Using symbolic methods I have argued that Genesis, Chapter 1, does not speak, as is commonly thought, about the creation of the physical world, but rather, about the creation of the spiritual world. That is, what happened 6000 years ago is not that the physical world was created but rather that prophecy was created.

Here is another way at looking at this: There had to be a first point in time when man had a prophetic dream. Before this point in time there were no prophecies. After this point there were prophecies. This first point in time happened 6000 years ago. The person named Adam received a prophetic vision and this was the first time in human history that a prophetic vision was received.

The student interested in studying all details of this idea should visit url, http://www.Rashiyomi.com/gen-1.htm which contains my paper Genesis 1 speaks about the creation of prophecy not the creation of the world. We suffice in this newsletter to indicate a very rough sketch.

Genesis 1 could not be speaking about the creation of man: Indeed Genesis 3 describes slimy man, the snake. Similarly, Genesis 4 describes the city that Kayin built, presumably for other people. Gn01-02 when interpreted with proper grammar uses the past perfect: The world had been void.... The past perfect--had been--- shows that prior to the creation of prophetic-man the world had existed!

Because of these and other considerations Rashi states on Gn01-04, which states God said let there be light and there was light, Here also we require agaddic/symbolic methods: The verse speaks about the spiritual light hidden for the righteous in the future world. We have interpreted this Rashi as speaking about the light of prophecy which is destined for the righteous in the future world. Thus the proper translation of Gn01-01:04 is as follows:

For the sake of the choicest in man, God created both the physical and spiritual worlds. For the world had been void, with darkness over human emotions, and only a vestige of prophecy hovered over mans inner turmoil. And then God said let there be the light of prophecy and people had visions...

If one reads the article references above one can find a more detailed account of the methodology, other sources (besides this Rashi) that confirm this approach, as well as many scriptural references (such as references showing that light means prophecy.) We urge all readers to read it.

Each year when reviewing BreiShith we try and add one new symbolic Rashi illustrating the above approach. Today we concentrate on the phrase (Gn01-27) that man was created in the image of God. Rashi, following the above symbolic methodology, interprets this symbolically: The symbolic interpretation of the form of man correctly gives insight into God's nature. Here is a simple example: Man's form has his head above his body. Symbolically this means that the spiritual (head) is more important (above) than the physical (body).