The first verses of the Torah and the rabbinic midrashim on them provide an introduction for some of the themes that will feature throughout the Torah. The Torah begins with the world in chaos. The first thing that is created is light and the distinction between light and darkness. Only afterwards is the water separated from the sky and the land from the water. The light and darkness discussed in the first verses is not the physical light which emanates from the sun and moon, which were only created on the fourth day. Rather they are a form of spiritual light that according to the midrash was hidden and will return to shine on the righteous in the future world. What our Sages are telling us is that the first act of creation is the moral distinction between light and darkness, good and evil. Preceding the physical foundations of the universe are its moral foundations.
Two other midrashim that Rashi brings at the very beginning of his commentary on the Torah emphasises the importance of the Jewish role in this moral foundation. The world was created for the sake of Israel, who are called reishit or ‘beginning’. Also, the Torah begins with the account of creation in order to emphasise the Jewish right to the Land of Israel, which was given by G-d, who created the world and thus owns it, to the people of Israel. The centrality of the people of Israel and the Land of Israel are two other basic themes that permeate the whole of the Torah.
These three ideas are of course connected. The Jewish people, through both their lifestyle and history, are the ultimate exemplars of the idea that the universe has a moral basis and that the fate of individuals and nations is not dependent only on material circumstances but on their moral probity and ethical behaviour. The same is true of the Land of Israel. It is in this land, in its environment and history, that the moral governance of the world can be most clearly discerned. Through the history of People of Israel in the Land of Israel, both their triumphs and tragedies, we can perceive the workings of the principle of moral accountability and the distinction between light and darkness set out at the beginning of the Torah.
It is for this reason that those that want to deny and distort this principle firstly attack the Jews and especially the Jews in their land. It is, however, also for this reason that in the end they will fail and good will prevail as the light drives out the darkness.
