Chapter 2

In this chapter the Alter Rebbe explains the mistake made by those who deny that Hashem He is constantly and directly involved in creation. This explanation is important for understanding the ideas in chapter 3.

The Alter Rebbe raises the difference between two forms of creation:

Imagine a goldsmith working on a piece of silver. When the goldsmith shapes it into a beautiful cup, even after removing his hands from the material, the cup retains the shape the goldsmith gave it. No one would think that the cup would return to its original form when the goldsmith takes his hands away.

The Alter Rebbe calls this type of creation "something of something." The piece of silver already existed, and all the silversmith did was reveal in it one of the thousands upon thousands of forms it could take. That piece of silver could have been a fork, a knife, a plate, etc., and the silversmith applied his art and wisdom to reveal one of those many forms by making a cup.

An artist's creative process doesn't consist of creating the elements used to display their art. For example, a visual artist uses acrylics to paint and canvas as a base material. Rather, their creation lies in combining these elements in such a way as to produce a specific painting, an idea, and so on. In other words, no one diminishes the artist's genius, but their creation is limited to combining existing elements, thus revealing in those very elements one of the many possible combinations that could be made with them.

So, after all, the material already existed, and the shape the goldsmith gave it already existed too! This is what the Alter Rebbe calls creation, "something from something.".

On the other hand, we have the creation of the universe. Before that Hashem Before everything we know was created, none of this existed. Because Hashem creates “something out of nothing”.

The mistake of those who deny that Hashem is constantly and directly involved in the creation; they think that the creation of Hashem It's of the first type, "something of something". But it's not like that. Hashem He creates "something out of nothing," and that keeps him constantly and directly involved in the creation process.

To explain why we say that if creation is in the form of “something out of nothing” then Hashem He must “be constantly involved.” The Alter Rebbe compares this second type of creation to a famous event in the history of the Jewish people: the parting of the Sea of Reeds.¹. And he says that the creation of the universe is even more impressive than that event. Why?

The Torah He recounts that at the opening of the Sea of Reeds Hashem He caused a very strong wind to blow, which made the waters part and stand still like two walls, between which the Jewish people passed. Here there was, on one side, water, and on the other, the nature of water, which is to flow.

In other words, Hashem It caused a very strong wind to blow, which stopped the natural flow of the waters. As long as the wind blew, the waters stood still like walls. When Hashem He stopped making the wind blow, and the waters returned to their natural state of flowing. That is, when Hashem He removed what was disrupting the nature of the water (that is, he removed the wind), and the waters returned to their normal course: they began to flow again.

Based on this idea, let's consider this: if it was necessary for the wind to blow constantly to negate the nature (of flow) of an existing creature (like water), how much more so is it necessary to constantly apply creative force to make something from nothing? In the case of nothingness, not only is there no nature to be changed, but there is also no object that possesses nature—there is nothing! Surely, creative force must be constantly at work so that this created "something" does not revert to being "nothing" as it was before its creation.

Therefore, creating “something from nothing” implies that Hashem be “constantly involved” in that creation so that it does not revert to being “nothing”, as it was before being “something”.

The Alter Rebbe ends the chapter explaining that the creative force of Hashem, that is constantly creating the entire universe, is contained in the letters of the Ten Phrases where the Torah says “He said Hashem that it be such a thing.”².

But: Why the Torah says that Hashem How does He create everything through speech if He has no mouth? The idea of speech is the revelation of what was hidden in thought. Generally, before saying something, we first think about it. Then, when we speak, we reveal what we had already thought.

To explain how the word of Hashem He creates and gives life to the entire world, the Alter Rebbe compares the way a prophet received a prophecy of Hashem, with the way the letters of the word of Hashem They invest themselves in creation to give it life.

The prophets grasped in their intellects, thoughts, and words the ideas that Hashem He wanted to convey to them in his prophetic vision. Let's call these ideas "the words of Hashem to the prophet”³. So, just like the words of Hashem They were invested in the prophet's brain, in the same way His words are invested in the entire creation to create it and give it life.

Except that in the case of the prophets, the words of Hashem They didn't descend so much to a lower level, but remained within the world of the prophet's thoughts and words, but in creation, the word of Hashem It descends, through many contractions, to create and give life to the material world.

SummaryCreation: “something from something” and “something from nothing.” Creation “something from nothing” implies that Hashem He is constantly involved in creation. An example is the parting of the Sea of Reeds. Hashem creates through speech. The idea behind speech is that it reveals what is hidden. The words of Hashem in creation they are similar to the words of prophecy.