רַבִּי חֲנַנְיָא בֶּן עֲקַשְׁיָא אוֹמֵר, רָצָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְזַכּוֹת אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, לְפִיכָךְ הִרְבָּה לָהֶם תּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה מב) ה' חָפֵץ לְמַעַן צִדְקוֹ יַגְדִּיל תּוֹרָה וְיַאְדִּיר:
Said Rabbi Hananiah ben Akashya: It pleased the Holy Blessed One to grant merit to Israel, that is why He gave them Torah and commandments in abundance, as it is said, “The Lord was pleased for His righteousness, to make Torah great and glorious” (Isaiah 42:21).
(שה״ש ה, א). אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת הָעוֹלָם, נִתְאַוָּה שֶׁיְּהֵא לוֹ דִּירָה בַּתַּחְתּוֹנִים כְּמוֹ שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּעֶלְיוֹנִים. בָּרָא אֶת הָאָדָם וְצִוָּה אוֹתוֹ וְאָמַר לוֹ: מִכָּל עֵץ הַגַּן אָכֹל תֹּאכֵל, וּמֵעֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרַע לֹא תֹּאכַל מִמֶּנּוּ (בראשית ב, טז-יז). וְעָבַר עַל צִוּוּיוֹ. אָמַר לֵיהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, כָּךְ הָיִיתִי מִתַּאֲוֶה שֶׁיְּהֵא לִי דִּירָה בַּתַּחְתּוֹנִים כְּמוֹ שֶׁיֵּשׁ לִי בָּעֶלְיוֹנִים, וְדָבָר אֶחָד צִוִּיתִי אוֹתְךָ וְלֹא שָׁמַרְתָּ אוֹתוֹ. מִיַּד סִלֵּק הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שְׁכִינָתוֹ לָרָקִיעַ הָרִאשׁוֹן. עָמַד מֹשֶׁה וְהוֹרִידָהּ לָאָרֶץ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיֵּרֵד ה' עַל הַר סִינַי (שמות יט, כ). וּכְתִיב: בָּאתִי לְגַנִּי אֲחוֹתִי כַּלָּה (שה״ש ה, א). אֵימָתַי, כְּשֶׁהוּקַם הַמִּשְׁכָּן.
” R. Samuel bar Nahman said, “When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, He longed to have an abode below just as He had on high.91Cf. PR 5:5; PRK 1:1; Numb. R. 13:2. Having created Adam, He commanded and said to him (in Gen. 2:16–17), ‘You may freely eat of any tree in the garden; But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you may not eat of it.’ Then he transgressed against his commandment.92Tanh., Exod. 11:6. The Holy One, blessed be He, said this to him, ‘This is what I longed for, that just as I have a dwelling on high, I would likewise have one below. Now when I have given you one command, you have not kept it. Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, removed His Divine Presence [up] to the first firmament.…. [When] Moses arose, he brought down [the Divine Presence] to earth, as stated (in Exod 19:20), ‘And the Lord came down onto Mount Sinai.’” And [so] it is written (in Cant. 5:1), “When I come to my garden, my sister bride.” When? When the Tabernacle was set up.
וזה כל האדם ותכלית בריאתו ובריאות כל העולמות עליונים ותחתונים להיות לו דירה זו בתחתונים, כמו שיתבאר לקמן באריכות.
And this is the entirety of man, and his purpose, and the purpose of all of Creation, to be a residence for G-d in the lower world, as I will discuss at length later.
(ה) בְּגִין דְּיִשְׁתְּמוּדְעוּן לֵיהּ, בְּכָל מִדָּה וּמִדָּה, אֵיךְ יִתְנַהֵג עָלְמָא, בְּחֶסֶ''ד וּבְדִינָא, כְּפוּם עוֹבָדֵיהוֹן דִּבְנֵי נָשָׁא, דְּאִי לָא יִתְפָּשַּׁט נְהוֹרֵ יהּ עַל כָּל בִּרְיָין, אֵיךְ יִשְׁתְּמוֹדְעוּן לֵיהּ, וְאֵיךְ יִתְקָיֵּים, (ישעיה ו) מְלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ.
(Just the italicized print)
For if [G-d's] light is not spread over all of His creations, how can they serve Him, and how can the world exist?
But of those who accept our theory that the whole Universe has been created from nothing, some hold that the inquiry after the purpose of the Creation is necessary, and assume that the Universe was only created for the sake of man's existence, that he might serve God. Everything that is done they believe is done for man's sake; even the spheres move only for his benefit, in order that his wants might be supplied
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It might perhaps be replied that the service of God is not intended for God's perfection; it is intended for our own perfection,--it is good for us, it makes us perfect. But then the question might be repeated, What is the object of our being perfect? We must in continuing the inquiry as to the purpose of the creation at last arrive at the answer, It was the Will of God, or His Wisdom decreed it; and this is the correct answer.
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They have thus clearly stated that it was not a final cause that determined the existence of all things, but only His will. This being the case, we who believe in the Creation must admit that God could have created the Universe in a different manner as regards the causes and effects contained in it, and this would lead to the absurd conclusion that everything except man existed without any purpose, as the principal object, man, could have been brought into existence without the rest of the creation. I consider therefore the following opinion as most correct according to the teaching of the Bible, and best in accordance with the results of philosophy; namely, that the Universe does not exist for man's sake, but that each being exists for its own sake, and not because of some other thing. Thus we believe in the Creation, and yet need not inquire what purpose is served by each species of the existing things, because we assume that God created all parts of the Universe by His will; some for their own sake, and some for the sake of other beings, that include their own purpose in themselves. In the same manner as it was the will of God that man should exist, so it was His will that the heavens with their stars should exist, that there should be angels, and each of these beings is itself the purpose of its own existence. When anything can only exist provided some other thing has previously existed, God has caused the latter to precede it; as, e.g., sensation precedes comprehension. We meet also with this view in Scripture "The Lord hath made everything (la-ma‘anehu) for its purpose (Prov. 16:4). It is possible that the pronoun in la-maanehu refers to the object; but it can also be considered as agreeing with the subject; in which case the meaning of the word is, for the sake of Himself, or His will which is identical with His self [or essence], as has been shown in this treatise. We have also pointed out that His essence is also called His glory. The words, "The Lord hath made everything for Himself, "express therefore the same idea as the following verse, "Everything that is called by my name: I have created it for my glory, I have formed it; yea, I have made it" (Isa. 43:7); that is to say, everything that is described as My work has been made by Me for the sake of My will and for no other purpose.......
We remain firm in our belief that the whole Universe was created in accordance with the will of God, and we do not inquire for any other cause or object. just as we do not ask what is the purpose of God's existence, so we do not ask what was the object of His will, which is the cause of the existence of all things with their present properties, both those that have been created and those that will be created.
רבי יוסף קארו: מגיד מישרים
עדיף שנברא משלא נברא עקב הסיכוי לעלות מדרגת "נהמא דכיסופא" לדרגה העליונה של "נהמא בלא כיסופא".
Rabbi Yosef Karo: Magid Meishrim:
It is better to have been created due the benefit of being able to avoid eating "Shameful Bread" and instead eating bread with out shame.
This is refering to the mystical idea that we come to this world to earn our reward, and avoiding the shame of getting something for free.
(ב) בראשית ברא אֵין הַמִּקְרָא הַזֶּה אוֹמֵר אֶלָּא דָרְשַׁנִי, כְּמוֹ שֶׁדְּרָשׁוּהוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ בִּשְׁבִיל הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁנִקְרֵאת רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ (משלי ח'), וּבִשְׁבִיל יְשׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִקְרְאוּ רֵאשִׁית תְּבוּאָתוֹ (ירמיה ב');
(2) בראשית ברא IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED — This verse calls aloud for explanation in the manner that our Rabbis explained it: God created the world for the sake of the Torah which is called (Proverbs 8:22) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) way”, and for the sake of Israel who are called (Jeremiah 2:3) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) increase’’.
ואין אצלנו בלשון הקדש בהוצאת היש מאין אלא לשון "ברא"; ואין כל ה"נעשה" – תחת השמש או למעלה – הווה מן האין התחלה ראשונה. אבל הוציא מן האפס הגמור המוחלט יסוד דק מאד, אין בו ממש, אבל הוא כוח ממציא, מוכן לקבל הצורה ולצאת מן הכוח אל הפועל.
And we have no other expression in the Holy Tongue for bringing out something from nothing than "bara" (which is found almost exclusively in this verse). And none of all that which was made - 'under the sun' or above - existed [directly] from nothing. Rather, He brought out a very fine element from complete nothingness; it has no substance, but it is the energy that can create, that is able to accept a form and to go from the potential to the actual.