פָּתַח רַבִּי חִיָּיא וְאָמַר (תהלים קו) מִי יְמַלֵּל גְּבוּרוֹת יי יַשְׁמִיעַ כָּל תְּהִלָּתוֹ. תָּא חֲזִי, כַּד בָּעָא קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא וְסָלִיק בִּרְעוּתָא קַמֵּיהּ לְמִבְרֵי עַלְמָא, הֲוָה מִסְתַּכֵּל בְּאוֹרַיְיתָא, וּבְרָא לֵיהּ, וּבְכָל עוֹבָדָא וְעוֹבָדָא דְּבָרָא קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא בְעַלְמָא הֲוה מִסְתַּכֵּל בְּאוֹרַיְיתָא, וּבָרָא לֵיהּ. הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב, (משלי ח) וָאֶהְיֶה אֶצְלוֹ אָמוֹן וָאֶהְיֶה שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים יוֹם יוֹם אַל תִּקְרֵי אָמוֹן, אֶלָּא אוּמָן. כַּד בָּעָא לְמִבְרֵי אָדָם אָמְרָה תּוֹרָה קַמֵּיהּ, אִי בַּר נָשׁ יִתְבְּרֵי, וּלְבָתַר יֶחטֵי וְאַנְתְּ תִּידוּן לֵיהּ, אַמַּאי יְהוֹן עוֹבָדֵי יְדָךְ לְמַגָּנָא, דְּהָא לָא יֵיכוּל לְמִסְבַּל דִּינָךְ. אָמַר לֵיהּ קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, הָא אַתְקִינַת תְּשׁוּבָה עַד לָא בָרָאתִי עַלְמָא, אָמַר קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא לְעַלְמָא בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְּעֲבַד לֵיהּ וּבָרָא לְאָדָם, אָמַר לֵיהּ, עַלְמָא עַלְמָא, אַנְתְּ וְנִימוּסָךְ לָא קָיְימִין אֶלָּא עַל אוֹרַיְיתָא. וּבְגִין כָּךְ בָּרָאתִי לֵיהּ לָאָדָם בָּךְ, בְּגִין דְּיִתְעַסַּק בָּהּ. וְאִי לָאו, הָא אֲנָא אַהֲדַר לָךְ לְתֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Rabbi Hiyya opened, "Who can express the mighty acts of Hashem or declare all His praise? (Psalms 106:2). Come and see: When the blessed Holy One desired — when it arose in His will — to create the world, He gazed into Torah and created it. For every act of creation throughout the world, the blessed Holy One gazed into Torah and created, as is written: "I was with Him as a nursling (amon), I was a daily delight" (Proverbs 8:30). Do not read אָמוֹן (amon), nursling, but rather אוּמָן (uman), artisan. As He was about to create Adam, Torah exclaimed: 'If a human being is created and then proceeds to sin, and You punish him, why should the work of Your hands be in vain, since he will be unable to endure Your judgement?' He replied, 'I have already prepared teshuvah, returning, before creating the world.' Once He made the world and created Adam, the blessed Holy One exclaimed, 'O world, world! You and your laws are based solely upon Torah. That is why I created the human being in you, so that he might engage in her, strive for her. If not, I will turn you back into chaos and void.'
דָּבָר אַחֵר אָמוֹן, אֻמָּן. הַתּוֹרָה אוֹמֶרֶת אֲנִי הָיִיתִי כְּלִי אֻמְנוּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בְּנֹהַג שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם בּוֹנֶה פָּלָטִין, אֵינוֹ בּוֹנֶה אוֹתָהּ מִדַּעַת עַצְמוֹ אֶלָּא מִדַּעַת אֻמָּן, וְהָאֻמָּן אֵינוֹ בּוֹנֶה אוֹתָהּ מִדַּעַת עַצְמוֹ אֶלָּא דִּפְתְּרָאוֹת וּפִנְקְסָאוֹת יֵשׁ לוֹ, לָדַעַת הֵיאךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה חֲדָרִים, הֵיאךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה פִּשְׁפְּשִׁין. כָּךְ הָיָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַבִּיט בַּתּוֹרָה וּבוֹרֵא אֶת הָעוֹלָם.
Alternatively, amon means "artisan." The Torah is saying, "I was the artisan's tool of Hashem." In the way of the world, a king of flesh and blood who builds a castle does not do so from his own knowledge, but rather from the knowledge of an architect, and the architect does not build it from his own knowledge, but rather he has scrolls and books in order to know how to make rooms and doorways. So too Hashem gazed into the Torah and created the world.
בשעה שעלה משה למרום אמרו מלאכי השרת לפני הקב"ה רבש"ע מה לילוד אשה בינינו אמר להן לקבל תורה בא אמרו לפניו חמודה גנוזה שגנוזה לך תשע מאות ושבעים וארבעה דורות קודם שנברא העולם אתה מבקש ליתנה לבשר ודם
At the moment when Moses ascended on High, the ministering angels said before the Holy One Blessed Be He: Master of the World, what is one born of a woman doing among us? He said to them: To receive the Torah. The angels said before him: The Torah is a hidden treasure that was concealed for 974 generations before the creation of the world, and you seek to give it to flesh and blood?
אמר רב קיים אברהם אבינו כל התורה כולה שנאמר (בראשית כו, ה) עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי וגו' א"ל רב שימי בר חייא לרב: ואימא שבע מצות! הא איכא נמי מילה. ואימא שבע מצות ומילה! א"ל א"כ מצותי ותורותי למה לי? אמר (רב) ואיתימא רב אשי: קיים אברהם אבינו אפילו עירובי תבשילין שנאמר "תורותי" אחת תורה שבכתב ואחת תורה שבעל פה.
Rav said: Our father Abraham kept the whole Torah, as it is said: Because that Abraham hearkened to My voice [kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws]. R. Shimi b. Hiyya said to Rav: Say, perhaps, that this refers to the seven laws? Surely there was also that of circumcision! Then say that it refers to the seven laws and circumcision [and not to the whole Torah]? If that were so, why does Scripture say: ‘My commandments and My laws’? Rava or R. Ashi said: Abraham, our father, kept even the law concerning the mitzva of the joining of cooked foods, as it is said: ‘My Torahs’: one being the written Torah, the other the oral Torah.
וַיָּשָׁב אַבְרָהָם אֶל נְעָרָיו, וְיִצְחָק הֵיכָן הוּא? רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבָּנָן דְּתַמָּן, שְׁלָחוֹ אֵצֶל שֵׁם לִלְמֹד מִמֶּנּוּ תּוֹרָה,
And where was Isaac? He was went to learn Torah from Shem.
(א) ויתרוצצו. רַבּוֹתֵינוּ דְרָשׁוּהוּ לְשׁוֹן רִיצָה; כְּשֶׁהָיְתָה עוֹבֶרֶת עַל פִּתְחֵי תוֹרָה שֶׁל שֶׁם וְעֵבֶר, יַעֲקֹב רָץ וּמְפַרְכֵּס לָצֵאת, עוֹבֶרֶת עַל פֶּתַח עֲבוֹדַת אֱלִילִים, עֵשָׂו מְפַרְכֵּס לָצֵאת דָּבָר אַחֵר מִתְרוֹצְצִים זֶה עִם זֶה וּמְרִיבִים בְּנַחֲלַת שְׁנֵי עוֹלָמוֹת
(1) ויתרצצו AND [THE CHILDREN] STRUGGLED —...Our Rabbis explain that the word ויתרוצצו has the meaning of running, moving quickly: whenever she passed by the doors of the Torah (i. e. the Schools of Shem and Eber) Jacob moved convulsively in his efforts to come to birth, but whenever she passed by the gate of a pagan temple Esau moved convulsively in his efforts to come to birth (Genesis Rabbah 63:6). Another explanation is: they struggled with one another and faught as to how they should divide the two worlds as their inheritance (Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 111:2).
Kedushath Levi (Beshalach), Rabbi Levi Yitzchok
The Torah existed before the world. Therefore, how is it possible for the Torah to contain such things as, "Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz" (Genesis 36:12) and similar facts. How could these accounts have existed before the world? Actually the entire Torah is God's name. It originally contained cobinations of letters and secret mysteries that "no eye has uncovered" (Job 28:7). In its sequence of descent to this lowly world, the Torah must become clothed in a material garment, which often consists of stories. When God grants a person knowledge, understanding and intelligence, uncovering the mask that blinds his eyes, he can see the wonders of God's Torah. The people on this level are few, however, and the majority only understand the Torah according to its simple meaning. This is the meaning of the expression, "And God spoke to Moses to say." The Word came to Moses in such a way that he was able "to say" it to the people, the Children of Israel. It was given to him so that they should be able to accept it, even the lowliest of them. The Torah contains many other hidden things, concealed mysteries, and secrets.
Rabbi Yehoshua Avraham of Zitmar, Geulath Yisroel (Quoted in Sefer Baal Shem Tov)
Our sages teach us that the Torah was created two thousand years ago. This is difficult to understand, since the Torah contains the accounts of many events that happened after creation. How then can the Torah speak of creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, the holy Patriarchs, and all the other happenings recorded in the Torah? All these things had not yet happened. Actually, when the Torah was first created, it was a mixture of letters, the letters of the Torah were not yet combined into words as they are now. Whenever anything then happened in the world, these letters were combined, and the words were recombined to form the account. As soon as an event [that was to be recorded in the Torah] took place, a combination was immediately formed, corresponding to that even. If a different event had taken place, the letters would have combined different. The Torah is God's wisdom, and it has no end.
(א) או יאמר "וירא כו'", דהנה כשעלה ברצונו ית' לברוא את העולם להטיב לברואיו, צמצם הקב"ה את עצמו, ולהיכן צמצם את עצמו? שמעתי מפי מורי ז"ל שצמצם עצמו בתוך האותיות התורה שבהם ברא העולם. והצדיק העוסק בתורה לשמה בקדושה, הוא ממשיך את הבורא ב"ה ויתעלה בתוך האותיות של התורה כמו בשעת הבריאה.
When the Thought arose in God's Will to create the world and bestow good to God's handiwork, God constricted Itself. But to where did God constrict Itself? I Heard from my master [the Mezricher Magid] that God constricted Itself into the letters of the Torah. Then with these letters, God created the world...When the righteous studies Torah for its own, he brings the Creator into the letter of the Torah, just He was at the time of creation.
Ramban, Introduction to his commentary of the Torah
We also hold a true tradition that the Torah in its entirety consists of Names of the Holy One, Blessed is He. For the words of the Torah can be divided in a different way into other words.
(ב) דְּוַדַּאי קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא אִיהוּ אוֹרַיְיתָא, וּשְׁכִינְתָּא הִיא מִצְוָה.
The Holy One is the Torah and the Shechinah is the commandments.
Rabbi Menachem Recanati, Taamei Ha-Mitzvot
God is incomplete without the Torah. The Torah is not something outside Him, and He is not outside the Torah. God is the Torah.
God In Search Of Man, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
The word Torah is used in two senses; the supernal Torah, the existence which preceded the creation of the world, and the revealed Torah. Concerning the supernal Torah the Rabbis maintained: "The Torah is hidden from the eye of all living...Man knows not the price thereof." "Moses received Torah" but not all of the Torah "at Sinai." And not all that was revealed to Moses was conveyed to Israel; the meaning of the commandments is given as an example. Together with the gratitude for the word that was disclosed, there is a yearning for the meaning yet to be disclosed. There is a theory in Jewish literature containing a profound parabolical truth which maintains that the Torah, which is eternal in spirit, assumes different forms in various eons. The Torah was known to Adam when was in the Garden of Eden, although not in its present form. Commandments such as those concerning charity to the poor, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, would have been meaningless in the Garden of Eden. In that eon the Torah was known in its spiritual form. Just as man assumed a material form when he was driven out of the Garden of Eden, so has the Torah assumed a material form. If man had retained "the garments of light" his spiritual form of existence, the Torah, too, would have retained its spiritual form.
שפת אמת, בראשית:פרשת תולדות
ענין הבארות שחפרו האבות. באר הוא כמו הואיל משה באר את התורה. כמו כן קודם קבלת התורה היו האבות מבארים חכמת הבריאה. שהכל בתורה נברא. ולכבודי בראתיו. וצריך האדם להתבונן בכל הבריאה להבין כוונת הבורא ית"ש. ואאע"ה ביאר איך לבוא מכל הבריאה לאהבת הבורא ולהסתכל בחסדים וטובות הבורא שכבודו וגדלו וטובו מלא עולם...
Sefat Emet, Genesis: Parsha Toldot
Regarding the wells the patriarchs dug: the word be'er (well) is to be read as in: Moses agreed to explain (be'er) this teaching (Deut.1:5). In the same way, even before the Torah was received, the patriarchs explained/"welled" the wisdom of Creation, since everything was created through Torah and for God's glory. We have to contemplate all of Creation in order to understand the Creator's purpose. Abraham our Father explained/"welled" how to derive the love of God from all of Creation. How showed us how to look upon the kindness and goodness of the Creator, whose goodness and glory fill the world...
Me'or Einayim, Parshat Bamidbar
Abraham fulfilled the entire Torah even before it was given since his love was complete he was thus able to fulfill the Torah, as it says, " וְתֽוֹרַת־חֶ֝֗סֶד" — a Torah of kindness" (Proverbs 31:26).
(א) שים שָׁלום טובָה וּבְרָכָה. חֵן וָחֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל עַמֶּךָ. בָּרְכֵנוּ אָבִינוּ כֻּלָּנוּ כְּאֶחָד בְּאור פָּנֶיךָ. כִּי בְאור פָּנֶיךָ נָתַתָּ לָּנוּ יי אֱלקֵינוּ תּורַת חַיִּים וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד. וּצְדָקָה וּבְרָכָה וְרַחֲמִים וְחַיִּים וְשָׁלום. וְטוב בְּעֵינֶיךָ לְבָרֵךְ אֶת כָּל עַמְּךָ יִשרָאֵל בְּכָל עֵת וּבְכָל שָׁעָה בִּשְׁלומֶךָ:
(1) Establish peace, goodness, blessing, grace, loving kindness and mercy upon us and upon all Israel Your people. Bless us our Father, all of us as one, with the light of Your face. For in the light of Your face You gave to us, O Lord our God, the Torah of life and love of kindness and righteousness and blessing and compassion and life and peace. It is good in Your eyes to bless Your people Israel during all times and in all hours with Your peace.
...כָּל זְמַן שֶׁהוּא צָרִיךְ וְיֵשׁ בּוֹ סַכָּנָה אוֹ סְפֵק סַכָּנָה מְחַלְּלִין. וּמַדְלִיקִין לוֹ אֶת הַנֵּר וּמְכַבִּין מִלְּפָנָיו אֶת הַנֵּר וְשׁוֹחֲטִין לוֹ וְאוֹפִין וּמְבַשְּׁלִין וּמְחִמִּין לוֹ חַמִּין בֵּין לְהַשְׁקוֹתוֹ בֵּין לִרְחִיצַת גּוּפוֹ. כְּלָלוֹ שֶׁל דָּבָר שַׁבָּת לְגַבֵּי חוֹלֶה שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ סַכָּנָה הֲרֵי הוּא כְּחל לְכָל הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁהוּא צָרִיךְ לָהֶן: (ג) כְּשֶׁעוֹשִׂים דְּבָרִים הָאֵלּוּ אֵין עוֹשִׂין אוֹתָן לֹא עַל יְדֵי נָכְרִים וְלֹא עַל יְדֵי קְטַנִּים וְלֹא עַל יְדֵי עֲבָדִים וְלֹא עַל יְדֵי נָשִׁים כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא תְּהֵא שַׁבָּת קַלָּה בְּעֵינֵיהֶם. אֶלָּא עַל יְדֵי גְּדוֹלֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְחַכְמֵיהֶם. וְאָסוּר לְהִתְמַהְמֵהַּ בְּחִלּוּל שַׁבָּת לְחוֹלֶה שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ סַכָּנָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא יח ה) "אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אוֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם" וְלֹא שֶׁיָּמוּת בָּהֶם. הָא לָמַדְתָּ שֶׁאֵין מִשְׁפְּטֵי הַתּוֹרָה נְקָמָה בָּעוֹלָם אֶלָּא רַחֲמִים וְחֶסֶד וְשָׁלוֹם בָּעוֹלָם. וְאִלּוּ הָאֶפִּיקוֹרוֹסִים שֶׁאוֹמְרִים שֶׁזֶּה חִלּוּל שַׁבָּת וְאָסוּר עֲלֵיהֶן הַכָּתוּב אוֹמֵר (יחזקאל כ כה) "גַּם אֲנִי נָתַתִּי לָהֶם חֻקִּים לֹא טוֹבִים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים לֹא יִחְיוּ בָּהֶם":
(2)...As long as he needs treatment in the presence of danger or possible danger, we should desecrate the Sabbath for his sake by lighting or extinguishing a lamp, by slaughtering, baking, cooking, heating water for drinking or bathing. The gist of it all is: in consideration of a person who is seriously ill, the Sabbath is like a weekday regarding every thing he needs.
(3) These things should not be performed by non-Jews, minors, servants or women, lest they consider the Sabbath a light matter; instead, scholars and sages of Israel are to carry them out. One must not put off the desecration of the Sabbath in treating a serious patient, as it is written: "If a man obeys them he shall live by them" (Leviticus 18:5), but he must not die by them. From this you may infer that the laws of the Torah are not meant to wreak vengeance upon the world, but to bestow on it mercy, kindliness, and peace.