The chachamim learn halachos even from individual letters so there is nothing extra in the Torah. That being so what do we learn from וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן being recited throughout creation? Also rather than וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן on the first day it repeats וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר. What's different about אֽוֹר from the rest of creation?
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Given that every letter in the Torah is for a reason, what makes this particular question (i.e. your first question) unique in some way? As in, why can't the answer just be "because when He said 'let there be light', there was light, and the Torah told us"?– Rabbi KaiiCommented Nov 4 at 15:59
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Because it seems to be an unnecessary thing to say. If the Torah tells us it happened that we know it happened. Why then also tell us it happened?– DudeCommented Nov 4 at 16:57
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It must be an emphasis for a specific reason then– DudeCommented Nov 4 at 16:57
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How do we know it happened until it says it happened? I mean, beyond bringing in extra information about the faithfulness of Hashem's Word (כן יהיה דברי אשר יצא מפי לא־ישוב )– Rabbi KaiiCommented Nov 4 at 16:59
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1Because that's what the Torah does. It's telling us things that happened. This is a refrain that is specific to creation. Once we are told of something there's no reason to think it didn't happen.– DudeCommented Nov 4 at 21:13
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1 Answer
According to Ramban on 1:3, it didn't say וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן for the light, because the light didn't stay in this state, like all the other creations (He hid it for the Tzaddikim). He clarifies in 1:7 that וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן is meant to teach us that this thing that He created is forever.
The reason why it says וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן for everything else, rather than enumerating it proper, is because the Torah wants to teach us to be brief and concise (Pesachim 3 - see Chizkuni loc. cit.)
Why it says וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן at all is to teach us that Hashem creates things out of nothing simply from speaking, unlike humans, who can only make light from existing light sources (see HaEmek Hadavar loc. cit)
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1It's worth noting that when counting the "final-Nun" as 700, the gematria of the phrase: ויהי-כן is 751. This is an allusion to another significant phrase in Bereshit 37:8, המלך תמלך עלינו. In that context, all the occurrences of ויהי-כן appearing in Bereshit, namely: 1:7, 1:9, 1:11, 1:15, 1:24, and 1:30 would imply declarations by each of the things that were created, that each accepted G-d's Kindship upon itself at the time of their creation. Commented Nov 4 at 18:12