In my garage, I have a box of tools. I even know how to use one or two of them.
God's toolbox is infinite. When God performs an action, there is a significance to the "tool" that God uses. God could have chosen to create the world out of some sort of cosmic lego set, or God could have made a minion of angelic subordinates follow God's instructions.
That being said, why did God **speak** the world into existence?
**Let there be light!** Words become the functional building blocks of the universe.
God sees the creation of light, and calls it good. I think the typical reading is that God saw the sun shining brightly, and was pleased with it, thinking, "Yeah ... That's good."
Another possibility is that by saying "This is good," God actually **creates** goodness! God has infinite power, but the power is imbued with a sense of morality. But what about us, beings that are clearly sometimes power-**less**?
Well, all of us can act, doing *mitzvot.* Power=Action. And as God demonstrates through the seven days of creation, Action+Goodness (morality) = Holiness.
...
Many verses of this week's Torah portion, *Matot,* speak (pun intended) to the power of words. Moses implores the tribal chieftains to teach their clansmen about the serious nature of vows, of promises ... of words.
Many of us remember our parents reprimanding us for not following through on a promise, saying, "Actions speak louder than words." I agree. In Judaism, *Mitzot* have tremendous importance, as they are the actions we take.
But it is words that are the foundation of those actions, just as "Let there be light" is the basis for creation. Words and conversations help us learn about ourselves and each other. Our prayers and, dare I say it, even my sermons, are ONLY words. They can be moving, upsetting, bothersome, happy, reflective, hopeful, challenging, and everything in between.
But these words of ours taken by themselves are ephemeral. We could listen, pray and sing and then leave here, choosing to ignore the echoes of these words. It is with you, and with us, that they have the power of creation itself - creating community ... creating holiness.
These verses of *Matot* remind us that our words lead to actions. The words we say then, matter. Like God, we can imbue things with holiness by calling them "good." And as we know all too well, the power of words also allows us to do otherwise ...
On this Shabbat, let us vow to use our words as building blocks of a life that God will look at and say, *Zeh Tov,* This is good.
