Q&A: It Arose in His Will to Create the World
It Arose in His Will to Create the World
Question
Hello Rabbi, in one of the lectures in "All the Perplexed of the Generation," the Rabbi raised the question regarding the Holy One, blessed be He: why did He decide to create the world דווקא at the time He decided? Why not earlier or later?
Answer
It is difficult to answer such a question. Briefly: if the timeline began with the Big Bang, then the question does not arise at all, because there was no earlier time. And even if there was time beforehand, it is possible that there were processes (spiritual ones, unrelated to the world) that ripened only then, and therefore it was then decided to create the world. But of course that assumes that there were some processes going on from eternity, even before the world was created (or at least from the moment time began). Beyond that, it may be that it makes no difference which moment is chosen, and in that case one simply draws lots for some moment in time.
Discussion on Answer
Not correct. I didn’t say He technically could not; rather, He did not want to, because the situation had not yet matured. I don’t see what is difficult about either option.
As a rule, I do not accept the possibility that thinking something could be forbidden.
The Rabbi is basically presenting two possible answers: either the Holy One, blessed be He, technically could not create earlier, or He arbitrarily decided to create at a certain time. Both sound difficult. Is this question considered part of the prohibition mentioned in Chagigah chapter 2, that one may not think about what existed before the creation of the world?