Creation and Re-Creation
About this episode
The episode explores the tension in Judaism between the idea of a completed creation and the belief in continual renewal by God.
What happens when an ancient religion that forbids any new rules gets caught secretly reinventing itself in plain sight? Can God still create something new? At the climax of Korach's rebellion, Moses declares: "If God creates a new creation..." (Numbers 16:30) But that single phrase opens a theological fault line running through all of Jewish thought. Did creation end after the six days of Genesis? Or does God continually recreate the world every day? Key Takeaways 1. Judaism Contains Two Opposite Visions of Creation When Moses says, "If God creates a new creation" (Num. 16:30), the commentators divide sharply. Ibn Ezra, Pirkei Avot, and Maimonides insist that nothing genuinely new can be created after the six days of Genesis; even miracles were programmed into creation from the beginning. Yet our daily prayers proclaim that God "renews each day, continually, the work of creation." Judaism preserves a profound tension between a completed universe and a world that is constantly being recreated. 2. The Rabbis Distrusted Miracles but Celebrated Renewal The rabbis were uncomfortable with the idea of God repeatedly suspending the laws of nature. The Mishnah teaches that the earth's…
People in this episode
Host: Geoffrey Stern
Topics covered
- Judaism
- Creation
- Theology
- Miracles
- Spirituality
- Renewal
Keywords
- creation
- renewal
- Judaism
- theology
- miracles
- Korach
- Moses
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Pirkei Avot, Mishnah, Numbers
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