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The Concept of Creation (2)

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Divine Will

     We must now add a third dimension to the problems that we have already described.  Until this point, we have viewed the time-related question of the advent of the world, as well as the material problem of the creation of matter, either from an earlier, cruder substance or from nothingness.  To these, we must add what may be termed the problem of the procedure, or modality, of creation.  In this issue, too, we face two extreme models; Jewish thought has had to combat both.  On one side, we encounter Epicurus's model, the advocate of coincidence.  Let us imagine a man with five numbered blocks in front of him.  He may try to build a particular structure out of them, such as a tower, or arrange them in numerical order.  On the other hand, he may also throw them and obtain a random combination of numbers.  Our case is actually the opposite situation; we constitute a particular arrangement of blocks and we ask ourselves, is this the result of an intentional action or just a coincidence?  The Epicurean thesis claims that our world appeared by chance.

 

     An opposing explanation exists as well; it describes the emergence of the world as an inevitable reality, forged by a necessary and definite relationship between the world and its Creator.  We have already witnessed this in the philosopher's presentation at the beginning of the Kuzari: just as statements are necessarily derived from a system of axioms, thus the world stems from God, or just as a certain object casts a shadow, thus God casts a shadow, and His shadow is none other than the cosmic system, in which we constitute but a small part.

 

     In contrast to these two approaches, Jewish philosophy presents a third approach, the doctrine of Divine will.  The doctrine of Divine will accentuates the existence of intention and an objective.  The world did not appear against God's will; nor did it emerge from a Divine indifference to our existence.  The world appeared as a result of Divine will and providence.

 

Dependence

 

     The three components of the concept of creation that we have discussed until now - generation, creation ex nihilo, and creation from divine will - have already been presented by Rav Sa'adia Gaon.  These concepts accord with the ancient Jewish perception of creation that had found expression in earlier periods, and preserve the classic Jewish tradition regarding the concept of creation.

 

     However, creation finds expression in another idea as well: the concept of dependence.

 

     The Rambam in his Laws of the Foundations of the Torah  (1:1) writes:

 

     "The foundation of foundations and the pillar of wisdom    is to know that there is a first cause and [that] He is    the creator of every existing [entity]."

 

     Seemingly this statement refers to the concept of generation; God is the first cause and He created all that exists.  However, the Rambam implies more than that.  He interprets the concept of creation here in a different way:

 

     "He is the creator of every existing [entity], and all     who exist in heaven and earth and what is between them only exist from the truth of His existence.  And if one     were to imagine that He did not exist, nothing else could      exist.  And if one were to imagine that all other    entities other than Him did not exist, He alone would     exist and would not be nullified in their nullification.       For all who exist need Him and He ... does not need any  of them, therefore the truth [of his existence] is not     comparable to ... [theirs]." (Laws of the Foundations of      the Torah, 1:1,2)

 

     This is the concept of dependence.  All of reality is one chain of existence, which rests upon its first link, which is the first cause.  The concept of dependence is not a historical concept.  Thus, creation was not a one-time event.  It is a relationship that continues to exist at each moment.  Or in other words, "And if one were to imagine that He did not exist, nothing else could exist."

 

     The central concept of creation, according to the Rambam in his classic work, the Mishneh Torah, is the concept of dependence.  The Rambam explains that reality comes in different forms and levels.  We must distinguish between the reality of the world's existence and that of God's existence.  These are two distinct types of existence.  Regarding this idea the Rambam writes:

 

     "He is the creator of every existing [entity] and all who exist in heaven and earth and what is between them only    exist from the truth of His existence."

 

     In halakha 4 of the Laws of the Foundations of the Torah he continues: "The prophet [Jeremiah] says, 'The Lord God is truth.'  He alone is the truth, and no other has a truth such as His."  This is a difficult statement.  We generally apply the term 'truth' to claims or statements that can be either true or false.  In contrast, when we apply the term 'truth' to God, we use it with a different meaning.  The Torah declares, "There is no other besides Him."  According to the Rambam's understanding, "There is no other besides Him" means that the essence of everything other than God is merely an apparent or a seeming reality but is not a true reality.

 

     In order to understand this, let us compare two different situations: A) I am in class. B) I am dreaming that I am in class.  Where is the class in the second case?  The class is in me.  The existence of the class that I am dreaming of is not a true reality.  The existence of the dreamed class is not of the same sort as the existence of the dreamer.  The Rambam says that we must apply this approach to our case.  The dream relates to reality in the same way that our reality relates to the truth of God's existence.  Just as the dream is an illusory reality in relation to true reality, so too the existence of the world is not true existence.  The only One who truly exists is God.  This is the meaning of "The Lord God is truth;" God's existence is true existence.

 

     In other words, all the other things exist, but their existence is not true existence.  Just as the existence of the things in the dream depends on the dreamer - and if the dreamer disappears the dream disappears as well, since the dream has no independent reality - thus, the world is dependent upon God.  Now, we understand that the dream is not only dependent on me to begin it, but that every moment that the dream exists, it is  dependent on me.  In his Guide for the Perplexed the Rambam writes that this is the difference between the world, whose existence is contingent, and God, whose existence is necessary.  This is the meaning of God's statement "I will be what I will be."  This is God's business card: when Moses asked Him His name, God answered "I will be," meaning that God's existence is the true existence; all else lacks the quality of true existence.

 

     The concept of dependence of the world upon God can be expressed in a number of ways.  It reached its peak in Chassidism.  When the Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, explained the verse, "Your word abides forever in heaven," he was actually clarifying the meaning of the concept, "All was created through Your word."  Let me explain this concept through an example.  If a person writes a word, the word has an independent existence.  Even if the writer of a word, 'heaven' for example, were to disappear, that does not mean that the written word 'heaven' would disappear.  In contrast, if someone merely said the word 'heaven,' it would exist only as long as he said it.  Creation was accomplished through God's word, which means that God's word continues to exist.

 

     This idea, which had previously appeared in the writings of the Ibn Ezra, became a cornerstone of the creed of the Ba'al Shem Tov.  The world is not similar to a vessel made by a craftsman; it is rather a thing whose existence depends upon the existence of God.  In another form, the idea of dependence finds expression in the work of Rabbi Chasdai Crescas, who linked the concept of dependence to the concept of creation ex nihilo.  He writes of continuous creation, and suggests that God creates the world forever, and always from utter nothingness, yesh me-ayin.  As we say in the daily prayers, God "in His goodness daily renews the works of creation."  We will try to understand this concept through the technique used to make animated films.  The illusion of movement and action is created through the presentation of still pictures in rapid succession.  Imagine that we are the stars of an animated film.  Our existence seems normal to us, yet in reality we exist because the film is renewed yesh me-ayin at every moment.  If the film were to be stopped at any given moment, we would disappear.  The phrase, "In His goodness He renews the works of creation every day" can be understood in accordance with this principle.

 

     The principle of creation links the concepts of yesh me-ayin and generation.  On the one hand, it speaks of a beginning to the film, and on the other hand, it refers to the fact that we are all participants in the film.  The two concepts do not contradict each other; rather they complete each other.  This theory opens the option of constructing a admirable model for miracles.  Let us assume that in one of the frames of our animated film Mickey Mouse is holding an eraser, and in the next frame he isn't.  As far as we, the characters in the film, are concerned this would be a miracle; however, to the artist this is not a miracle.  Nothing that was in the last frame must be in the next one.  At every moment the world is renewed, and what will occur at this moment is not necessitated by what happened previously.

 

     This was not the Rambam's approach.  The difference between the two views is interesting.  The Rambam includes the concept of a natural order in his world view.  This concept is inherent to the Rambam's perception of the Sabbath, in contrast to the six days of creation.  In the Rambam's doctrine one must explain the existence of miracles; whereas in this theory, one has to explain the existence of nature.  The fact that nature exists and that there is a link between the frames is the miracle, the extraordinary phenomenon.  What is "dangerous" here is the risk of completely negating the actions of the protagonists and attributing everything to the artist who is outside of the film.  Thus, the words of Rabbi Akiva, "All is foreseen and [yet] freedom [of action] is granted," take on greater significance: all is foreseen by the artist; however, freedom is granted, and the heroes of the film influence and alter its course.

 

     The Ramban espouses a similar approach.  In a number of his writings he develops the idea that the doctrine of nature is not absolute, and what happened in the previous frame does not impose the contents of the next.  The Rambam maintains that a natural order exists; according to the Ramban, such a concept has no validity, since firstly, the fact that continuity exists in the cosmos is itself a miracle, and secondly, it is not at all certain that this continuity will endure.  The Rambam, in contrast, asserts that there are fixed principles that function in nature.  The laws of nature accurately describe nature.  There is almost a logical necessity that it be so and not otherwise, except that the very existence of the world and the natural system in its entirety is not requisite.  It depends on God's will, or in other words on creation.  This issue of continuous creation is reminiscent of the well-known debate between the Acharonim  regarding the essence of kiddushin (nuptials).  Is it one event which transpires at one point in time, and continues afterwards, or are the kiddushin renewed at each moment?

 

(This lecture was translated by Gila Weinberg.)

 

 

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