by Phyllis Chesler

We are looking at an “active star-forming region” also known as the Eagle Nebula. Perhaps we are viewing a continuous fourth day of Creation—is Creation ongoing, is that even possible? Well, why not? It is written in 1: 14–1:16 “Let there be lights in the canopy (“b’rakeya’) of heaven…the large light to rule the day and the small light to rule the night and the stars (“hacochavim”). The James Webb telescope is showing us stars still in formation “and “new-born suns.” We only see this “because we’re looking at them in the past. The light that Webb’s super-space NASA telescope detects has taken 6,500 light-years to reach its mirrors” on earth. While God rests after the sixth day—might what God set in motion continue on over time?

Both this possibility and this view are awesome. What is light? In my English language translation of the Zohar, (the Pritzker edition), in reference to “light which is created and concealed,” Rabbi El’azar discusses the light created on the first day as allowing the Holy One to see “from one end of the universe to the other,” including the generation of the Flood. Such light is withheld from the wicked (Job 38:15) but may be seen by the righteous “in the time to come.” As for the heavens, “human beings should contemplate them and bless Him, as it is written: “When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that You set in place….YHVH our Lord, how majestic is Your name throughout the earth! Psalms 8:4, 10).

Amen v’ Amen.