What does the Torah mean when it states that, "Hashem saw that the light was good; so He divided... "? What did He see and what did He subsequently divide?
Rashi #1: Hashem saw that the light was good on its own, so He separated them, giving light its own time-period in the day; and darkness, in the night (See Sifsei Chachamim).
Rashi #2 (citing a Midrash): ha'Or 1 refers to the initial (spiritual) light, via which one could see from one end of the world to the other. 2 And what He 'saw' was that it was not befitting for the Resha'im to benefit from it, so He put it away 3 for the Tzadikim in the World to Come. 4
Ramban #1 (citing the Ibn Ezra): Hashem understood that the light (that He created on the first day) was good, so He divided between it and the darkness by giving each one its own name.
Ramban #2: "And He saw..." means that He gave light His stamp of approval, that it should continue to function perManently. What's more, that is what the same expression "and He saw" means on each of the six days, in connection with each of the individual creations for which the Torah uses it. The Torah adds here the words, "Es ha'Or?, to teach us that light was the first creation to take form. ("Va'Yar does not refer to Shamayim and Aretz, which were still in the stage of 'Bohu' as described in 1: 1-2).
Yoma, 38b: "Tov" Refers to a Tzadik, 5 and the Torah is teaching us that Hashem would have created the world even if it was just on behalf of one Tzadik.
Gur Aryeh: What is difficult with the verse's simple meaning? The Pasuk implies that because the light was good, Hashem separated it from the darkness. Why would that be so? Additionally, throughout this chapter, the phrase "G-d saw that it was good" appears only at the end of each creation, yet here it appears in the middle.
According to Kabalah, He placed it the Torah for the great to use in this world when necessary.
Kol Eliyahu: The Torah does not say that Hashem created light, just "va'Yehi Or" in the past tense, to hint that the first light immediately became a matter of the past - it was hidden away for the future.
See Yeshayah 3:10 and Torah Temimah, note 22.
What is meant by the phrase, "it was good," which the Torah often uses during Creation?
Maharal (Derech Chayim 1:2, p. 24): All creations are "good," i.e. fit to exist, due to the good inherent in them. Although an individual creation has deficiencies, and may therefore cease to exist, Creation as a whole is "good" and remains in existence. 1
Why does the Torah specify that it was the light that was "good" (Tov), while it does not do so for any other specific item in Creation?
Maharal (Nesivos Olam, Nesiv ha'Tzedek Ch. 1, p. 131): The more an item is Chomer (material), the closer it is to darkness. Light contains no material, so it is singled out as being "good" and worthy to exist. 1
Refer to 1:4:1.3:1. Maharal (ibid.) writes further that the definite article "the light" alludes to a righteous individual (Tzadik), who is referred to with the words "Ki Tov" (Yeshaya 3:10), for he is spiritual, and above materialism.
Which darkness is the Torah referring to, when it writes that Hashem "divided between the light and the darkness"? (Darkness has already been mentioned in verse 1:2)?
Ramban: The Torah is referring here, not to the creation of the fire referred to in 1:2, 1 but to the darkness that descends when the light is removed.
Why does the Torah write that it was first night and then day, seeing as the first creation was light?
Ramban: Light was indeed the first creation, only the creation began with night, since the darkness of night was not a creation (refer to 1:4:2:1), but the absence of light. 1
The Ramban refutes the explanation of the Kuzari, who explains that Hashem created light, which reigned for a brief moment before night fell, since that would add a short period of time to the six days of creation.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "Hashem saw that [the light] would not be fit for the wicked to use, so He set it aside for the righteous in the future." Does Hashem reconsider or change His mind?
Gur Aryeh: The verse tells us why the light was hidden away; yet this was not a change of plan. Everything that would ever exist was created during the six days of Creation, including Olam ha'Ba itself.
Rashi writes: "Hashem saw that it would be unfitting for the wicked to use it (the light of Bereishis), and so He set it aside for the righteous in the future." What was so special about that light? Why was it not fitting for this world?
Maharal (Nesivos Olam, Nesiv ha'Tzedek Ch. 1, p. 136): With this special light, one could see from one end of the world to the other, for it was pure light with no material substance (Chomer). This world can only handle light borne and conveyed by the sun and moon, which are Chomer. So too, whereas in this world the righteous have a physical Guf, in the next world there will be no physicality; therefore, that is the appropriate place for the light of Bereishis.
