In The Paths of Our Fathers: Chapter Five

Ten Entities Were Created On Shabbos Eve At Twilight. They Are:

The Opening Of The Earth [To Swallow Korach];[22]

The Mouth Of The Well [In The Wilderness];[23]

The Mouth Of The Donkey [Of Bilaam];[24]

The Rainbow;[25]

The Mannah;[26]

The Staff [Of Moshe];[27]

The Shamir Worm [Which Split Stones For The Beis Hamikdash];[28]

The Writing [Of The Second Tablets];[29]

The Inscription [Of The First Tablets];[30]

And The Tablets.[31]
Some Say Also The Burial Place Of Moshe[32] And The Ram Of Avraham Our Patriarch.[33] And Some Say Also The Spirits Of Destruction[34] As Well As The [Original] Tongs, For Tongs Must Be Made With Tongs.

Ten Entities Were Created On Shabbos Eve At Twilight

Twilight - bein hashamashos - on Friday represents the instant of transition from the natural order of the weekdays to the Shabbos. Therefore entities created at that time represent a fusion of the natural and the infinite.[35]

This mishnah also has particular relevance for the present age. For, according to the conception that each of the days of creation parallels a millennia of existence,[36] we are approaching twilight on Friday.[37] Just as in the narrative of creation, miraculous entities which completed the work of creation as a whole were created at that time, we too are living in a time of miracles in which perfection can be granted to all existence.

(Likkutei Sichos, Vol. IV, p. 1224ff)

The mishnah can also be appreciated as teaching us the importance of using every moment. Twilight - the last moments before the commencement of the Shabbos - was used to enhance creation in its totality. Similarly, we have the potential to use every moment granted us to influence and improve our environment as a whole.

(Sichos Shabbos Parshas Behar-Bechukosai, 5747)

The Inscription [Of The First Tablets]... And The Tablets

The Tablets are symbolic of the deepest possible connection between Torah and man, for the letters of the Ten Commandments were hewn into the stones themselves.

When the letters of a Torah scroll are inscribed with ink on parchment, the words thus formed never become an integral part of the parchment. In the Tablets, they and the Torah were one and inseparable.[38]

This complete unity reflects a state in which one is totally united with the Torah. A person in this state does not see the Torah as an entity separate from himself, which he must study and whose laws he must follow, but rather as part and parcel of his own being. He and the Torah form a single whole.[39]

Just as the Tablets and their inscription were created at twilight on Friday, so too, this single-minded commitment to Torah is relevant in the present age - only moments before the twilight preceding "the day which is all Shabbos and rest for eternity."[40]

The Era of the Redemption will be characterized by such a unified mindset, and this attitude both anticipates and precipitates its coming.

(Sichos Shabbos Parshas Nitzavim Vayeilech, 5742)

The Spirits Of Destruction

The purpose of these spirits' creation is that they will eventually be transformed into positive influences.[41] Nevertheless, it is beyond the ability of man alone to affect this transformation. Therefore these spirits were created at twilight on the eve of the Shabbos, connecting their existence and the transcendent nature of that time. This transcendent power makes possible their transformation.

(Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XVII, p. 383-384)

The [Original] Tongs, For Tongs Must Be Made With Tongs

Tongs represent man's ability to change and mold his environment. The mishnah emphasizes that this potential (the original tongs) is a gift given to man by G-d.

The tongs were created on Friday at twilight, i.e., they were the very last creations brought into being. This indicates that man's efforts represent the ultimate goal of creation, for it is man's efforts which will bring all existence to perfection.

(Sefer HaSichos 5748, Vol. II, p. 605)

Notes:

(Back to text) Bamidbar 16:32.

(Back to text) Ibid. 21:16-18; Shmos 17:6.

(Back to text) Bamidbar 22:28.

(Back to text) Bereishis 9:13.

(Back to text) Shmos 16:11-15, 31-36.

(Back to text) Shmos 4:17.

(Back to text) V. Gittin 68a; Sotah 48b.

(Back to text) Shmos 34:1.

(Back to text) Ibid. 32:16.

(Back to text) Loc. cit.

(Back to text) V. Devarim 34:6.

(Back to text) V. Bereishis 22:13.

(Back to text) V. Bereishis Rabbah 7:5; Midrash Tanchuma Bereishis, sec. 17; Yalkut Shimoni, Bereishis, sec. 12.

(Back to text) These miracles represent a more complete expression of infinity than those which occurred in the Beis HaMikdash. For the latter involved the negation of undesirable influences, while the entities created at twilight were totally positive in nature.

(Back to text) See the commentary of the Ramban, Bereishis 2:3.

(Back to text) See Sefer HaSichos 5750, Vol. I, p. 254ff.

(Back to text) See Likkutei Torah, Parshas Bechukosai, p. 45a.

(Back to text) For a broader exposition of this concept, see Likkutei Sichos, Vol. II, Parshas Chukas, and the sources listed there.

(Back to text) The conclusion of Tractate Tamid.

(Back to text) See Toras Kohanim, Bechukosai 26:6.