[After 2 Kislev, 5704]1
Question:
What is the meaning of the words, 'And G-d saw that it was good'2 (better: 'perfect' or 'useful'3) which are repeated in the Bible in connection with the various acts of Creation? What do they imply? Is it not understood, without saying, that whatever G-d created is good and useful?
Answer
The entire Creation comprises four so-called 'kingdoms': the inanimate, vegetation, animal and Man.
The first three may be termed the 'passive’ division of the Creation, since they are governed by the laws of nature, over which the[y] have no power or influence whatever.
Man, on the other hand, may be termed the 'active’ part of Creation, for he has been given the ability to oppose the laws of nature, and even subdue them.
To explain it more fully: the inanimate forms of Creation are clearly 'passive’ since they have not even the power of locomotion.
In the animal kingdom, to be sure, we find some very 'intelligent' and apparently 'inventive’ animals. For example, the ants are known to be very industrious, and ingenious in providing their food for the winter, and are said to [be] excellent dairy farmers, of a sort; the bee builds its honey-comb in a truly architectural fashion; the silk-worm spins its silken cocoon very delicately, and so on. But all these actions are really involuntary, [being] dictated and directed by peculiar natural instincts. Nature is the dominating factor, and the animal is simply its passive tool.
Man alone has the choice of action, and need not be governed over by any natural instincts. He can resist the forces of Nature. Moreover, he has the power to harness these forces of Nature and apply them to his advantage, and then improve the world he lives in, develop Nature’s blessings, discover new ones. Our sages have long realized that, and pointed it out to us in their saying: 'Man can become G-d's partner in the work of Creation.'4
Now, Man has been given these Divine faculties and powers to be an 'active' partner in the Creation - to rule over the forces of Nature, to develop, improve and invent them, Man might be inclined to assume that:
a) his discoveries and inventions are new and original creations [פעולת החידוש עכ”פ היא כחו ועוצם ידו ולכן חדש]5 and
b) that G-d created a faulty universe [הנזקק ומוכרח לעזר האדם].6
To dispose of any such absurdity, the Torah tells us that 'G-d saw that it was perfect (or useful).'
G-d truly created a perfect world, embodying in it all the possible qualities, uses and forces that man will ever discover. And He indeed saw His work in its entirety, in its perfect state, as only G-d alone, the Creator, could visualize it.
[דוגמא לדבר: אלקטריסיטי - ישנה בטבע אבל עכ”פ פעולת המצאנה דבר חדש לגמרי והיא לגמרי שייך אל האדם וקמ”ל אשר בשעת בריאתו ניתן זה בכח בנשמתו ובכחות נפשו וניתן לו הרצון לפעול למטרה זו]7
Notes and sources
The following letter was written to a study group of traditional American Jewish intellectuals headed by Mr. Alexander Cowen. In 1943 the Rebbe Rayatz requested of Mr. Cowen to begin a weekly lecture in the newly published book The Bible Unauthorized. The book, authored by Aharon Levit (editor of Lubavitch’s periodical HaKriah VehaKedushah, under the pen name of A. H. Moose), is an original scientific translation and explanation of the first eleven chapters of Bereishis. After the Rebbe reviewed the book, the Rebbe Rayatz lent a sizable amount of money to Levit to print the book (see Igros Kodesh, Rayatz, vol. 9, letter 2768, and as referenced there, at length).
On 2 Kislev, 5704, after meeting with the Rebbe Rayatz, Mr. Alexander Cowen, Julius Stulman, and Mr. Shaw (attendees of the class) met with the Rebbe and spoke at length about some of the thoughts discussed during the classes, to which the Rebbe gave lengthy explanations which they enjoyed immensely (by the next class, Mr. Cowen related one of the explanations). Subsequently, the Rebbe himself wrote down the exchange in Hebrew and Rabbi Nissan Mindel translated it, in part, into English. The Rebbe reviewed and edited at least a part of the translation.
2) Bereishis 1:4, et al.
3) See at length the explanation and translation given in The Bible Unauthorized on the said verse.
4) Shabbos 10a; 119b.
5) Freely translated: the act of discovery at least, is Man’s handiwork and thus a novelty.
6) Freely translated: which needs and requires Man’s assistance.
7) Freely translated: a case in point is electricity. Though it exists within nature, its discovery is something completely new, and should therefore be fully credited to Man. The verse teaches us that at the moment of Man’s creation, the potential for this discovery was endowed within his soul and faculties, and he was given the drive to work to this end.
Source: Draft edited by the Rebbe
Published: Teshurah (Schapiro, 23 Iyar, 5760)