כִּי הִנֵּה כַּחֹֽמֶר בְּיַד הַיּוֹצֵר. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ מַרְחִיב וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְקַצֵּר. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ חֶֽסֶד נוֹצֵר. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר:
כִּי הִנֵּה כָאֶֽבֶן בְּיַד הַמְּסַתֵּת. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ אוֹחֵז וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְכַתֵּת. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ מְחַיֶּה וּמְמוֹתֵת. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר:
כִּי הִנֵּה כַגַּרְזֶן בְּיַד הֶחָרָשׁ. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ דִּבֵּק לָאוֹר וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ פֵּרַשׁ. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ תּוֹמֵךְ עָנִי וָרָשׁ. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר:
כִּי הִנֵּה כַהֶֽגֶה בְּיַד הַמַּלָּח. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ אוֹחֵז וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ שִׁלַּח. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ אֵל טוֹב וְסַלָּח. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר:
כִּי הִנֵּה כַזְּכוּכִית בְּיַד הַמְזַגֵּג. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ חוֹגֵג וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְמוֹגֵג. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ מַעֲבִיר זָדוֹן וְשׁוֹגֵג. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר:
כִּי הִנֵּה כַיְרִיעָה בְּיַד הָרוֹקֵם. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ מְיַשֵּׁר וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְעַקֵּם. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ אֵל קַנֹּא וְנוֹקֵם. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר:
כִּי הִנֵּה כַכֶּֽסֶף בְּיַד הַצּוֹרֵף. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ מְסַגְסֵג וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְצָרֵף. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ מַמְצִיא לְמָזוֹר תֶּֽרֶף. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר:
As clay in the hand of the potter, who thickens or things it at will, so are we in Your hand, Guardian of love;
Look to the covenant and overlook our sin.
As stone in the hand of the mason, who preserves or breaks it at will, so are we in Your hand, God of life and death;
Look to the covenant and overlook our sin.
As iron in the hand of the blacksmith, who forges or withdraws it at will, so are we in Your hand, Support of the poor;
Look to the covenant and overlook our sin.
As the helm in the hand of the sailor, who holds the course or abandons it at will, so are we in Your hand, good and forgiving God.
Look to the covenant and overlook our sin.
As glass in the hand of the glazier, who shapes or melts it at will, so are we in Your hand, pardoner of sin and transgression;
Look to the covenant and overlook our sin.
As cloth in the hand of the draper, who drapes or twists it at will, so are we in Your hand, righteous God;
Look to the covenant and overlook our sin.
As silver in the hand of the smelter, who alloys or refines it at will, so are we in your hand, Healer of wounds;
Look to the covenant and overlook our sin.
1. Imagine yourself in the position of each of these kinds of artisans... Which of these creator metaphors - if any - speak to you?
2. Notice how the names of God change based on the type of artisan mentioned (i.e., Potter = Guardian of Love; Mason = God of Life and Death). What connections do you see here between the artisan and the aspect of God that's emphasized?
3. Are there any of these metaphors that resonate with how you show up in the world as a creator yourself?
Questions to explore together:
What are the Divine methods or attributes of creation/destruction that we see in the following texts?
Which of these could we see ourselves practicing in our own lives? What might that look like?
(1) When God began to create heaven and earth— (2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water— (3) God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (4) God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light Day and called the darkness Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.
(24) God said, “Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: cattle, creeping things, and wild beasts of every kind.” And it was so. (25) God made wild beasts of every kind and cattle of every kind, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. And God saw that this was good.
(26) And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.”
(27) And God created humankind in the divine image,
creating it in the image of God—
creating them male and female.
(5) God saw how great was human wickedness on earth—how every plan devised by the human mind was nothing but evil all the time. (6) And God regretted having made humankind on earth. With a sorrowful heart, (7) God said, “I will blot out from the earth humankind whom I created—humans together with beasts, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I regret that I made them.”
(ז) אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בַּר סִימוֹן, יְהִי עֶרֶב אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן, אֶלָּא וַיְהִי עֶרֶב, מִכָּאן שֶׁהָיָה סֵדֶר זְמַנִּים קֹדֶם לָכֵן. אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהָיָה בּוֹרֵא עוֹלָמוֹת וּמַחֲרִיבָן, עַד שֶׁבָּרָא אֶת אֵלּוּ, אָמַר דֵּין הַנְיָן לִי, יַתְהוֹן לָא הַנְיָן לִי. אָמַר רַבִּי פִּנְחָס טַעְמֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי אַבָּהוּ (בראשית א, לא): וַיַּרְא אֱלֹקִים אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וְהִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד, דֵּין הַנְיָין לִי יַתְהוֹן לָא הַנְיָין לִי.
(7) Rabbi Judah bar Simon said: it does not say, ‘Let there be evening,’ but ‘And it was evening.’ Hence we derive that there was a time-system prior to this. Rabbi Abbahu said: This teaches us that God created worlds and destroyed them, saying, ‘This one pleases me; those did not please me.’ Rabbi Pinhas said, Rabbi Abbahu derives this from the verse, ‘And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good,’ as if to say, ‘This one pleases me, those others did not please me.’
"We are forced to say that also in the destruction of the worlds there is great wisdom, and from this wisdom emerged the world that exists.”
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(ב) חַֽסְדֵ֣י ה' עוֹלָ֣ם אָשִׁ֑ירָה לְדֹ֥ר וָדֹ֓ר ׀ אוֹדִ֖יעַ אֱמוּנָתְךָ֣ בְּפִֽי׃ (ג) כִּֽי־אָמַ֗רְתִּי ע֭וֹלָם חֶ֣סֶד יִבָּנֶ֑ה שָׁמַ֓יִם ׀ תָּכִ֖ן אֱמוּנָתְךָ֣ בָהֶֽם׃
(2) I will sing of the LORD’s steadfast love forever; to all generations I will proclaim Your faithfulness with my mouth.
(3) I declare, “Olam Chesed Yibaneh - the world is built through lovingkindness; there in the heavens You establish Your faithfulness.”
My heart is moved by all I cannot save
so much has been destroyed
I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely
with no extraordinary power
reconstitute the world.
(ב) עד שלא נברא העולם, היה הקדוש ברוך הוא ושמו הגדול בלבד, ועלה במחשבה לברוא את העולם, והיה מחריט את העולם לפניו ולא היה עומד. משלו משל למה הדבר דומה, למלך שהוא רוצה לבנות פלטרים שלו, אם אינו מחריט בארץ יסודותיו ומובאיו ומוצאיו, אינו מתחיל לבנות, כך הקדוש ברוך הוא החריט לפניו את העולם ולא היה עומד עד שברא את התשובה.
(ג) שבעה דברים נבראו עד שלא נברא העולם, ואלו הן, תורה וגיהנם וגן עדן וכסא הכבוד ובית המקדש ותשובה ושמו של משיח.
(2) Before the world was created, the Holy One, blessed be God, with God's Name alone existed, and the thought arose in God to create the world. God began to trace (the foundations of) the world before Godself, but it would not stand. They told a parable, To what is the matter like? To a king who wishes to build a palace for himself. If he had not traced in the earth its foundations, its exits and its entrances, he does not begin to build. Likewise the Holy One, blessed be God, was tracing (the plans of) the world before Godself, but it did not remain standing until God created repentance.
(3) Seven things were created before the world was created. They are: The Torah, Gehinnom, the Garden of Eden, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, Teshuvah (Repentance), and the Name of the Messiah.
There is a midrash that says that teshuvah or returning was created before the world was created. Sit with that for a minute. Before there was a universe in which humans could stumble, before there were relationships which could go right but could go wrong; there was the ability to right wrongs, to straighten that which was bent.
Teshuvah is, according to the imagination of this rabbinic understanding, part of the very fabric of the universe. The same midrashic mythmaker also relates that before there was anything there was only G-d. G-d thought of creating a world but every time she thought a world into creation G-d would destroy that world until she created teshuvah. It was teshuvah—the possibility that not being perfect does not inexorably lead to not being—that allowed the world to exist.