Tefillah Tips - Yotzer Ohr Uvorayh Choshech

The 1st blessing we recite each day as an introduction to the recital of Shema is Baruch Atoh………………Yotzer Ohr Uvoreh Choshech Oseh Shalom Uvoreh et Hakol - Blessed are You……. that forms light and creates darkness makes peace and creates it all.

This blessing is basically a quotation from the book of Isaiah that states that G-d forms light……makes peace and creates evil. Our sages that formulated these prayers inserted instead of creates evil to creates it all. This is in tune with the Talmudic dictum – A person should always say things in a pleasant fashion. One could say anything to anybody if they know how to do it.

There is a marked difference between the words used - Yotzer Ohr – Forming light and Boreh Choshech - Creates darkness. It is first necessary to realize from this blessing that darkness is not merely the absence of light, but a creation all unto its own-Boreh Choshech - Creates darkness. As the second verse in the Torah reads – “The world was astonishingly empty and only then darkness hovered over the world – first emptiness and then darkness. Yotzer Ohr - Forming light – implies a much more complex process. Rabbi Schwab zt”l explains that is because there are so many different types of light in the world that in fact needed to be formed.

A question dealt with in the Talmud is why we mention both day and night in the morning prayers: Yotzer Ohr Uvoreh Choshech (light first in the morning) and night and day in the evening: Golel Ohr Mipnay Choshech Vechoshech Mipnay Ohr (darkness first at night). Why don’t we just mention daylight in the daytime and darkness in the night time? Why must we mention both in both prayers?

The reason is that there were influential opinions of philosophy and faith that contradicted the truths of G-d and Torah. The Zoroastrians long ago taught the world falsely that there were two different gods – a god of light and a god of darkness. Therefore our sages mandated our recognition at night and in the day that it is the same Creator that has formed, created and generates all the luminaries in the heavens above.

This contains a great lesson for all of us. There are events in life that we may attribute to G-d and events that we believe we can attribute to ourselves or other forces / players. This blessing reiterates our firm belief that Yotzer Ohr Uvoreh Choshech Oseh Shalom Uvoreh et Hakol - Only G-d forms light and creates darkness, makes peace between them and creates it all. He is the Ribono Shel Olam – the Master of the Universe

Shabbat Shalom.