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B. When G-d created the universe, He created time, space and matter simultaneously. At the very beginning of Creation, the clock began ticking at 00:00 at the precise moment space and matter burst into being. Twenty-four hours later, Day One was complete. What does the Torah say? "It was evening and it was morning, one day." That first 24-hour day began with night and ended with day--and it’s been that way ever since.
C. Later, on Day Four, G-d assigned the sun and the moon as day and night markers, setting up the solar system the way it is today, but the Jewish day begins with night, because that's how time began.
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Editor's Comment
Today, we use the words "afternoon" and "morning" (post meridiem, ante meridiem)to divide the period of time which is a day. This way of looking at things is not focussed on "light" and "dark" but rather on whether a point on the globe is distancing itself from the light source, or coming closer to the light source.
Could the ancients also have "divided" their day in this manner? Could a day have originally started at "high noon" with "evening" referring to the pm half, and "morning" referring to the am half? Can we say for sure that there is an equivalence between "darkness and light" with "evening and morning"?
Genesis says God created the light before he created the rotational cycle which separates the light from darkness. This might imply the day begins with highnoon daylight.
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