Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
At the end of Shabbat, we say a special prayer called הַבְדָּלָה (Havdalah, separation) to separate between Shabbat and the rest of the week. In Havdalah, we praise God for separating other things, too. For example, God separates between light and dark: הַמַּבְדִּיל...בֵּין אוֹר לְחֹשֶׁךְ (Hamadvil…bein or le’hoshekh).
Sound familiar? Actually, in Bereishit, God separates between light and dark twice, both times in the first aliyah!
Check it out:
- On Day One, God creates light, and then separates between light and dark (Bereishit 1:4).
- On the fourth day, God creates the sun to mark the daytime, and the moon and stars to mark the nighttime (and although these provide a little light, it is mainly dark at night). This is also described as separation (Bereishit 1:14,18).
You might wonder: What happened on the fourth day that was different from Day One? The Talmud asks this very question, and provides two possible answers.
אוֹר שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן, אָדָם צוֹפֶה וּמַבִּיט בּוֹ מִסּוֹף הָעוֹלָם וְעַד סוֹפוֹ, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יַעֲקֹב. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים: הֵן הֵן מְאוֹרוֹת שֶׁנִּבְרְאוּ בְּיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן, וְלֹא נִתְלוּ עַד יוֹם רְבִיעִי.
R. Yaakov thought the light of creation on Day One was a special kind of light that made Adam able to see (and understand) from one end of the world to the other.
The Sages said that God made the sun and moon on Day One, but waited until the fourth day to hang them in the sky.
- When we thank God for separating light from dark, what do you think about?
- Why talk about light and dark at the end of Shabbat? Could it relate somehow to the difference between Shabbat and the rest of the days of the week? How so?
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