Erev Shabbat Creations - What the Godol Hador Never Addressed.

If you read the GodolHador blog, you'll see he's not the biggest believer in literal translation of the 6 days of creation. He'll massage the text into an evolutionary story spanning millions of years, and his bottom line is that the entire Story of Creation and the Flood, up to parashat Lech-Lecha are stories meant to teach us lessons in morality.

Yet, the GodolHador blog never addresses a critical issue which is also brought down in the mishna and relates to the story of Creation. What about the objects G-d created in those last 18 minutes before the world's first shabbat started at the end of the 6 day (or according to GodolHador, sixty million year) period?

We're all familiar with the erev shabbat 18 minutes -- when guys dash to the shower, set up the plata/blech for shabbat, set the shabbat clock, and do countless last minute things. Its a trying point for every marriage -- women light shabbat candles and for them everything calms down, while guys have to try and finish everything they were supposed to have done all day (or week?) in only 18 minutes.

And what did we forget this week? Oh right, getting to shul on time for mincha.

The mishna in Pirkei Avot (5:6) lists the last minute items:

Ten things were created on the eve of the [first] Shabbat at twilight:

The Mouth of the Earth
The Mouth of the Well
The Mouth of the Donkey
The Rainbow
The Manna
The Staff
The Shamir
The Written Characters
The Writing
The Tablets of the Law.
Others include the Demons, the Grave of Moshe, the Ram of our Fore-Father Abraham. Others say: also the Tongs made by tongs.

Quite an impressive list. I wonder what GH has to say about the mishna? Was that also a myth/moshol? The Holy Hyrax blogger even wondered what the Jews in the desert knew about Creation. Did they believe it? If according to GH the first 2 parshiyot of the Torah are myth/moshol, then is the mishna as well? I'll leave this for GH to answer, but I'm troubled by something else.

The problem with the mishna is that it forgot the 11th item. I know about the 11th item since I personally merited from its creation.

The following is a true story.

When I was learning in Yeshiva in Israel a few years ago (you may use myth/moshol interpretation for the words "few" and "years"), I used to hang out in the Jerusalem Geula neighborhood during Bein Hazmanim - yeshiva vacation time from Yom Kippur through Rosh Chodesh Heshvan. For entertainment, I used to go watch the charedi demonstrations against the Zionist Imperialists. I was only 17 at the time and I admit I was rather clueless, but it seemed like something worth watching.

At kikar shabbat, the main intersection in the Geula neighborhood, hundreds of charedi kids gathered to burn a huge garbage container and throw bottles at buses (I think they were plastic). My friend and I took pictures of everything going on -- as it was rather unbelievable for someone who grew up in North America to see such a bizarre demonstration.

At some point, a rather large chareidi man came over to my friend and I, and started yelling at us. The crowd quickly surrounded us as his screams grew louder.

"What are you doing taking pictures?!"
"It's assur! It's forbidden! Get out of here!"

As calmly as possible, we replied that we were just taking pictures (very stupid move), and we weren't bothering anyone. As the man continued to rant at us, the crowd also started yelling along with the man against us. At this point, my friend discretely handed me my camera, I shoved it into my pocket, and then...bolted through the crowd like a banshee.

To this day, I don't know why I didn't run down the street, but instead, I fatefully chose to run into the apartment building across the street. With my feet barely touching the floor, I scampered up 4 flights of stairs...and at the top was a single apartment. No door to the roof, no escape hatch, just a door to an apartment with a baby carriage next to it. I breathlessly banged on the door, but no one answered.

Suddenly, the click sound of a lightswitch illuminated the entire old hallway and stairwell.

Turning around, I found myself staring at hundreds of people (and the ranting man) who had raced up the stairs after me. They were shoved up against the black metal stair railing to maximum capacity, all waiting for the show to start.

The scary man snarled at me, shook the baby carriage, and then...the hall light timer went off, plunging us all into an eerie darkness.

A split second the later, the light was back on, and the scary man was bounding down the stairs with the crowd running after him.

What just happened?! Why were they running downstairs? I felt for my camera, and it was still secure in my pocket. Slowly going down the stairs, I emerged from the building a minute later and the crowd had dispersed. My friend apologized profusely and said he would pay for half.

"What are you talking about, pay for half of what?", I whispered.

"Your camera", he mumbled, feeling rather guilty that he had suggested going to the demonstration in the first place.

"It's right here in my pocket", I hissed back at him.

My friend's eyes looked as if he'd seen a ghost. He said, "That's impossible, look over there!"

On the ground were the shattered remains of a camera -- the identical brand and model as the camera in my pocket!

"The guy came out with the mob following him...he raised his hand in the air holding your camera...and then he smashed it against the sidewalk as the entire crowd cheered him on", said my disbelieving friend.

When the lights went out upstairs in the apartment building, the man apparently found an identical camera to my own in the babycarriage next to the top floor apartment. He smashed it outside to the delight of the mob.

That camera which saved my life, was the 11th item created on the Erev Shabbat of Creation.



Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael