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By Rabbi Shimmy Sternfield
בראשית ברא אלוקים את השמים ואת הארץ (פרק א’, פסוק א)
In the beginning of Hashem’s creating the heavens and the earth…
The מִשנְׁהָ in פ רְִּקיֵ אָבוֹת states, “The world was created by ten utterances of Hashem. What does that teach
us? Could it not have been created with one utterance? It is to exact punishment from the wicked, who
destroy a world created by ten utterances, and to give reward to the righteous, who uphold a world created
by ten utterances.” Simply understood, the מִשנְׁהָ is saying that Hashem chose to create the world in ten
steps in order to increase both the punishment of רְשָׁעִים and the reward of צַדִיקִים . Reb Elya Lopian, ,זצ”ל
asks, why would Hashem want to increase the punishment of רְשָׁעִים ? It makes sense that Hashem, in His
infinite kindness, wanted to create as much opportunity to reward צַדִיקִים as possible. Increasing
punishment of the רְשָׁעִים , however, would seem to be counter to Hashem’s usual practice. Why not let the
רְשָׁעִים receive their just punishment for destroying a world created by one utterance, even if it means a
smaller punishment? Reb Elya answers with the following מָשלָׁ . A watch can be a very complex machine,
with many different parts. Each of these parts must be in working order for the watch to function, and if
even one small piece breaks, the entire machine won’t work. However, it is also fairly easy to repair. All it
takes is replacing one small part to get everything running smoothly again. But imagine if all of the
different mechanisms in a watch were attached, molded as one piece. Any minor damage would ruin the
watch, but now it would need to be completely remolded to repair it! Reb Elya explains that, when a person
sins, he damages his נשְמָָׁה , and also damages Hashem’s world. Therefore, the punishment for an עבֲרֵָה
must repair both the damage to one’s soul, as well as the damage done to the world. Had the world been
created with only one utterance, any damage created by an עבֲרֵָה would affect the entire world, and would
require an enormous punishment to repair the damage. However, since the world was created in ten
utterances, an עבֲרֵָה affects only a part of the world, and a smaller punishment is suffcient to repair the
damage. Accordingly, the מִשנְׁהָ is teaching us that Hashem wanted to decrease the punishment of רְשָׁעִים by
exacting punishment for the destruction of a world created in ten utterances rather than one.
