10 Oct PARSHAS BEREISHIS: THE DELAYED “KI TOV”

The “Ki Tov” (That
It Was Good) of
Monday Was
Delayed Until
Tuesday
The third day of
Creation [Bereishis 1:9-13] is the only
day in which the expression “G-d saw
that it was good” is mentioned twice.
This expression is mentioned both
following the gathering of the waters
which divided the seas from the dry land,
and following the sprouting of vegetation
and seed- bearing plants – both of which
occurred on the third day of Creation.
As a result of the fact that Tuesday had a
double portion of “ki tov” [that it was
good], Tuesday is considered a
particularly fortuitous day of the week.
Many people specifically plan their
wedding for this day. When moving into
a new house, many people plan to move
on Tuesday. Many people try to start a
new job on Tuesday.

On the other hand, on the second day of
Creation, there is no mention at all of the
expression “that it was good”. Rash”i
comments that the reason “ki tov” is not
mentioned on the second day is because
the creation of the water (i.e. – its
assignment to the seas) was not
completed until the third day. A value
judgment of “ki tov” could not be
pronounced until the work was complete.
Therefore “ki tov” is mentioned twice on
Tuesday – once in connection with the
completion of the water (which was
started previously) and once in
connection with the vegetation (which
was both started and completed on that
same day).
This, however, begs for further
explanation. G-d is all powerful. What
does it mean that “he did not complete
the job on Monday?” Why not? Clearly,
He does not become tired or run out of
time. Rather, He purposely did not finish
the job on Monday. What is this trying to
teach us?

The Shemen HaTov writes that the Holy
One, Blessed Be He, is teaching us a
lesson through the events of Creation
that we as human beings must learn. This
lesson is that “it’s not over, until it’s
over.” Sometimes things occur in life
and we do not see the benefit therein.
Sometimes we do not understand exactly
what is happening.
Sometimes we will be able to understand
what the event was really about, on the
very next day. Then we will see the
benefit of the inexplicable occurrence of
the previous day. In the middle of
creating the world, the All Powerful
went out of His way to leave something
undone, to leave something with a
question mark at the end of the day, to
leave something where the “ki tov” was
not immediately apparent. The lesson is
that “life” follows the same pattern as
the days of Creation. We do not always
immediately perceive the “ki tov”.
Life would be much easier to live if

within 24 hours we would immediately
perceive that elusive “ki tov”. Sometimes
we do not even understand events the
following week or year. Sometimes we
do not even understand until the next
lifetime. But the lesson of the delayed
“ki tov” is that we should not expect to
always see immediate results and
immediate outcomes. Sometimes the
good does not come until later.
G-d disrupted the order of Creation,
leaving something purposely unfinished,
in order to teach us this crucial lesson of
life.