In the second verse in Bereishis (Genesis), the Torah tells us that before creation the earth was “Tohu VaVohu,” translated as “unformed and void.” Rashi comments that the word Tohu signifies that if a person saw the state of the world before creation, he would be astonished, and Vohu describes a vast emptiness. I found it interesting that, in a compilation of stories and statements from Jewish scriptures 1, there are six different midrashim that comment on the words “Tohu VaVohu.” These six midrashim share a common message: that people shouldn’t spend much time wondering what the world was like then, rather, they should focus on the nature of the world from creation and afterwards. Why?
I suspect that the message of these midrashim, and perhaps even of the scant attention the Torah devotes to pre-creation earth, is that Judaism has an inherent antipathy towards chaos and disorder. We have many rituals that help us delineate clear boundaries – think of Kiddush, havdalah, bar mitzvah, and blessings before and after eating, to name a few. Jewish law is also filled with carefully described parameters of what is, and what is not, kosher; food preparation permitted on the Sabbath; verbal responses permitted during prayer; and so much more. What Tohu VaVohu may be teaching us is that, despite our generation’s fascination with reality TV, violent video games, and angry protest movements, Jewish values are concerned with the active pursuit of boundaries, order, and progress.
1 = Sefer HaAggadah: The Book of Legends from the Talmud and Midrash, edited by Hayim Nahum Bialik and Yehoshua Hana Ravnitzky. English translation published by Schocken Books, NY, 1992.
"boundaries" - boundaries are good, although not too many boundaries. As my husband pointed out last night, there is a limit to the amount one can legislate to get people to do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteWe spent some time in our family talking about evolution and the missing link. It turns out even Darwin noticed the missing link.