THE PREEXISTENT TORAH AND MESSIAH

The great Rabbi Hoshaya opened [with the verse (Mishlei 8:30),] “I [the Torah] was an amon to Him and I was a plaything to Him every day.” Amon means “pedagogue” (i.e. nanny). Amon means “covered.” Amon means “hidden.” And there is one who says amon means “great.” Amon means “nanny,” as in (Bamidbar 11:12) “As a nanny (omein) carries the suckling child.” Amon means “covered,” as in (Eichah 4:5) “Those who were covered (emunim) in scarlet have embraced refuse heaps.” Amon means “hidden,” as in (Esther 2:7) “He hid away (omein) Hadassah.” Amon means “great,” as in (Nahum 3:8) “Are you better than No-amon [which dwells in the rivers]?” which the Targum renders as, “Are you better than Alexandria the Great (amon), which dwells between the rivers?” Alternatively, amon means “artisan.” The Torah is saying, “I was the artisan’s tool of Hashem.” In the way of the world, a king of flesh and blood who builds a castle does not do so from his own knowledge, but rather from the knowledge of an architect, and the architect does not build it from his own knowledge, but rather he has scrolls and books in order to know how to make rooms and doorways. So too Hashem gazed into the Torah and created the world. Similarly the Torah says, “Through the reishis Hashem created [the heavens and the earth],” and reishis means Torah, as in “Hashem made me [the Torah] the beginning (reishis) of His way” (Mishlei 8:22)…

“In the beginning of God’s creating…” – Six things preceded the creation of the world; some of them were created and some of them were decided to be created. The Torah and the Throne of Glory were created. How do we know the Torah was? As it says (Proverbs 8:22): “God made me at the beginning of his way.” How do we know the Throne of Glory was? As it says (Psalms 93:2): “Your throne is established as of old etc.” The Patriarchs, Israel, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah were decided to be created. How do we know the Patriarchs were? As it says (Hosea 9:10): “Like grapes in the wilderness etc.” How do we know Israel was? As it says (Psalms 74:2): “Remember your congregation, whom you purchased from old.” How do we know the Temple was? As it says (Jeremiah 17:12): “Your throne of glory, on high from the beginning etc.” How do we know the name of the Messiah was? As it says (Psalms 72:17): “May his name exist forever etc. [his name shall be Yinnon as long as the sun].” Rabbi Ahavah said in the name of Rabbi Ze’ira: Even repentance was, as it says (Psalms 90:2): “Before the mountains were birthed,” and at the same time (Psalms 90:3), “You turned man to contrition etc.” However, I do not know which was first–if the Torah preceded the Throne of Glory or the Throne of Glory preceded the Torah. Rabbi Abba Bar Cahana said: The Torah preceded the Throne of Glory, as it says (Proverbs 8:22): “God made me at the beginning of his way, the first of his works of old.” This is before that of which it is written (Psalms 93:2): “Your throne is established as of old.” Rabbi Hunna and Rabbi Yirmiyah in the name of Rabbi Shmuel the son of Rabbi Yitzchak said: The thought of Israel was before everything. This is like a king who was married to a woman and did not have a son. One time the king was in the market and said: “Take this ink and pen for my son.” They said: “He does not have a son.” He replied: “Take them; the king must expect a son, because otherwise he would not command that the ink and pen be taken.” Similarly, if there was no expectation of Israel receiving it after 26 generations, God would not have written in the Torah: “Command the children of Israel” or “Speak to the children of Israel.” Rabbi Bannai said: The world and its contents were only created in the merit of the Torah, as it says (Proverbs 3:19): “God founded the world with wisdom etc.” Rabbi Berachiyah said: In the merit of Moses, as it says (Deuteronomy 33:21): “He saw a first part for himself.” Rabbi Hunna said in the name of Rabbi Matanah: The world was created in the merit of three things–challah, tithes, and first fruits. The verse “In the beginning God created” refers to challah, as it says (Numbers 15:20): “The beginning of your doughs.” It also refers to tithes, as it says (Deuteronomy 18:4): “The beginning of your grains.” It also refers to first fruits, as it says (Exodus 23:19): “The beginning of the fruits of the land.”…

Rabbi Yehudah Bar Simon opened with (Daniel 2:22): “He reveals the deep and secret. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.” “He reveals the deep”–this is Hell, as it says (Proverbs 9:18): “He does not know there are spirits there,” and it says (Isaiah 30:33): “deep and large”. “And secret”–this is Paradise, as it says (Isaiah 4:6): “for a cover and refuge from storm and rain,” and it says (Psalms 31:21): “You hide them in the cover of Your presence.” Alternatively, “he reveals the deep and secret”–these are the acts of the wicked, as it says (Isaiah 29:15): “Woe to the ones who seek deep from God to make their counsel secret.” “And secret”–these are the acts of the wicked, as the verse states. “He knows what is in the dark”–these are the acts of the wicked, as it says in Isaiah: “Their acts are in the dark.” “The light dwells with Him”–these are the acts of the righteous, as it is written (Proverbs 4:18): “The path of the righteous is like the light at dawn,” and it says (Psalms 97:11): “Light is sown for the righteous.” Rabbi Abba Srungia said: “The light dwells with Him”–this is the Messiah, as it says (Isaiah 60:1): “Arise, shine, for your light has come.” Rabbi Yehudah Bar Simon said: From the beginning of the creation of the world, “he revealed the dark and secret”. “In the beginning God created the heavens,” but it is not explained. Where is it explained? Here (Isaiah 40:22): “He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.” “And the land,” but it is not explained. Where is it explained? Here (Job 37:6): “For He says to the snow: ‘Fall on the earth.'” and (Job 38:38) “When the dust runs into a mass, and the clods cleave together.” “And God said: ‘Let there be light,'” and it is not explained. Where is it explained? (Psalms 104:2) “You cover Yourself with light like a garment.”…

Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Six things are required for building–water, dirt, wood, stone, rods, and iron. If you say he is rich, and does not need rods, he still needs measuring rods, as it says (Ezekiel 40:3): “with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring rod”. The Torah preceded these with six–“the first”, “of old”, “forever”, “from the start”, and “from the first” which is two, in the portion (Proverbs 8:22-23): “God made me as the beginning of His way, the first of His works of old. I was set up forever, from the start, from the first of the Earth.” (Genesis Rabbah 1 https://www.sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah.1.4?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en; bold emphasis mine)

¹Wisdom praises herself
    and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.

² In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,
    and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory:

³ “I came forth from the mouth of the Most High
    and covered the earth like a mist.

⁴ I encamped in the heights,
    and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.

⁵ Alone I compassed the vault of heaven
    and traversed the depths of the abyss.

⁶ Over waves of the sea, over all the earth,
    and over every people and nation I have held sway.

⁷ Among all these I sought a resting place;
    in whose inheritance should I abide?

⁸ “Then the Creator of all things gave me a command,
    and my Creator pitched my tent.
He said, ‘Encamp in Jacob,
    and in Israel receive your inheritance.’

⁹ Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me,
    and for all the ages I shall not cease to be.

¹⁰ In the holy tent I ministered before him,
    and so I was established in Zion.

¹¹ Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting place,
    and in Jerusalem was my domain.

¹² I took root in an honored people;
    in the portion of the Lord is my inheritance.

¹³ “I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon
    and like a cypress on the heights of Hermon.

¹⁴ I grew tall like a palm tree in En-gedi
    and like rosebushes in Jericho;
like a fair olive tree in the field
    and like a plane tree beside water I grew tall.

¹⁵ Like cassia and camel’s thorn I gave forth perfume,
    and like choice myrrh I spread my fragrance,
like galbanum, onycha, and stacte,
    and like the odor of incense in the tent.

¹⁶ Like a terebinth I spread out my branches,
    and my branches are glorious and graceful.

¹⁷ Like the vine I bud forth delights,
    and my blossoms become glorious and abundant fruit.

¹⁹ “Come to me, you who desire me,
    and eat your fill of my fruits.

²⁰ For the memory of me is sweeter than honey
    and the possession of me sweeter than the honeycomb.

²¹ Those who eat of me will hunger for more,
    and those who drink of me will thirst for more.

²² Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame,
    and those who work with me will not sin.”

²³ All this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God,
    the law that Moses commanded us
    as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob.

²⁵ It becomes full, like the Pishon, with wisdom
    and like the Tigris at the time of the spring harvest.

²⁶ It fills up, like the Euphrates, with understanding,
    and like the Jordan at harvest time.

²⁷ It pours forth instruction like the Nile,
    like the Gihon at the time of vintage.

²⁸ The first man did not know wisdom fully,
    nor will the last one fathom her.

²⁹ For her thoughts are more abundant than the sea
    and her counsel deeper than the great abyss.

³⁰ I came forth like a canal from a river,
    like a water channel into a garden.

³¹ I said, “I will water my garden
    and drench my flower beds.”
And look, my canal became a river
    and my river a sea.

³² I will again make instruction shine forth like the dawn,
    and I will make it clear from far away.

³³ I will again pour out teaching like prophecy
    and leave it to all future generations.

³⁴ Observe that I have not labored for myself alone
    but for all who seek wisdom.