G-d settled into the Deep darkness
and listened to the silence of the eternal night.
Slowly, G-d spread the Night’s curtain to reveal the hidden light.
The First Words of the First Day were whispered:
Let there be light.
Ki Tov.
G-d took the Holy Staff, the Rod of Moshe’s,
and stretched it toward the Sky,
until it reached the Heavens.
And G-d spoke the words to separate the Water from the Heavens.
And there was Evening and Morning on the Second Day.
Ki Tov.
G-d turned into a frenzied Whirlwind
to form Land in the midst of the Water.
And the Ocean waves roared with Earth’s Breath
as G-d shouted the words and the Land turned green.
It was the Third Day.
Ki Tov.
G-d stood on the mountain top-
the Wind swirling and spinning in all directions.
With the Holy Staff, the Rod of Moshe’s,
G-d pointed toward the Sky
and roared to form the Lights that twinkled into the
far reaches of the Heavens.
The Lights marked the days and the nights.
The Sun appeared in the day.
The Moon appeared in the night.
And the light of the Moon shone at the end of the Fourth day.
Ki Tov.
G-d lay down in the grass and felt the bounty of the Earth.
G-d looked to the Sky and with joy and delight
spoke the words to fill the Seas and Skies with
the Birds and the Sea Creatures.
G-d blessed them with fertility
and the Fifth Day ended
with the evening song of the Nightingale.
Ki Tov.
On the Sixth Day,
the Earth readied itself for its daily rebirth.
The Sun emerged from its dark hiding place
and with Dawn’s light came the sound of Birdsong delight.
G-d sang into being every living creature:
Cattle, Creeping Things and Wild Beasts of every kind.
And G-d saw that it was good.
The Creation was near complete.
On the Sixth Day, G-d shouted triumphantly to all the Creatures:
those in the Sky, those below the Water, and those crawling on Land-
“I will create Humankind in the Divine Image.”
G-d took the Holy Staff, the Rod of Moshe’s
and dug deep into the Earth,
and reverently whispered the Humans into existence.
There was a sudden silence from all the creatures
as they watched in wonder.
Then G-d, too, grew silent
as the Man and the Woman appeared from the Earth.
G-d cried silently for G-d was no longer alone.
One Tear appeared and then it was gone.
In a whisper of awe, G-d blessed Them
with fertility and mastery of
everything on Land, Sea and Sky.
And to the Creatures,
G-d blessed them with the means for survival.
And the Sixth Day ended
with G-d and Man and Woman in conversation.
Ki Tov.
On the Seventh Day the Earth awakened
to renewal and rebirth.
G-d sighed.
Maybe this time She had gotten it right.
The Sun emerged from its dark hiding place and
the creatures of Earth
each added their own rhythmic cadence to the awakenings.
Birds tuned their warbles;
The Wind deeply inhaled and exhaled the breath of Earth;
Waves leapt in joyful rhythm;
Trees moaned as their trunks swayed;
Insects set their whining pitch.
The Earth was waking up.
The Holy Staff, the Rod of Moshe’s,
was hidden to await the awakening of Moshe.
G-d decided that on the Eighth Day,
she would gift Humanity with
Gratitude and Purpose
and the will to pursue Justice.
But that was for another day.
It had been a long week.
Today, on the Seventh Day, She rested.
And it was good.
Ki Tov.
Notes from the author:
The Biblical story of creation offers only a few words for each of the days but leaves room to fill in the spaces. I wanted to convey a world awakening in stages like music that is building in force; a world filled with sensory details, like wind, grass and moonlight and a G-d who is responding to them and being changed by them; a G-d who desires a partnership with humanity; and a G-d who is awakening and makes a declaration of who she is by the time she is finished creating. Shifting to feminine pronouns for G-d on the Seventh Day was a deliberate choice to underscore the nurturing qualities of creation and it being a feminine marker. And finally, I wanted to end each day with ‘ki tov’ to convey a world of hope and renewal.
The recurring Holy Staff, the Rod of Moshe, is a way to connect Creation to later moments in the Torah. Revelation at Sinai is at the core of creation itself so this staff, present at the dawn of creation, was passed through history to Moshe and ultimately led to the redemption in one continuous timeline. Moshe inherits a tool that once shaped the Cosmos and later on helped to shape a people.
Finally, the introduction of an eighth day not only echoes the Brit Milah but conveys that creation is on-going. The gifts of gratitude, purpose and justice show G-d’s desire to be partners with humanity and the ethical work continues beyond creation and places moral values in the hands of humanity.
This Midrash is a way to convey that Creation is both ancient and continually unfolding through our partnership with G-d.
