A common interpretation is that the Light created on the first day in Genesis is the Wisdom of God personified in Proverbs 8. What then is the Night? And what is the significance of a "Day" in the creation (a period of light/wisdom followed by a period of darkness)? After all, it is not the sun, moon and stars by which a Day is measured in Genesis - since those are created on the fourth "day."
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The text explicitly says: "וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב" "God called the light Day and called the darkness Night". So Night is the name of darkness.– Al BerkoCommented Jul 18 at 9:55
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@AlBerko yes - but what does the darkness represent?– Ryan Pierce WilliamsCommented Jul 18 at 18:27
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Darkness is an observable reality, it does not "represent" anything. You can interpret it allegorically, but in the text darkness represents darkness.– Al BerkoCommented Jul 21 at 9:23
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@AlBerko The light on the first day is not that of the sun, moon and stars. So it would be incorrect to say that the light = observable reality or that a “day” represents a period of time in which a given part of the earth is routinely exposed to the physical light of the sun. And since the night might be viewed as either the opposite or absence of this non-physical light, then it doesn’t make sense to say it is simply a description of physical reality. No need for allegorical interpretation; the text itself makes it clear that it is symbolic in nature.– Ryan Pierce WilliamsCommented Jul 21 at 12:20
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Your perception is anachronistic. You perceive light as necessarily originating from light sources, this is NOT the ancient Mesopotamian tradition, where light/fire is a fundamental substance. See also the Aristotelian view on the four elements. Light was created as a stand-alone substance, long before the luminaries that were "allowed" to emit that "divine" light. To understand the text you MUST think as a 6th-century BCE Mesopotamian scholar rather than a 20th-century scientist.– Al BerkoCommented Jul 21 at 19:35
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1 Answer
The performance of Mitzvot are the actualization of the (Will and) Wisdom of God.
Bereshit Rabbah comments on Genesis 1:5 that the night represents the deeds of the wicked, and the day represents the deeds of the righteous, and their inclusion in "one day" represents Yom Kippur, which affects atonement for the deeds of the wicked, joining them with the deeds of the righteous.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe draws from this (according to Rabbi Zaev Einhorn) that the night, being dark, represents Mitzvot that are performed without the correct intention. They do not "shine" with God's Light, as intention is a vital component of the Mitzva - the intention that it be done as actualization of God's Will, with their whole mind, heart and soul.
[... and the day represents Mitzvot performed with the correct intention, which shine with the revelation of God's Light]
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1@RyanPierceWilliams you are welcome. I've made an important edit, which also happens to connect to the answer I wrote on your question on the three plagues. Commented Jul 18 at 0:46