The Beginning of ... What?

Today's summary was written by Jill Joshowitz. Thanks, Jill!

Today in class we discussed another aspect of the first pasuk in Bereishit. Mrs. Langer pointed out that the first pasuk when translated literally is a fragment which reads in English, “In the beginning of Hashem created the heavens and the earth.” Naturally, we wanted to know what exactly was the beginning? First Rashi tells us that it would be okay to add a word like “hakol”-everything to help us understand the pasuk. However, he explains that when the Torah begins, darkness and water had already been in existence, and Hashem would soon shortly create light. Therefore we can’t say that we’re starting from “the beginning,” instead we’re starting near the beginning.

The Ramban disagrees with Rashi and explains that the beginning referred to in pasuk aleph is a small, thin, and insubstantial substance which was called Hayuli by the ancient Greeks. This Hayuli went on and became the building blocks of all life. According to the Ramban, the pasuk should be interpreted as follows, “In the beginning of [hakol=everything] Hashem created the world from absolutely nothing a hayuli substance that would make the heavens and a hayuli substance that would make the earth and everything on the earth.”