nothing new in the birth of a king or ruler; there is one entrance for all people into the world, and one exit alike. Therefore I have prayed, and the spirit of wisdom was given to me, and I have called out and the spirit of knowledge came to me; I chose it above scepter and throne.”

And it is further said there: “It is G-d alone Who gives knowledge that contains no falsehood, [enabling one] to know how the world arose, the composition of the constellations, the beginning, the end and middle of the times, the angles of the ends of the constellations, and how the seasons are produced by the movement of heavens and the fixed positions of the stars, the benign nature of cattle and the fierceness of beasts, the power of the wind and the thoughts of man, the relationship of trees and the forces of roots; everything hidden and everything revealed I know.” All this Solomon knew from the Torah, and he found everything in it — in its simple meanings, in the subtleties of its expressions and its letters and its strokes, as I have mentioned.

Scripture likewise relates concerning him, And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east.⁴²I Kings 5:10. That is to say, he was better versed than they in divination and enchanting, for this was their wisdom, as it is said, For they are replenished from the east, and with soothsayers like the Philistines.⁴³Isaiah 2:6. (The Sages similarly said:⁴⁴Pesikta of Rabbi Kahana, Parah. Bamidbar Rabbah, Chapter 19. “What was the wisdom of the children of the east? They knew and were crafty in the divination of birds.”) And all the wisdom of Egypt⁴²I Kings 5:10. means that Solomon was better versed in sorcery, which is the wisdom of Egypt, and in the nature of growing things. As is known from the Book of Egyptian Agriculture,⁴⁵Mentioned in Rambam’s Moreh Nebuchim III, 29-30. Ramban also mentions it further, 11:28. Abraham ibn Ezra refers to it in his Commentary to Exodus 2:10. the Egyptians were very well versed in the matters of planting and grafting different species. Thus the Sages have said:⁴⁶Tanchuma, Kedoshim 10. “Solomon even planted peppers in the Land of Israel. How was he able to plant them? Solomon was a wise man, and he knew the essence of the foundation of the world. Why was this? [It is written] Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, G-d hath shined forth.⁴⁷Psalms 50:2. Out of Zion the whole world was perfected. How is this known? Why was it called ‘the Foundation Stone?’ Because the world was founded from it. Now Solomon knew which of its arteries extends to Ethiopia, and upon it he planted peppers, and immediately it produced fruits, for so he says, And I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.”⁴⁸Ecclesiastes 2:5.

We have yet another mystic tradition⁴⁹Zohar Yithro 87a: “The whole Torah is the Name of the Holy One, etc.” See also my Hebrew commentary, p. 6 for a broader discussion of this matter. that the whole Torah is comprised of Names of the Holy One, blessed be He, and that the letters of the words separate themselves into Divine Names when divided in a different manner, as you may imagine by way of example that the verse of Bereshith divides itself into these other words: berosh yithbare Elokim. This principle applies likewise to the entire Torah, aside from the combinations and the numerical equivalents of the Holy Names. Our Rabbi Shlomo [Rashi] has already written in his commentaries on the Talmud⁵⁰Sukkah 45 a. concerning the manner in which the Great Divine Name of seventy-two letters is derived from the three verses: And he went,⁵¹Exodus 14:19. And he came,⁵²Ibid., Verse 20. And he stretched out.⁵³Ibid., Verse 21. It is for this reason that a Scroll of the Torah in which a mistake has been made in one letter’s being added or subtracted is disqualified [even though the literal meaning remains unchanged], for this principle [that the whole Torah comprises Names of the Holy One, blessed be He], obligates us to disqualify a scroll of the Torah in which one letter vav is missing from the word otham — of which there are thirty-nine fully-spelled ones in the Torah — [despite the fact that the same word appears many times without a vav], or if he [the Scribe] were to add a vav to any of the other deficient ones [that is, words which could be written with an additional vav but are not so written]. So it is in similar cases even though it matters not one way or another on cursory thought.

It is this principle which has caused the Biblical scholars to count every full and defective word in the Torah and Scripture and to compose books on the Masoretic text, going back as far as Ezra the Scribe and Prophet,⁵⁴Megillah 15 a. Malachi (the prophet) is identical with Ezra. so that we should be heedful of this, as the Sages derived it from the verse, And they read in the book in the Law of G-d, distinctly; and they gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.⁵⁵Nehemiah 8:8. The Sages’ interpretation is found in Nedarim 37 b: “And they read in the book in the law of G—d, this means the written text; distinctly, this is the Targum [translation]; and they gave the sense, this has reference to the division in verses; and they caused them to understand the reading, this means the punctuating signs [or accents], and some Rabbis say that this is the Masoreth [the traditions regarding the full or defective words].” It would appear that the Torah “written with letters of black fire upon a background of white fire”¹⁴Yerushalmi Shekalim 13 b. See also Rashi on Deuteronomy 33:2. was in this form we have mentioned, namely, that the writing was contiguous, without break of words, which made it possible for it to be read by way of Divine Names and also by way of our normal reading which makes explicit the Torah and the commandment. It was given to Moses our teacher using the division of words which expresses the commandment, and orally it was transmitted to him in the rendition which consists of the Divine Names. Thus masters of the Cabala⁵⁶Literally, “reception.” In the Talmud the word cabala denotes the whole body of the oral tradition in contrast to the written word of G—d, the Torah. Here, however, as well as in later Hebrew usage the word denotes the system of mystic lore and philosophy which constitutes a distinctive body of esoteric thought. write the letters of the Great Name I have mentioned [namely, the Name containing seventy-two letters] all close to each other, and then these are divided into words consisting of three letters and many other divisions, as is the practice among the masters of the Cabala.

And now, know and see what I shall answer to those who question me concerning my writing a commentary of the Torah. I shall conduct myself in accordance with the custom of the early scholars to bring peace of mind to the students, tired of the exile and the afflictions, who read in the Seder⁵⁷The portion of the Torah assigned for reading on a particular Sabbath or festival. on the Sabbaths and festivals, and to attract them with the plain meanings of Scripture and with some things that are pleasant to the listeners and which give grace⁵⁸The Hebrew word chein (grace) is here an abbreviation for the Hebrew words chochmah nistarah [the hidden wisdom or the Cabala]. to the scholars. And may the gracious G-d be merciful unto us and bless us⁵⁹Psalms 67:2. so that we shall find grace and good favor in the sight of G-d and man.⁶⁰Proverbs 3:4.

Now behold I bring into a faithful covenant and give proper counsel to all who look into this book not to reason or entertain any thought concerning any of the mystic hints which I write regarding the hidden matters of the Torah, for I do hereby firmly make known to him [the reader] that my words will not be comprehended nor known at all by any reasoning or contemplation, excepting from the mouth of a wise Cabalist speaking into the ear of an understanding recipient.⁶¹The Hebrew is Mekabel mevin, which may also mean “an understanding Cabalist,” thus suggesting that the recipient too has already been initiated into these mysteries to a lesser degree. Reasoning about them is foolishness; any unrelated thought brings much damage and withholds the benefit. Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself,⁶²Job 15:31. for these reasonings will bring him nothing but evil as if they spoke falsely against G-d, which cannot be forgiven, as it is said, The man that strayeth out of understanding shall rest in the congregation of the shades.⁶³Proverbs 21:16. Let them not break through unto the Eternal to gaze,⁶⁴Exodus 19:21 and 24. For the Eternal our G-d is a devouring fire, even a G-d of jealousies.⁶⁵Deuteronomy 4:24.

And He will show those who are pleasing to Him wonders from His Torah. Rather let such see in our commentaries novel interpretations of the plain meanings of Scripture and Midrashim, and let them take moral instruction from the mouths of our holy Rabbis:⁶⁶Bereshith Rabbah 8:2. “Into that which is beyond you, do not seek; into that which is more powerful than you, do not inquire; about that which is concealed from you, do not desire to know; about that which is hidden from you, do not ask. Contemplate that which is permitted to you, and engage not yourself in hidden things.”

With the help of the Creator of light, I will elucidate the explanation of the Torah, to unite His awesome name; Who made me from the beginning and advised and called upon me first, to work pleasantly first; I will begin to explain the Book of 'In the Beginning' (Genesis):

The heavens have open and I saw the vision of God, Creator of the ends of the earth, and I reflected upon that which I have been allowed to reflect upon in the unfolding of holy words; and my remark is from the East of (before) the Torah. His saying, "In the beginning of," [bears a] structure which is relational, as you would say 'the beginning of a thing, but here what ['the beginning of'] refers to is missing (beginning of what?). And who is like our God, who knows the thing (word), is the origin of the thing (word) not from Him?

He said it at the beginning of the order of the creation of the heavens; and the Rabbis, of blessed memory, explained that the word [shamayim (heavens)] is composed of two things esh (fire) and mayim (water); and from this, God forbid, it gives a hand to the sinners to say that [given that] this is the beginning of the creation, but [yet], God forbid, the Creator did not create the fire and water, since the verse itself informs us that the beginning of the creation was the heavens, and if the waters were created [and not pre-existing], it should have started with their creation. And the Sages, of blessed memory, (Chagigah) preempted these two observations and explained that the structure of the verse is as follows: In the beginning of the creation of the heavens and the earth, the earth was chaos, etc. - not that the heavens and earth was the beginning of the creations. But the words [of the Sages], of blessed memory's, were not enough to remove the [possibility of] error; since according to their words, why did scripture not inform us later of the creation of water and fire, and dirt and wind. And even though the verse (9) states, "and the waters gathered, etc. and the dry land appeared," it is not understood [from this] that it was created; and more justified is the understanding that it was pre-existing, but that [God] decreed upon it to be revealed when the water gathered.

There is another hint in having the heavens precede the earth: to show that the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like the way of flesh and blood. The way of flesh and blood is [to] build the house first and then the attic on top of it, but the Holy One, blessed be He, had the attic precede and afterwards [built] the house, to show that the heavens are suspended and standing by His word, may He be blessed.

And by way of hint, the Rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded (Bereishit Rabbah 1:4) [that by the] word bereishit (In the beginning), He, may He be blessed, intended to say, [that He created the world] for the sake of the Torah, which is called reishit; and the explanation of the [letter] bet (which is the first letter in bereishit) is that it is a bet [that indicates] causation. And from this [is implied that] anyone who merits [to know the] Torah, merits the whole world and anyone who does not merit [to know the] Torah should not benefit from this world - even for him to set foot on it - unless he provides assistance to those who toil in [the study of] Torah. And they also said (Vayikra Rabbah 36:4) [that He created the world] for the sake of Israel, which is called reishit, as it is written [about Israel] (Jeremiah 2:3), "reishit tevuato" ("the first of His produce"). And this statement does not contradict the first, since the very reason that Israel is called, first is from the angle that they accepted the Torah; and though this were they separated from the [other] nations for fame and praise. And they also said (Bereishit Rabbah 1:4), [that He created the world] for the sake of Avraham and (Vayikra Rabbah 36:4) for the sake of Ya'akov; and it all follows the first reason [for creating the world], 'because Avraham listened to my voice, etc.' They also said (Shabbat 36b) [that He created the world] for the sake of [the] awe [of God], which is called reishit, as it is written (Psalms 111:10), "reishit chocmah, yirat, etc." ("the beginning of wisdom is the awe of God, etc."); since it too is a fundamental principle of the Torah, since if there is no wisdom, there is no awe, and if there is no awe of God, there is no Torah, for [awe of God] is a beautiful storehouse for the Torah.

The enlightened ones will understand that the intent of the Torah is not to inform about the natural sciences; and that the Torah was not given except to straighten the ways of man to righteousness and justice, and to establish in their hearts the belief in [His] unity and providence, since the Torah was not only given to sages but [rather] to the whole people. And just like the matter of providence and reward is not explained (and it would not have been fitting that it be explained) in a philosophical manner, but the Torah [rather] spoke about it like the language of [ordinary] people ([as in] "the anger of the Lord will flare against you" [Deuteronomy 7:4]; "and it grieved His heart [Genesis 6:6]; and there are many [other examples] like this); so too, the matter of creation is not told (and it is not fitting that it would be told) in the Torah in a philosophical manner. And it is as the Rabbis, of blessed memory, have stated (Midrash HaGadol, Genesis 1:1), "To tell the power of the story of creation to flesh and blood is not possible." Hence it is not fitting for the follower of Torah to uproot the verses from their understanding in order to make them agree with the natural sciences. It is also not fitting for the scientist to deny that the Torah is divine (min hashamayim) if he finds things in its stories that don't agree with natural science. But it is fitting for this one and that one, that they contemplate the inner workings of human hearts and the ways of wisdom that is used by nature in speaking to the heart of every individual: to the youth according to his manner and to the young man in a different manner and to the old man in a different manner [still]; to the strong in a particular manner and to the weak in a particular manner; to the rich man in one manner and to the poor man in another manner; and so [too] with all groups of men, nature speaks to their hearts in a specific way that is fitting to the people of that group. And nature does not reveal the pristine truth - without any mask or cover - to any one of these groups. And so [too] the Giver of the Torah, may He be blessed, (since the God that created nature and the God that gave us the Torah is one God.) in his speaking with people was required to speak according to their levels, and not according to His level, may He be blessed. And behold, God wanted to inform people of the unity of the [universe] and the unity of mankind; since error in both of these matters caused great evils in ancient times: from the lack of awareness of the unity of the [universe], it came out that people would believe in the existence of specific gods, with defects and inferior character traits; and they would do evil acts in order to please [these gods] (see what I have written in Parshat Yitro on the verse, "There shall not be for you" [Exodus 20:3]). And from the lack of awareness of the unity of mankind, it came out that the people of one nation would hate and revile the people of another nation and they would act towards them with the force of arms, and not with justice and righteousness. And these two fundamental principles (the unity of the [universe] and the unity of mankind) are the main point of the stories of the creation saga; and details of the book also include other intentions, as will be explained.