Q:
You’ve said that the brachah יוצר אור ובורא חושך is speaking about the subject of sunlight, and it is, but many people don’t realize it and probably the reason is because it doesn’t mention anything about the shemesh. Why doesn’t the brachah mention the sun directly and then we’d know that?
A:
In the brachah of yotzer ohr, he asks, why isn’t the sun mentioned? Well, it says openly לעושה אורים גדולים – He makes great luminaries, כי לעולם חסדו. And the whole brachah speaks about light.
Why isn’t the sun mentioned more? Because an important point is being emphasized, a very important element that we shouldn’t miss: Don’t make a mistake in thinking that the sun gives the light. That’s very important. We’re not talking too much about the sun in this brachah; yes, we mention the sun, לעושה אורים גדולים, but we don’t want to speak too much about the sun because it’s a great error that the entire humanity makes when they think the sun gives light. The sun doesn’t give any light! The sun gives as much light as this fist can give. As much as a stone can give. It’s Hashem Who is giving the light! That’s what’s emphasized throughout the entire brachah. המאיר לארץ – He is the One who gives light.
And that’s why before the sun was created there was light already – to let us know we don’t need a sun. Don’t be deceived by the sun. Hakadosh Baruch Hu puts light into the sun by thermonuclear processes and therefore it’s a reflection only of His light. לא-ל ברוך נעימות יתנו – To the blessed Hashem they give all their songs, כי הוא לבדו פועל גבורות – He Himself does these mighty things. Don’t make any mistake about it. הוא לבדו – Hashem alone is making the light! And so the entire brachah is emphasizing, don’t make any error in giving credit to the sun.
Just like the moon. The moon has no light of its own. The moon reflects only the light of the sun. And the sun too, has no light of its own. It reflects the light of Hashem.
And that’s why too much is not said about the sun in this brachah. It’s mentioned, but the main point is Hashem is the One who gives light.
(September 1988)
