לקוטי שיחות חלק ל׳ - בראשית א

Likkutei Sichos Vol. 30 – Bereishis 1

1. "With ten utterances the world was created. What does this come to teach? Could it not have been created with one utterance? Rather, it is to exact payment from the wicked, who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances, and to give good reward to the tzaddikim, who sustain the world that was created with ten utterances."

The well-known question is: G‑d is the essence of good, and it is the nature of the good to do good. How, then, can one say that G‑d created the world with ten utterances in order "to exact payment from the wicked, who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances"?!

Even more puzzling: the Mishnah puts this before "and to give good reward to the tzaddikim," as if "to exact payment from the wicked" were the main purpose of creating the world with ten utterances.

Simply put, it would seem the order should be the reverse. The main purpose of the world's creation (with ten utterances) — and obviously it was created in order to endure — is to give good reward to the tzaddikim, who sustain the world. It is only that, so that free choice will be possible, there must also be "exacting payment from the wicked, who destroy the world."

Obviously our case cannot be compared with the saying of Chazal: "At first it arose in His thought to create the world with the attribute of judgment; He saw that the world could not endure, and He joined the attribute of mercy with it" — which shows that the attribute of judgment came first, at the very start of the thought of creating the world.

For (besides the fact that there the subject is before Creation, while the actual creation was done after "He joined the attribute of mercy with it") the thought of creating the world with the attribute of judgment does not mean that the main intent was (to judge and) to punish the creations. On the contrary, "this is the ultimate good": through the dread of judgment and the fear of punishment, people will hold back from becoming sinners and wicked. In our Mishnah, however, it is stressed that creation with ten utterances is "to exact payment from the wicked."

2. The commentators answer on the basis of the precise wording of the Mishnah, "to exact payment from the wicked" (and not "to punish the wicked"). The Mishnah means that G‑d wants (not the death of the wicked, to punish them "by way of vengeance, to destroy, to kill and to wipe out," but) "to be patient and collect what is His — by way of repayment." For "had the world been created with only one utterance, the wicked who destroy the world with their wickedness … would damage that utterance with which the world was created … and nothing would remain undamaged, since everything was created with one utterance, and there would be no room for Him to be patient with them … for they would already have damaged everything. Now, however, it was created with ten utterances … in order to exact payment from the wicked by way of repayment and not by way of vengeance."

This interpretation, however, only explains that "exacting payment from the wicked" also comes from G‑d's goodness and kindness (He wants to be patient even with the wicked). It still does not answer at all why the Tanna puts the payment of the wicked before the reward of the tzaddikim. For "exacting payment from the wicked" is, after all, an additional reason for creating the world with ten utterances (so that the wicked, too, will benefit), whereas the main reason, it would seem, is to give reward to the tzaddikim — a greater reward, because they sustain the world that was created with ten utterances.

3. This will be understood by first raising a general question:

Later in the chapter several things are listed that number ten. This needs explaining: why is the most basic thing of all not mentioned — that the Torah was given in the Ten Commandments?

[One cannot say this is because there is nothing new in it, since the Torah says explicitly that they are "the Ten Commandments." For among the things that are listed there are some that are well known and explicitly stated to number ten — for example, "With ten trials our ancestors tried … as it says, 'They have tried Me these ten times.'"]

All the more so according to the saying of Chazal on the verse, "Ten, ten, each spoon, by the holy shekel," that the ten utterances correspond to the Ten Commandments. This proves that the number of ten utterances (with which the Tanna opened) is connected with the number of the Ten Commandments.

4. The main point of the explanation of all this:

The reason the Tanna lists these things that are fixed at the number ten is to stress how important they are — for ten is "the complete number." We find the completeness of this number in a number of areas, as cited in the sefarim. For example: a) Every object has three dimensions — length, width and depth — and each of them consists of three: beginning, middle and end; together with the place that "holds" them, that makes ten. In the words of the Rambam: substance and the nine accidents. b) In a person's life, every ten years is a period of its own, as at the end of the chapter: "At twenty … at thirty …" c) The human soul has ten powers.

The completeness of the number ten appears in matters of mitzvos as well: when ten Jews come together they form a holy congregation (and "wherever ten are gathered, the Shechinah rests"); in a number of matters, "the tenth shall be holy"; and more.

It follows that the number ten (a complete number) of the things listed in the mishnayos (of this chapter) indicates their importance and the high level of their completeness.

All this, however, applies to things of the created world, since it was fixed in the world that completeness lies in the number ten. The Torah, however, is above the world, and so one cannot say that its being given in the Ten Commandments indicates its high level and importance, as will be explained.

5. The explanation:

The reason that everything is complete when it numbers ten is that this is how the Creator imprinted it in Creation. G‑d created His world with ten utterances, which correspond (as mentioned by the commentators on the Mishnah here) to the ten supernal Sefiros; and from this it carried over and was fixed in all the worlds (in the well-known phrase: in the whole seder hishtalshelus, the chain of descending worlds) that they are complete when they number ten.

This does not mean, however, that the completeness of the number ten is necessary in itself — for Heaven forbid to say that there is anything G‑d is compelled to do.

Rather, it arose in G‑d's will, by His free choice, to emanate ten Sefiros — "ten and not nine, ten and not eleven" — and as a result there is the completeness of the number ten in everything in the world. That is, this is an effect that follows from G‑d's will having chosen the number ten; and from this comes the completeness of that number in every world and on every level. But before (and above) the rise of this will (to emanate ten Sefiros), one cannot say that completeness lies specifically in the number ten, or in any other number.

[Had G‑d chosen to create the world with a different number of Sefiros — in the spirit of the Mishnah's words here, "It could have been created with one utterance" — completeness would then lie specifically in that number.]

This also explains the number ten in the Torah (the Ten Commandments):

The saying of Chazal is well known that the Torah is G‑d's working tool — the "plans and records" by which G‑d created the world. Obviously this does not mean only the creation of this physical world; the creation of all the worlds is through the Torah. It follows that the definitions of the world, too (including the fact that the completeness of its affairs is defined by the number ten), were created through the Torah.

Now we can understand that the Torah's being given with the number ten (the "Ten Commandments") is not an effect of the completeness of this number. On the contrary: since the Torah is the "plans" of all Creation, the number ten into which it was set out is what causes the completeness of this number in everything in Creation. That is, in them and through them (the number ten in the Torah) G‑d's will (which is above reason) is revealed — that the whole seder hishtalshelus should be defined by, and reach its completeness in, the number ten,

just as, in the parable, the plans express and reveal the will of the craftsman who builds the house.

That is why the Ten Commandments of the Torah are not to be counted among the things (in these mishnayos) that number ten. This number (in the Torah) does not come to reveal any high level or importance in the Torah; on the contrary, as explained above, the importance of the number ten comes about and is caused by the fact that the commandments of the Torah number specifically ten. As a result the number "ten" becomes important (and not that the Ten Commandments are especially important because they number ten).

6. Moreover, not only is the completeness of the number ten not a necessity in the order of Creation, its (first) cause being only G‑d's will and choice (which is above reason); even after it was fixed so in the nature of Creation, G‑d is not, Heaven forbid, bound by it, and He is able to change it.

That is to say: once the world was created through ten utterances (corresponding to the ten Sefiros), the completeness of every world (and every thing) is defined by the number ten (and we cannot picture it otherwise) — to the point that matters of Torah and Judaism too are defined specifically by this number (as above). Nevertheless, this is only from our side, as creations created by ten utterances. From G‑d's side, however — since His will is not compelled, Heaven forbid — even after He fixed it so in His world, He is able to change it: to create, or to make something in Creation whose completeness does not lie in the number ten, and more than that — something that is not within the bounds of Creation at all.

[This is like miracles in general, which come to override the order of nature. Although the world runs by the laws of nature, as the Torah says, "Seed-time … and day and night shall not cease," it is obvious that this is only because G‑d fixed it so; it is not in any way a necessity for Him, Heaven forbid, and He can change the bounds of nature as He wills. At times G‑d performs miracles that override the order of nature, and through them everyone can see that even after the laws of nature were fixed, G‑d is not, Heaven forbid, bound by them, and He is able to change them.]

This is also one of the interpretations of the Tanna's words here, "With ten utterances the world was created … Could it not have been created with one utterance?" The Tanna does not mean only to tell us what could have been in the past; he is also saying that even now (when the world has been created with ten utterances) this ability exists.

But since this ability is above the ten utterances with which the world was created, its effect too is in a way that is not according to the world's bounds, as will be explained.

7. The two points above regarding Creation [(a) that all the affairs and workings of Creation are in the manner of "shall not cease" (including the completeness of the number ten, since they were created through the ten utterances); (b) "It could have been created with one utterance" — G‑d's ability, which is not defined by any bounds and works in the world not according to the world's bounds] are found in man's service of G‑d as well:

a) Man is a created being, limited and defined by the bounds and order of Creation — in the words of Chazal, "One does not rely on a miracle." b) Since the soul of every Jew is "truly a part of G‑d above," he has the power to "reach" and serve G‑d in a way that is above Creation.

In general (and in keeping with how the world was created in its fullness, and man in his completeness), these are the two kinds of service: the service of tzaddikim and the service of teshuvah. The difference between them: the service of tzaddikim follows the order of "the upright man walks" — "G‑d made man upright" — an orderly service according to the order of the Torah. The service of baalei teshuvah: even one who has sinned, caused damage and strayed from the path, Heaven forbid — transgressed the ways of the Torah — through teshuvah he comes back, draws near to G‑d and cleaves ("to cleave") to Him, and fulfills His mitzvos with extra strength.

The same applies to their effect on worldly matters. The service of tzaddikim takes effect, and is, only with things permitted by the Torah, which the tzaddik engages in for the sake of Heaven; but not with forbidden things, with which a tzaddik has no dealings at all, and which he rejects utterly. The service of baalei teshuvah: through teshuvah, "his deliberate sins become for him like merits."

So too with the different levels of the soul as they relate to the service of tzaddikim and the service of teshuvah. The special quality of the service of teshuvah is that it comes specifically from the level of yechidah in the soul. The service of tzaddikim, which is the perfection of serving G‑d according to the order that should be usual in the life of Jews, is connected (mainly) with service through the (revealed) powers of the soul, which number ten (and as above, the completeness of everything in Creation depends specifically on the number ten). But the service of teshuvah, which is above the usual order —

— so far from usual that "one who says, 'I will sin and then repent,' is not given the opportunity to repent" —

is in the manner of "with all your might," above the measure and limit of the number ten (and of the powers of the soul). Therefore it belongs to the level of "one,"

for it comes from the level of yechidah in the soul, which is called "one" (as stated in Tosafos).

8. Now the words of the Mishnah, "With ten utterances … to exact payment from the wicked …," can be explained:

We cited above the commentators' close reading of the Mishnah's wording "to exact payment from the wicked" (and not "to punish"): the meaning is "to collect what is His by way of repayment." That is, the aim is not vengeance (to punish the sinner for its own sake), but a punishment that brings the sinner to "repay" the "debt" he owes for his evil deed.

For every soul came down below as G‑d's emissary, to make Him a dwelling place in the lower realms — through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos. One who has sinned, caused damage and strayed from the path, Heaven forbid, thereby becomes a "debtor" to G‑d, since he must still complete the mission placed upon him.

Paying this debt is teshuvah, in and through which he repairs all the lacks he caused by his sins. This is the meaning of "exacting payment from the wicked": G‑d demands of the wicked that they pay Him, as it were, the debt — by doing teshuvah. [This is also the meaning of punishments in the plain sense: their purpose is not the punishment itself, but to bring the person to teshuvah.]

On this basis one can explain more deeply the continuation of the Tanna's words, "(to exact payment from the wicked,) who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances." This too (that the wicked "destroy the world that was created with ten utterances") has a positive side, in keeping with the special quality of the service of teshuvah: through teshuvah they build a "new world" — a day-to-day conduct with extra strength, to the point that their souls thirst more intensely than the souls of tzaddikim.

And this is "to exact payment from the wicked, who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances": the "repayment" of the wicked is that they destroy and cancel the measure and limitation in the world (which comes from its having been created with "ten utterances"). For through teshuvah, G‑d's ability that is above the ten utterances (and the ten Sefiros) is revealed in the world — an ability not defined by the bounds of Creation, which then directs the world. This is like what will happen in the physical world, too, in the time to come, when the Land of Israel will bring forth ready-baked cakes and fine woolen garments and the like.

9. This explains the continuation of the Mishnah:

At the beginning of the Mishnah the Tanna says, "With ten utterances the world was created. What does this come to teach? Could it not have been created with one utterance?" With this he explains (as above) the two aspects of the way the world was created: (a) the limitation in Creation that results from its having been created with ten utterances; (b) together with this there is the "one utterance (with which) it could have been created" — G‑d's ability, which is not defined by any bounds, and which also works in Creation, as explained above.

Correspondingly, he goes on to the two kinds of service: the service of "exacting payment from the wicked, who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances" — that is, the service of teshuvah, which comes from the "one utterance with which it could have been created" (and therefore cancels the limitation that came down from the ten utterances);

and "to give good reward to the tzaddikim, who sustain the world that was created with ten utterances" — through their service in fulfilling Torah and mitzvos, they bring endurance and strength (to the ten utterances, and thereby) to Creation itself.

This answers why the Tanna puts "to exact payment from the wicked" before "to give good reward to the tzaddikim." Besides the fact that the service of teshuvah is higher than the service of tzaddikim (as the saying goes, "In the place where baalei teshuvah stand, even complete tzaddikim cannot stand"), in its effect on the affairs of the world (which was created with ten utterances) the service of teshuvah also has an advantage: specifically through it, even "deliberate sins" are turned into merits, so that even these lowest things ("the lowest level, below which there is nothing lower") become a "dwelling place" for G‑d.

(From a talk of Shabbos Parshas Chukas-Balak, 5742)