Bat Mitzvah Speech: The Creation of Light
By Maia Belic
How did life start? According to the Torah, "The earth was unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water. God said ‘Let there be light’; and there was light."
How do we understand this light? Modern science presents the Big Bang theory of creation, where the earth was a mass of swirling gases and minerals. The photons and matter then broke apart, creating an explosion. This theory also presents light as the start of life.
Why did God choose light as a first step to creation? Did God think it was the most important? It is amazing to me that thousands of years ago, the people who wrote the Torah said that light was the first step, knowing nothing about the Big Bang theory.
Yet, even if they both started with light, the Big Bang theory relates to literal light, unlike the Torah. In the Torah’s first verses, it sounds as though the light that God created was the light of the sun, when in fact; God doesn’t create the sun and the moon until the fourth day of creation. In the first verses, God said "let there be light" and there was light. Yet, in the fourth day, verse three, the Torah says, "God made the two great lights, the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night, and the stars." So what kind of light was first made? The first light, in my opinion was symbolic of a spiritual presence. Maybe, by using light as the first step of creation, God thought that light was supposed to represent
life or hope.People in present times also use lights as signs of hope or life. For instance, after the terrifying tragedy on September 11th, a lot of people had candle light vigils, praying for hope for the dead, and maybe hoping for the lives of those who are still trapped in the rubble.
Light is also very important to the Jewish people, a symbol representing the goodness of life. In the synagogue there are many examples of the popularity of this symbol. There always hangs an eternal light. It tells us that the law of the Torah represents a light, and therefore it is good and should always be remembered.
We also light Shabbot candles, to tell God that we remember the laws of the Sabbath and are keeping the traditions. The law or agreement about that was made between the Jews and God at the bottom of Mount Sinai. It shows our devotion, and our gratefulness of life. In our own prayer book, when we kindle the Sabbath lights, we read that "Light is the symbol of the divine. Light is the holiness within us. The human spirit is the light of God."
When I started to write my Bat Mitzvah speech, I was going to write about my mitzvah project of helping to feed people who are homeless. This is certainly a project of giving life and hope to others. However in the recent weeks, I have been thinking about my father, and wondering how the symbol of light as hope could help me have faith in his safety. And in thinking about my father, I realized that there is so much about him that has to do with light. He spent his first year of retirement learning how to melt and shape glass, to make lamps. He created some beautiful lights around the house. The boat he helped design, in which he rowed to Macinac Island several times before he set off on the Atlantic, was named "Lun," the Latin word for "moon." Even his computer screen name was Lux exotica, meaning "exotic light."
So in a way, my Torah portion for today is about my hope for my father and also about the essence of him being as a creative and life affirming person. (Pause) I would like to thank all of you for being so supportive of my family with your thoughts and prayers, for helping us to keep the light of our hopes alive.