This week we read the first section of the Torah, the parashah Bereshit – In the Beginning. One of the most salient points of this section is perhaps the account of Creation. Contrary to what the world thinks, the first thing God created was not the heavens and the earth, but Light. The correct translation of the opening words (and verses that follow) is, "In the beginning of creation, when God created the heavens and the earth, [...], God said, "Let there be Light."” The first creation is Light. Now, this light is not what we understand as light (from a lamp or other light source) but a spiritual light, which God conceals in order to later reward it in the World to Come.
Like the example of an architect, who first knows what his final objective is, then puts that original idea into a plan, and later, the workers, following the instructions in the plan, build what the architect thought of at the beginning.
The architect is God, the blueprint is the Torah, the workers are the Jewish people, and the construction is this world, where that original light will be revealed when we finish the work.
In connection with this, recently, at the United Nations General Assembly, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, gave an interesting speech on Israel's right to life, calling the UN a parody.
Now, what's most interesting is that Netanyahu gave another speech, this time before a group of presidents of the largest Jewish communities in the United States, where he recounted how the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, had told him years before what kind of institution the UN is: a "house of lies." And, furthermore, he explained what its task should be: "Remember that in a room of perfect darkness, total darkness, if you light a small candle, its light will be visible from afar, its precious light will be seen by all.".
I invite you to Watch the video, Not to "prove" that the Rebbe was right, nor to agree with everything Netanyahu says from now on, but to arrive at a very simple and clear conclusion: God created the world as a room full of darkness, and our role, as the Jewish people, is to illuminate it. Our job is to reveal that initial "Let there be light" by living a full life in the observance of mitzvot and the study of Torah.