Click here for the Scholar chat schedule.
Email us your question and we'll try to respond within 24 hours.
Type in your email address here:
Select a topic:
Type in your question here:
The Scholar is ready to answer your question. Click the button below to chat now.
A Scholar is currently unavailable at this time, so please check back again. In the meantime you can click here to email Moses your question or search our archives for related topics.
PRINT EMAIL COMMENT
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.
ADD A COMMENT
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.
Shabbat » A Day of RestHolidays » General Information » Holiday Information
