Comment
The Doctrine of Perpetual Creation

"In the beginning G‑d created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

A basic principle of Judaism is that the entirety of existence was created by G‑d yesh me-ayin, "something from nothing." Everything--matter and energy, space and time, even the very phenomenon "existence"--was generated from a prior state of utter nothingness by the Creator.

This isn't just a factual truth--it has a profound influence on how we perceive ourselves and our existence. It means that nothing, except for G‑d, must be; that there are no axioms, paradigms, laws or realities that limit G‑d's absolute freedom; that everything that is, is solely because G‑d made it so.

Furthermore, creation is not a one-time act, after which the world exists on its own, like a carpenter who builds a cabinet and walks away from it. Rather, G‑d continually creates the world, constantly forcing it out of an initial state of utter nothingness into existence and life. Should this flow of vitality cease for even an instant, G‑d forbid, all would revert to absolute nothingness. As we say in the daily prayers, "He who in His goodness renews each day, constantly, the first act of Creation." The great works of Jewish philosophy (such as Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, the Ramak's Pardes Rimonim, R. Isaiah Horowitz's Shaloh and R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi's Tanya) discuss this doctrine of "perpetual creation," and cite scriptural, logical and philosophical proofs that such is indeed the nature of existence.

At every point in time, the world is the way it is only because G‑d actively desires to so create itThis is of course a fascinating idea--to think that our world, which seems so solid and contagious to our five sense, is actually pulsating from existence to nothingness and back again every fraction of time! But aside from stimulating our minds and inspiring our mystic wonder, does it make any real difference to us in our daily lives? What are the practical ramifications of the truth that G‑d is creating the world anew every moment of time?

Often, as we journey through life and grapple with its myriad challenges, we experience moments of hopelessness and despair. At these times, we seem incapable of seeing any good in ourselves or in a fellow human being, nor of discerning any redeeming purpose in the dilemma or circumstance in which we find ourselves.

But the doctrine of perpetual creation means that at every point in time, the world is the way it is only because G‑d actively desires to so create it. There can be no "hopeless" situations, no "meaningless" moments, for this very moment, with all its attendant circumstances, was only just now brought into being out of absolute nothingness by a purposeful Creator who is the ultimate source of good.