Hidden order of creation revealed through Torah

והנה המהר"ל כתב בהקדמת ס' גבורות ה' לבטל דברי הפילוסופים כי אין מאמינים שיעשה הקב"ה נס לשנות סדר הטבע.

Now the Maharal wrote in the introduction to his sefer Gevuros Hashem, to refute the words of the philosophers who do not believe that the Holy One performs a miracle to change the order of nature.

The Maharal sets out to answer the philosophers who deny that Hashem would override the fixed laws of nature to perform a miracle.

והשיב הוא דכמו שיש סדר לטבע כמו כן יש סדר מיוחד לנסים ע"ש.

And he answered that just as there is an order to nature, so too there is a distinct order to miracles — see there.

The Maharal responds that miracles are not chaos; they too follow their own ordered system, just as nature does.

ולדעתי נראה עוד כי אדרבה הטבע אינו סדר מיוחד רק לעיני בשר שהם טבעיים.

And in my view it further appears that, on the contrary, nature is not a distinct order except to eyes of flesh, which are themselves natural.

The Sefas Emes goes further: nature only looks like the "real" order because our physical eyes are themselves part of the natural world and perceive accordingly.

אבל באמת עיקר סדר הוא דרך הנסים והנפלאות שהם מהקב"ה שאינו בדרך הטבע.

But in truth the essential order is the way of miracles and wonders, which come from the Holy One and are not by way of nature.

The deeper, true order of reality is the miraculous one that flows directly from Hashem — nature is the exception, not the rule.

ומעשה בראשית שברא בו הטבע הוא פסיעה קטנה שיצא מן הסדר.

And the act of creation, in which He created nature, is a small step that departed from the [true] order.

The creation of the natural world was, as it were, a slight stepping-down from the truer miraculous order into the realm of the fixed and physical.

ובמד' בראשית בפסוק אלה תולדות השמים והארץ דורש הן אלה קצות דרכיו כו'.

And in Midrash Bereishis, on the verse "These are the generations of heaven and earth," it expounds: "Behold, these are but the edges of His ways…" (Iyov 26:14).

The entire created cosmos is only the outer "edges" or fringes of Hashem's ways — a faint hint of His true greatness.

שכל הבריאה הוא משהו ונקודה קטנה להבין מתוך זה חכמתו של יוצר בראשית.

That all of creation is something tiny, a small point, from which to understand the wisdom of the One who formed creation.

The whole universe is but a small point given to us so that through it we might glimpse the boundless wisdom of the Creator.

ובאמת במעשה בראשית החכמה נסתרת בלי סדר.

And in truth, within the act of creation the wisdom is hidden, without [apparent] order.

In the natural world the Divine wisdom is concealed and appears disordered, since its true ordering principle is hidden from physical sight.

וזה עצמו החילוק בין עשרה מאמרות לעשרת הדיברות.

And this itself is the distinction between the Ten Utterances [of creation] and the Ten Commandments.

This is the difference between the ten sayings by which the world was made — where wisdom is concealed — and the Ten Commandments of the Torah, where the order is revealed.

וע"ז כתיב מגיד דבריו ליעקב כו' שהסדר של הבריאה נמסר לבנ"י בכח התורה.

And concerning this it is written, "He tells His words to Yaakov…" (Tehillim 147:19) — that the [hidden] order of creation was transmitted to Bnei Yisrael through the power of the Torah.

Through the Torah, Hashem handed over to Bnei Yisrael the key to the concealed order of creation, which the nations do not possess.

ולכן הגם כי תשרי ר"ה לכלל הבריאה.

Therefore, even though Tishrei is Rosh Hashanah for all of creation.

The month of Tishrei marks the new year for the whole of the created, natural world.

אבל סדר המיוחד לבנ"י הוא בניסן.

But the order unique to Bnei Yisrael is in Nissan.

Bnei Yisrael have their own special "new year" in Nissan, the month of the Exodus, reflecting the deeper miraculous order that belongs to them.

כי הטבע היא מוסתרת שלא בסדר כמ"ש בקהלת מבלי אשר לא ימצא האדם את המעשה כו' האלקים מראש ועד סוף.

For nature is concealed, not in [revealed] order, as it is written in Koheles: "so that man cannot find out the work… that Elokim has done from the beginning to the end." (Koheles 3:11)

By design, the order of nature is hidden so that a person, looking only at the natural surface, cannot grasp Hashem's full plan from beginning to end.

ובנ"י ע"י התורה יכולין למצוא הפתח לסדר הדרכים כפי מה שרצה הקב"ה בבריאת שמים וארץ.

But Bnei Yisrael, through the Torah, are able to find the opening to the order of the [Divine] ways, according to what the Holy One intended in the creation of heaven and earth.

The Torah gives Bnei Yisrael the doorway into the hidden order, letting them perceive Hashem's true intention behind creation.

ובשבת גם כן מתגלה דרך הפנימיות וסדר המסודר לכן לא אשתכח בי' מנא כי הטבע אינו בסדר הנ"ל.

And on Shabbos, too, the inner way and the well-ordered order are revealed; therefore "no manna was found on it," for nature is not [in accord] with the aforementioned order.

On Shabbos the penimiyus (inner dimension) and true order break through; the manna did not fall on Shabbos because the day itself transcends the ordinary natural order and reveals the higher one.

וזה הסדר הוא בשורש העליון.

And this order is in the supernal root.

This true ordering exists at the highest spiritual root, above the physical world.

דכתיב ימים יוצרו ולא אחד בהם.

As it is written, "Days were formed, and one of them was His" (Tehillim 139:16).

The verse hints that the days of creation were "formed" in advance before Hashem, with one — Shabbos — uniquely His.

ע"ש בפרש"י כי הי' הבריאה מסודר לפניו ית"ש קודם שהוטבע בטבע וגשמיות.

See there in Rashi, that the creation was ordered before Him, may His Name be blessed, before it was set into nature and physicality.

As Rashi explains, the entire creation existed in perfect, revealed order before Hashem prior to being clothed in physical nature.

וכמ"ש אתה יצרת עולמך מקדם.

And as it is written, "You formed Your world of old."

Hashem formed the world in its ideal, ordered state from the very beginning, before it descended into physicality.

וזה הציור נמסר לבנ"י בכח התורה ומתגלה בכל שבת וחודש.

And this design was transmitted to Bnei Yisrael through the power of the Torah, and it is revealed every Shabbos and every [new] month.

This pristine blueprint of creation is given to Bnei Yisrael via the Torah and shines forth anew each Shabbos and each Rosh Chodesh.

וזה רמז ג"ן סדרים דאורייתא שמתגלה בכל שבת סדר מיוחד.

And this is the hint of the 53 sedarim (portions) of the Torah — that on each Shabbos a unique seder (order/portion) is revealed.

The 53 weekly Torah portions correspond to the unfolding of the hidden order, with each Shabbos disclosing its own particular facet of that order.

ואמרו ג"ן סדרים רמז לגן עדן כי בגן עדן נמצא ציור הנ"ל.

And they said that the 53 (gan) sedarim hint to Gan Eden, for in Gan Eden the aforementioned design is found.

The numerical value "gan" (53) alludes to Gan Eden, where the original, ordered blueprint of creation exists in its fullness.

וכל הבריאה שלמטה יש לה חלק בציור הנ"ל שבגן עדן:

And all of creation below has a portion in the aforementioned design that is in Gan Eden.

Every part of the lower, physical world has a share in that supernal design of Gan Eden, accessible to Bnei Yisrael through the Torah, Shabbos, and the months.

Summary: Building on the Maharal, the Sefas Emes argues that the truest "order" of reality is the miraculous order flowing directly from Hashem; nature only appears to be the real order to our physical eyes. Creation clothed that hidden order in physicality, concealing its wisdom. Through the Torah, Bnei Yisrael receive the key to this concealed blueprint, which is revealed afresh each Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh — hinted in the 53 sedarim that allude to Gan Eden, where the original design of creation endures and in which all the world below has a share.