If I understand correctly, the universe is sustained in part by the pronunciation of " Yehai shemai rabah..." and also by our understanding that the world is half good and half bad, and so the importance of the character of our next deed. I believe this implies that the world is always in a state of being created. Is there a source for this idea of constant renewal? If so, what is it?
Simon Glass, Toronto, Ontario
In our morning daily prayers, we say "ha'Mechadesh b'CHol Yom Tamid Ma'aseh Bereishis," i.e. that Hash-m is constantly renewing the creation of the world, daily. We cite a verse from Tehilim 136:6 as the source for this teaching.
(I did not find a Midrashic source for this exegesis of the verse other than the daily prayers. The Sidur Sha'arei Rachamim points out that the Zohar (Shemos 10a) learns from the word "Oseh" in the verse Tehilim 104:4 that Hash-m "constantly" creates angels, and a parallel application of that teaching would yield the Derasa we mention in our prayers.)
M. Kornfeld