MIDRASH
ON THE MOON: IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT *
-
- Barbara Ellison Rosenblit
-
The Traditional Sources
- In a Different Light
-
- The Traditional Sources
Consider this puzzling verse, Genesis 1:16:
-
- God made the two great lights: the great light for ruling
the day and the small light for ruling the night, as well as the
stars.
-
- The puzzlement comes from the sudden switch in adjectives
modifying light. In the first
- statement God makes two great lights; suddenly, without
explanation, these two
- great lights become one great light--for ruling the day--and
one small light--for
- ruling the night. What transpired between the making of the
lights and the
- appointment of their sovereignties? Why did one become small?
And why the great
- one set to rule the day and the small one made ruler of the
night? Three traditional
- sources, the Talmud, Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews,
and Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer,
- proffer explanations for this seeming textual inconsistency.
Consider the three texts,
- which follow. Then consider the fourth, from a less
traditional source.
-
- First, from the Talmud:
-
- R. Simeon b. Pazzi pointed out a contradiction [between
verses]. One verse
- says, And God made the two great lights, and
immediately the verse continues,
- The greater light...and the lesser light. The moon said
unto the Holy One,
- blessed be He, "Sovereign of the Universe! Is it possible
for two kings to wear one
- crown?" He answered, "Go then and make thyself smaller".
"Sovereign of the
- Universe!" cried the moon, "because I have suggested that
which is proper must I then
- make myself smaller?" He replied, "Go, and thou wilt rule
by day and by night." "But
- what is the value of this?" cried the moon. "Of what use is
a lamp in broad daylight?"
- He replied. "Go. Israel shall reckon by thee the days and
the years." "But it is
- impossible," said the moon, "to do without the sun for the
reckoning of the seasons, as
- it is written, And let them be for signs, and for
seasons, and for days and for
- years." "Go.The righteous shall be named after thee
as we find, Jacob the Small,
- Samuel the Small, David the Small." On seeing that it would
not be consoled, the
- Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Bring an atonement for Me
for making the moon
- smaller." This is what was meant by R. Simeon b. Lakish
when he declared, "Why is it
- that the he-goat offered on the new moon is distinguished
in that there is written
- concerning it unto the Lord? Because the Holy One,
blessed be He, said, "Let this
- he-goat be an atonement for Me for making the moon
smaller."[1]
-
- In this passage, the moon's seemingly innocent question
provokes God's strong
- overresponse ("Go then and make thyself smaller"). Recognizing
the undue severity of
- the response, God attempts to soften the initial reply in
several ways, but none
- consoles the moon. In this remarkable interpretation, God
repents for this insensitive
- rebuke. The Talmud employs this verse to justify why the
he-goat sacrifice offered at
- the time of the new moon is the only festive sacrifice which
includes the phrase "unto
- the Lord" (Nu.28:15), for this is God's own atonement for this
harsh action.
-
- The second interpretation:
-
- The fourth day of creation produced the sun, the moon, and
the stars. These heavenly
- spheres were not actually fashioned on this day; they were
created on the first day,
- and merely assigned their places in the heavens on the
fourth. At first the sun and the
- moon enjoyed equal powers and prerogatives. The moon spoke
to God, and said: "O
- Lord, why didst Thou create the world with the letter Bet?"
God replied: "That it might
- be known unto my creatures that there are two worlds." The
moon: "O Lord, which of
- the two worlds is the larger, this world or the world to
come?" God: "The world to come
- is the larger." The moon: "O Lord, Thou didst create two
worlds, a greater and a lesser
- world; Thou didst create fire and water, the water stronger
than the fire, because it can
- quench the fire; and now thou hast created the sun and the
moon, and it is becoming
- that one of them should be greater than the other." Then
spake God to the moon: "I
- know well, thou wouldst have Me make Thee greater than the
sun. As a punishment I
- decree that thou mayest keep but one-sixtieth of thy
light." The moon made
- supplication: "Shall I be punished so severely for having
spoken a single word?" God
- relented: "In the future world I will restore thy light, so
that thy light may again be as the
- light of the sun." The moon was not yet satisfied. "O
Lord," she said, "and the light of
- the sun, how great will it be in that day?" Then the wrath
of God was once more
- enkindled: "What, thou still plottest against the sun? As
thou livest, in the world to
- come his light shall be sevenfold that light he now sheds."
[2]
-
- While similar to the Talmudic account of the moon's initial
query, Ginzberg's
- explanation of greater and lesser employs a different tone.
Here the moon, trying to
- build her case, establishes lawyer-like precedents for her
request before pressing
- home her point ("...it is becoming that one of them should be
greater than the other....").
- God, angered by this tactic, and further enraged by the moon's
refusal to be pacified,
- punishes the moon by diminishing her light henceforth and
forevermore.
-
- The third interpretation:
-
- On the fourth day He connected together the two luminaries,
of which one was not
- greater (in size) than the other. They were equal as
regards their height, qualities, and
- illuminating powers, as it is said, "And God made the two
great lights" (Gen 1:16).
- Rivalry ensued between them, one said to the other, I am
bigger than thou art. The
- other rejoined, I am bigger than thou art. What did the
Holy One, blessed be He, do, so
- that there should be peace between them? He made the one
larger and the other
- smaller, as it is said, "The greater to rule the day, and
the lesser light to rule the
- night and the stars He also made." [3]
-
- Here is a case of sibling rivalry at its most recognizable.
God, as frustrated parent to
- these two jealous children, simply removes the issue of
contention that caused the
- carping. It is neither the subtlest nor the most sophisticated
of parenting techniques,
- but it is familiar.
-
- While these accounts all differ in tone and temperament, all
three picture the moon as
- manipulative and complaining, punished for not being
satisfied, and possessed by the
- accompanying bad judgment to continue questioning long after a
more quiescent
- figure would have had the sense to stop.
-
- In these three accounts, too, greatness and importance are
equated with size, power,
- and domination, and it is the moon's desire for size, power,
and control that ultimately
- leads to her downfall. Because of her immodest request for
dominance, she is made
- smaller, and this diminution, this weakening, is her
punishment.
-
- Interpreted through a less domination-oriented lens, could
this punishment be,
- instead, a reward? Could the seemingly greater be, in fact,
the lesser? The midrash
- which follows reinterprets greatness and skews the standard
equation of power to
- importance. This midrash reconsiders the verse from Genesis
and views the moon in a
- considerably different light.
-
- Is this a feminist interpretation? It is an unusual view of
power, to be sure. It gives
- voice to those qualities of being that are often silent,
ignored, or even disparaged. In
- the sense that these qualities are often associated with the
feminine side of us, so be
- it. I offer this midrash on the moon for the reader's
reflection.
-
- return to head of document
- In a Different
Light
-
- God made the two great lights: the great light for
ruling the day and the
- small light for ruling the night, as well as the
stars.
-
- All that God created in this world He created male and female.
So too were the twin
- spheres that He created on the fourth day. The male sphere
approached God and
- regaled, "I am the male and so should dominate my sister. Let
me be greater than she
- is, larger in size and more powerful in strength."
-
- God then saw the seeds of rivalry in Her creation and, in Her
wisdom, answered, "Sun,
- you shall be larger and more powerful than your sister. Your
size and strength shall
- dominate hers."
-
- The sun luxuriated in his easy victory, and he shone.
-
- "But," God continued, "you have shown poor judgment in your
request. For great
- power contains within it the seeds of damage and
destruction.
-
- "You, my sun, now so great and glorious, will be blamed for
famine, for your piercing
- and endless heat will parch the earth. Your fiery rays will
burn the skin of those
- exposed, and you will cause cancers to erupt on human flesh.
Your strong rays will
- burn out the eyes of those who stare at you. No one will ever
gaze at you...no one will
- look at you."
-
- The sun gulped, but his rays already had begun to grow longer
and stronger.
-
- "Your sister, the moon, will be smaller and less powerful, as
you requested, but she
- will comfort all who gaze upon her. Hounds will bay in song as
she lights the
- darkness. Poets and lovers will be moved to rapture by her
hazy afterglow.
- Moonstruck will become a synonym for dazzled by the wonders of
love, while
- sunstroke will come to mean dehydration, followed by
death.
-
- "She will be ever-changing, ever-watched, ever-admired, ever
mysterious. No one will
- pierce her poetic potential. Composers will be inspired by
her; artists will be moved to
- capture her essence on canvas. Writers will glorify her
powers. The comforting
- womblike waters which surround the globe, filled with the rich
life of the sea, will be
- controlled by her. The rhythmic ebb and flow of the tides,
whose sounds comfort those
- nearby and create the pulse of the earth, will be hers to
control.
-
- "No two days will find her the same; rather, every night will
reveal her subtle changes.
- Her every movement will be studied and glorified. Time will be
measured by her.
- Cycles will be calculated through her. The calendar will be
fixed using her. And each
- month, she will be blessed."
-
- The sun thought to interrupt God and so stop this panoply of
gifts his sister now had
- acquired as a result of his ill-conceived play for power. But
God's voice grew sterner
- with each statement. And as God glorified the moon, the sun's
bulk and radiance
- continued to increase, and his firm rays reached out far
beyond his initial grasp. He
- tried to speak, but he could not find his voice.
-
- "Yes, sun, you shall rule over your sister," God continued.
"Your greed shall be
- tempered, however, because now you shall know fully the
burdens of power; the
- forces of which you now have possession shall make you both
feared and unloved.
-
- "Your name shall be Shemesh --Sham Esh---for
there, in you, will be the symbol of
- fire and destruction. And I will call your sister
YA-Ray-ah, for contained in her will be
- God's perfume, My sweet ineffable fragrance, made
visible."
-
- Sensing the silken shimmer of blue-gray light dancing across
the waves, the two
- stopped their interchange; their attention was drawn skyward
to watch the graceful
- ascent of the moon into the starry night.
-
- And God set them in the expanse of the heaven to give light
upon the
- earth.
-
- return to head of document
-
- * This appeared in Response, Winter
1995, 101-105.
- [1] Talmud,
Hulin 60b.
- [2] Louis Ginzberg,
Legends of the Bible (Philadelphia: The Jewish
Publication
- Society, 1992), p.12.
- [3] Pirke de Rabbi
Eliezer, trans. Gerald Friedlander (New York: Herman Press,
1965)
- p.31.
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