Rav Dessler: Time II

Michtav MeiEliyahu – Volume IV – Pages 113-114: Rav Dessler zt”l states that the purpose of clock time is to facilitate the perception by man of spiritual essence. The true scope of creation is far more profound than our ability to grasp and far greater than that which is represented in our physical universe.

Consequently, “creation” as a whole, encompassing all of its deeper, more profound levels transcends any limitations of time. The concept of something being “beyond the limitations of time” cannot be fully grasped by the human intellect.

Thus when considering the idea of something being “beyond the limitations of time”, it is projected into our minds as endless periods of time rather than timelessness. This is why it seems (nireh) to scientists as if (ke-ilo) the world evolved over millions of years.

If it is true that nature of creation is so much more elevated than the mundane parameters that accompany our universe, why then does the Torah establish the description of creation in terms of six physical days?

The answer is that the Torah wanted to teach us that the existence [i.e. spiritual essence] of all things is only in proportion to the spiritual content it possesses. Something that contains much materialism and little spirituality – its value and true existence is small because the existence of everything is determined solely according to the measure of its spiritual content. Thus our vast and complex universe did not need billions of years to come into being but only 6 days.