"RavFrand" List - Rabbi Frand on Parshas Bereshis
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape # 300, A
Mamzer's Obligation in Mitzvos.
Good Shabbos!
The "Ki Tov" (That It Was Good) of Monday Was Delayed Until Tuesday
The third day of Creation [Bereshis 1:9-13] is the only day in which the
expression "G-d saw that it was good" is mentioned twice. This expression is
mentioned both following the gathering of the waters which divided the seas
from the dry land, and following the sprouting of vegetation and seed-
bearing plants - both of which occurred on the third day of Creation.
As a result of the fact that Tuesday had a double portion of "ki tov" [that
it was good], Tuesday is considered a particularly fortuitous day of the
week. Many people specifically plan their wedding for this day. When moving
into a new house, many people plan to move on Tuesday. Many people try to
start a new job on Tuesday.
On the other hand, on the second day of Creation, there is no mention at all
of the expression "that it was good". Rash"i comments that the reason "ki
tov" is not mentioned on the second day is because the creation of the water
(i.e. - its assignment to the seas) was not completed until the third day. A
value judgment of "ki tov" could not be pronounced until the work was
complete. Therefore "ki tov" is mentioned twice on Tuesday - once in
connection with the completion of the water (which was started previously)
and once in connection with the vegetation (which was both started and
completed on that same day).
This, however, begs for further explanation. G-d is all powerful. What does
it mean that "he did not complete the job on Monday?" Why not? Clearly, He
does not become tired or run out of time. Rather, He purposely did not
finish the job on Monday. What is this trying to teach us?
The Shemen HaTov writes that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is teaching us a
lesson through the events of Creation that we as human beings must learn.
This lesson is that "it's not over, until it's over." Sometimes things occur
in life and we do not see the benefit therein. Sometimes we do not
understand exactly what is happening.
Sometimes we will be able to understand what the event was really about, on
the very next day. Then we will see the benefit of the inexplicable
occurrence of the previous day. In the middle of creating the world, the
All Powerful went out of His way to leave something undone, to leave
something with a question mark at the end of the day, to leave something
where the "ki tov" was not immediately apparent. The lesson is that "life"
follows the same pattern as the days of Creation. We do not always
immediately perceive the "ki tov".
Life would be much easier to live if within 24 hours we would immediately
perceive that elusive "ki tov". Sometimes we do not even understand events
the following week or year. Sometimes we do not even understand until the
next lifetime. But the lesson of the delayed "ki tov" is that we should not
expect to always see immediate results and immediate outcomes. Sometimes the
good does not come until later.
G-d disrupted the order of Creation, leaving something purposely unfinished,
in order to teach us this crucial lesson of life.
This write-up was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tape series on the weekly Torah portion.
The complete list of halachic topics covered in this series for Parshas
Bereishis are provided below:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
