Pt3 Ma’aseh Bereishit (Creation and Cosmology) and Ma’aseh Merkava in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Chagigah 2:1)
This is the third part of a four-part series. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here; the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.
R’ Yonah citing R’ Levi - The world was created with the Hebrew letter bet, which is closed on all sides and open only forward, teaching that one may not inquire above, below, before, or after, only from Creation onward - Genesis 1:1 (#14)
רבי יונה, בשם רבי לוי:
בבי״ת נברא העולם.
מה בי״ת --
סתום מכל צדדיו
ופתוח מצד אחד.
כך אין לך רשות לדרוש
מה למעלן ומה למטן
מה לפנים ומה לאחור.
אלא מיום שנברא העולם ולבא.
R’ Yonah in the name of R’ Levi:
The world was created with [the Hebrew letter] Bet1
Since Bet --
is closed from all sides
[but] open from one side,
you have no right to investigate
what is above, what is below,
what is before, and what is after,
except starting with the day the world was created and onwards.
The letter Bet indicates its Creator by its form and points to God’s name
אומרים לבי״ת: מי בראך?
והוא מראה להן בנקודה
ואומר: זה שלמעלן.
ומה שמו?
והוא מראה להן בנקודה שלאחריו
ואומר:
יי שמו.
אדון שמו.
They ask the Bet: who created you?
It points out to them its point
and says: this One above (=God).
[They further ask:] And what is His Name?
It points out to them its back point
and says:
YHWH is His Name,
Adon (אדון - “Master”) is His Name.
The world was created with the letter bet because bet begins the word for “blessing”, not alef, which begins the word for “curse”
(See footnote.)2
דבר אחר:
ולמה בבי״ת?
שהוא בלשון ברכה.
ולא באלף.
שהוא לשון ארירה.
Another explanation.
Why by Bet?
Because it is an expression of blessing (ברכה),
but not by [the Hebrew letter] Alef, which is an expression of accursed (ארירה).
אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא:
איני בורא את עולמי אלא בבי״ת.
שלא יהו כל באי העולם אומרין:
היאך העולם יכול לעמוד.
ונברא בלשון ארירה.
אלא הריני בורא אותו בבי״ת בלשון ברכה.
ואולי יעמוד.
God said:
I shall only build My world with Bet,
so that the creatures should not say:
how could the world remain standing
if it was created in an expression of accursed?!
Therefore I shall create it with Bet, and expression of blessing,
so it shall have a chance to endure.
R’ Abbahu citing R’ Yoḥanan - Two worlds were created with two letters, heh and yud: this world with heh, the World-to-Come with yud - Isaiah 26:4; Genesis 2:4 (#15)
(See footnote.)3
רבי אבהו בשם רבי יוחנן:
בשתי אותיות נבראו שתי עולמות:
העולם הזה
והעולם הבא.
[אחד בה״א
ואחד ביו״ד.]
מה טעם?
כי ביה יי צור עולמים.
R’ Abbahu in the name of R’ Yohanan:
With two letters two worlds were created:
this world
and the Future World.
[One with [the Hebrew letter] Heh
and one with [the Hebrew letter] Yud.]
What is the reason?
For in Yah (ביה), YHWH is the Rock (צור עולמים) (Isaiah 26:4)
ואין אנו יודעין
אי זה נברא בה״א
ואי זה מהם נברא ביו״ד.
אלא מן מה דכתיב: אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם.
בה״א בראם.
הוי
העולם הזה -- נברא בה״א.
והעולם הבא -- נברא ביו״ד.
However, we did not know
which one was created by Heh
and which one by Yud.
But from what is written: these are the outcomes of Heaven and Earth in their being created,
He created them [=This world, vs. the Next World] by Heh.
This implies that
this world was created by Heh,
and the Future World was created by Yud.
The form of heh hints at descent to Sheol, ascent, and repentance; the curved yud hints that all creatures must be bent/submissive
מה ה״ה (חסר) [פתוח] מלמטן.
רמז לכל באי עולם שהן יורדין לשאול.
מה ה״א יש לו נקודה מלמעלן.
משעה שהן יורדין הן עולין.
מה ה״א פתוח מכל צד.
כך פותח פתח לכל בעלי תשובה.
מה יו״ד כפוף
כך יהיו כל באי העולם כפופין.
Since Heh is (missing) [open] below,
it is a hint for all creatures that they will descend to She’ol (שאול).
Since Heh has a point on top,
from the moment they descend they ascend.
Since Heh is open from all sides,
so He opens a door to all who repent.
Since Yud is curved,
so all creatures should be bent.
David praised God with the two-letter divine name Yah (YH) when he saw this structure - Jeremiah 30:6; Psalms 113:1
ונהפכו כל פנים לירקון.
כיון שראה דוד כן --
התחיל לקלס בשתי אותיות:
הללו יה
הללו עבדי יי
הללו את שם יי.
All faces turned yellow (ירקון) (Jeremiah 30:6)
When David saw this --
he started to acclaim by two letters:
praise Yah,4
praise, the servants of YHWH,
praise the Name of YHWH (Psalms 113:1)
R’ Yudan the Patriarch asking R’ Shmuel b. Naḥman - R’ Shmuel b. Naḥman explains “His name is YH” as meaning every place has an appointee over its life, and God is appointed over all life - Psalms 68:5 (#16)
רבי יודן נשייא שאל לרבי שמואל בר נחמן:
מהו דין דכתיב:
סולו לרוכב בערבות
ביה שמו
ועלזו לפניו.
R’ Yudan the Patriarch asked R’ Samuel bar Naḥman:
What means that which is written (Psalms 68:5):
Prepare a way for the rider on clouds,
His name YH,
and jubilate before Him.
אמר ליה:
אין לך כל מקום ומקום שאינו ממונה על ביה שלו.
ומי ממונה על ביאה שבכולם?
הקדוש ברוך הוא.
ביה שמו.
בי יה שמו.
He told him:
there is no place which does not have one appointed over its life.5
And who is appointed over the lives (ביה) of all?
God.
His name YH,
His name: Βια (ביה)
R’ Elazar - R’ Shmuel b. Naḥman’s teacher did not explain that way; rather, saying “originally the world was water in water” detracts from God, like saying a palace was built on sewers
אמר ליה רבי לעזר:
רבך לא הוה דרש כן.
אלא למלך שבנה פלטין
במקום ביבים
במקום אשפות
במקום סריות.
מי שהוא בא ואומר:
הפלטין הזו
במקום ביבין הוא.
במקום אשפות הוא.
במקום סריות הוא.
אינו פוגם?!
כך מי שהוא אומר:
כתחילה היה העולם מים במים.
הרי זה פוגם.
R’ Elazar told him:
your teacher was not explaining in this way,
but {a parable} of a king who built a palace6
on a place of sewers (ביבים),
a place of dung heaps (אשפות),
a place which stinks (סריות).
One who comes and says,
this palace --
is at a place of sewers,
a place of dung heaps,
a place which stinks,
does he not detract (פוגם)?!
So he detracts who says, originally the world was water in water.
One may look at the king’s orchard, not touch it
לפרדיסו שלמלך
ועלייה בנויה על גביו.
עליו להציץ.
אבל לא ליגע.
{A parable} of a king’s orchard
and an observation deck built on it,
He can gaze (להציץ) at it
but shouldn’t touch.
Dispute of Beit Shammai vs. Beit Hillel - which was created first, Earth or Heaven? (#17)
(See footnote.)7
בית שמי אומרים: שמים נבראו תחילה, ואחרכך הארץ.
ובית הלל אומרים: הארץ נבראת תחילה, ואחרכך השמים.
Beit Shammai say: heaven was created first, and afterwards earth.
Beit Hillel say: earth was created first, and afterwards heaven.
Beit Shammai prooftext that Heaven was created first, then earth - Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 66:1
אילו מביאין טעם לדבריהן,
ואילו מביאין טעם לדבריהן.
מה טעמון דבית שמי?
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ.
למלך שעשה כסא.
משעשאו עשה אפיפודין שלו.
השמים כסאי
והארץ הדום רגלי.
These are bringing proof (טעם) for their assertion,
and those are bringing proof for their assertion.
What is Beit Shammai’s reason?
In the Beginning God created heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1)
{A parable} of a king who made a chair.
After he had made it he made its footstool:8
the Heavens are My throne
and the Earth My footstool (Isaiah 66:1)9
Beit Hillel prooftext that Earth was created first, then heaven - Genesis 2:4; Isaiah 48:13
מה טעמון דבית הלל?
ביום עשות יי אלהים ארץ ושמים.
למלך שעשה פלטין.
משבנה את התחתונים עשה את העליונים.
אף ידי יסדה ארץ
וימיני טיפחה שמים.
What is Beit Hillel’s reason?
On the day of YHWH’s, God’s, making of earth and heaven (Genesis 2:4)
{A parable} of a king who made a palace.
After he built the foundations he built the upper structure:
also My left hand founded the Earth
and My right hand tended the Heavens (Isaiah 48:13)
R’ Yehuda bar Pazi - Another verse supports Beit Hillel: earth is founded first, then heaven is the work of God’s hands - Psalms 102:26
אמר רבי יודה בר פזי:
ודא מסייעה לבית הלל:
לפנים הארץ יסדת
ומעשה ידיך שמים.
R’ Yehuda bar Pazi said:
also the following supports Beit Hillel (Psalms 102:26):
in earlier times You founded the Earth,
and the Heavens are the work of Your hands.
R’ Ḥanina - Beit Hillel refute Beit Shammai from Beit Shammai’s own verse: “and the earth was” implies earth already existed - Genesis 1:1–2
אמר רבי חנינה:
ממקום שבית שמי מביאין טעם לדבריהן --
משם בית הלל מסלקין לון.
מה טעמון דבית שמי?
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ.
משם בית הלל מסלקין לון.
והארץ היתה.
כבר היתה.
R’ Ḥanina said:
from the place from where Beit Shammai prove their assertion --
from there Beit Hillel remove them.
What is the reason of Beit Shammai?
In the Beginning God created heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1)
From there Beit Hillel remove them:
and the earth was (Genesis 1:2)
it already was.
R’ Yoḥanan citing the rabbis - For initial creation, heaven preceded; for completion/perfection, earth preceded
רבי יוחנן, בשם חכמים:
אם לבירייה --
שמים קדמו.
ואם לשכלול --
הארץ קדמה.
R’ Yoḥanan in the name of the rabbis:
As for creation,
the heaven preceded.
As for perfecting,10
the earth preceded.
Prooftexts - Genesis 1:1; Genesis 2:4
אם לבירייה --
שמים קדמו.
בראשית ברא אלהים וגו׳.
אם לשכלול --
הארץ קדמה.
ביום עשות יי אלהים ארץ ושמים.
As for creation,
the heaven preceded,
in the Beginning God created.
As for perfecting,
the earth preceded,
on the day of YHWH’s, God’s, making of earth and heaven.
בי״ת. Screenshot of the letter, for illustration (from Wikipedia):
This assumption is presumably based on the fact that the letter bet is the first letter of the first word of Genesis - ‘Be-reishit’ (בראשית).
See also Wikipedia, “Bet (letter)“, section “Numerological and mystical significance“:
Bet is the first letter of the Torah (=Pentateuch).
As Bet is the number 2 in gematria, this is said to symbolize that there are two parts to Torah: the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.
According to Jewish legend, the letter Bet was specially chosen among the 22 letters in Hebrew by God as the first letter of Torah as it begins with “Be-reshit (In the beginning) God created heaven and earth.”
Genesis Rabbah points out that the letter is closed on three sides and open on one; this is indicate that one can investigate what happened after creation, but not what happened before it, or what is above the heavens or below the earth.
On this and the next sections, compare the Bavli, in my “ “The likes of which were not said even in the days of Yehoshua bin Nun”: Talmudic Homiletics on the Hebrew Alphabet - Pt.1 - the Names and Shapes of Letters (Shabbat 104a)“.
Compare the parallel in Bavli tractate Menachot 29b, which I plan to cite in the Appendix at the end of this series, sections “R’ Yehuda Nesia asking R’ Ami; R’ Ami responding - One who trusts in God has refuge in this world and the World-to-Come - Isaiah 26:4“ and “R’ Yehuda b. Elai - the two worlds were created with the letters yod and heh“, citing Menachot/29b#7 thru #13.
On the divine name Yah in Psalms, compare my “Appendix 1 - Linguistic Debates Over the Word “Halleluya” and Related Theophoric Words (Pesachim 117a)”.
ביה - interpreting the word as Greek bia - “life”.
פלטין - from Greek/Latin.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “פַּלָּטִין”:
c. (palatium, παλάτιον [=Pălā́tĭon]) palace.
[Aramaic Targum to Lamentations 4:1, read with edition Lagarde: פִּיטָלוֹן.]
Targum Sheni Esther 1, 9;
and frequently.
Bereishit Rabbah 12:12 - לפלטין גדולה וכ׳ - “like a large palace with many entrances”
Yerushalmi Shabbat 10, 12c - אין גדולה בפלטין של מלך - “in the king’s palace (the Temple) no rank is recognized (all are alike)”
and very frequently.
Plural: same.
See: פַּלְטֵרִין
The word is cognate with English palace, see Wikipedia, “Palatine Hill“, section “Etymology“:
The name of the hill is the etymological origin of the word palace and its cognates in other languages […]
Compare my “Pt1 Alexander the Great’s Dialogue with the Elders of the Negev: Philosophical Insights on Creation, Life, and Power (Tamid 32a)“, section “Creation of Heaven and Earth“, where I summarize:
Question: Alexander inquired which was created first: heaven or earth.
Answer: The Elders responded that the heavens were created first, citing Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Heaven is mentioned before earth.)
אפיפודין - from Greek.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “אִפֹּופֹּודִין”:
(frequently miscopied אפיפודין, and with ר for ד) c.
(ὑποπόδιον [=hupopódĭon - “footstool” - literally: “under [the] foot”])
footstool to the throne or to a high chair of distinction.
Targum Jonathan on Exodus 24:10 (correct accordingly).
Yerushalmi Ḥagigah 2, 77c bottom of page - “after building the throne, he makes אפופודין שלו his foot-stool”
Bereishit Rabbah 1:5; Vayikra Rabbah 36 (correct accordingly).
Mishnah Kelim 16:1 - אפופודין של בעלי הבית (in Talmud printed editions: בעל) - “the people’s footstool of the household” (a folding stool, compare אַסְלָא II).
Ibid. 24, 7 - ג׳ פנקסין יש האפופודין וכ׳ (correct accordingly) - “there are three boards or tablets in use (see פנקס), that which is used as a footstool is susceptible of uncleanness by being trod upon, that with a receptacle for wax (writing tablet) gets unclean by etc.”
[Bereishit Rabbah 17; Kohelet Rabbah 3:19, see אֱפִיפְּיוֹן.]
Compare the Bavli’s citation of this verse, in the context of quoting a famous Tanaitic discussion re God’s throne, in my “Pt3 “Ma’aseh Merkava”: The Nature of God, Angels, and Heaven in Ezekiel 1 (Chagigah 13a-14a)“, section “... one throne for sitting, one as footstool - Isaiah 66:1; Daniel 7:9“.
שכלול.
On this verb, always used in the same context of finishing and decorating an ornate building, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “שִׁכְלֵל”:
(Shaf’el of כלל, compare שָׁכַל) to finish, decorate.
Sanhedrin 38a:14 - למלך שבנה פלטרין גדולים ושִׁיכְלְלָן וכ׳ Manuscript Munich: (see Rabbinowicz, ‘Dikdukei Sofrim’ there,) - “like a king who built great palaces and decorated them, and made arrangements therein for a large banquet etc.”
Pesikta Rabbati 2:1 - אין אתה מְשַׁכְלְלוֹ - “you shall not finish it (the Temple), as opposed to מיסדו laying the foundation;
and elsewhere.
For the citation from Bavli Sanhedrin, see my “Pt2 The First Man: Talmudic Reflections on Adam’s Creation (Sanhedrin 38a-39b)“, section “Four reasons why Adam was created on Friday“, where I summarize:
The Talmud quotes a baraita that explains that Adam was created on Friday for several reasons […]
[Reason #4:] To have him “enter into a feast immediately” (i.e. the Shabbat meal, on Friday night), symbolizing that the world was prepared for him, similar to a king who prepares a palace and feast before bringing in guests.