 Light is the Genesis of the world:
By Adin Even-Yisrael (Steinsaltz) at Chabad.org
the primary utterance of creation is "Let there be light," and the first act of creation is the distillation of light, its separation from darkness. The Midrash asks: Where was light created from? And the answer is whispered: "G-d cloaked Himself in a white shawl, and the light of its splendor shone from one end of the world to the other" (Bereishit Rabbah 3:4). In other words, light, fundamentally, does not belong to this world; it is, rather, an emanation of a different essence, from the other side of reality.
Light serves as the symbol of the good and the beautiful, of all that is positive. The difference between light and darkness assumes such a general and metaphysical significance, and the advantage of light over darkness is so obvious and self-evident, that it serves as a sharp metaphor: "Wisdom excels folly as far as light excels darkness" (Ecclesiastes 2:13). Light as a positive symbol is so prevalent in biblical Hebrew that redemption, truth, justice, peace, and even life itself "shine," and their revelation is expressed in terms of the revelation of light. The symbolism of light goes even higher than that: Divine revelation itself is a revelation of light, the righteous in the Garden of Eden "bask in the light of Shekhinah," and even G-d Himself is "my light and my salvation" (Psalm 27: 1). Hence, too, in the language used by the Kabbalists, all of reality is "lights" and "enlightenments," all the way up to "the light of the Infinite, be He blessed." This light metaphor is not only an abstract and intellectual one. Light is even personified, it enjoys its own existence -- "The light of the righteous rejoices" (Proverbs 13:8). The way in which human beings relate to light, too, is emotional, almost sensual -- "Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes" (Ecclesiastes II: 7). The symbolic meaning of light as an expression of the positive aspect of reality is not confined only to the realm of language. It is realized also in the use of light and lamps as concrete means of expression, which symbolize and point to an essence that contains holiness, in all its different appearances in reality: in holiness and at the Holy Temple in the sanctity of place; in the Sabbath and festivals in the sanctity of time; on special occasions in the sanctity and importance of the event. The Temple menorah, with all of its ornate and extremely elaborate craftsmanship, was not there for any practical purpose: it stood in the Heichal, a windowless hall only seldom frequented by people. Yet it was there as a symbol of the holiness of that place, of its relation to light. This menorah -- "the sun's sphere" (Jerusalem Talmud, end of Chagigah) -- is a sphere of sunlight, which shines through the walls and the curtains. No wonder, then, that this meaning of the Temple menorah was conceived by the Jewish people as the symbol par excellence of Jewish existence, as can be seen in Jewish ornaments from all periods from synagogue mosaics in the Galilee to ornaments on utensils in the Roman catacombs, and even, in a sense, to the synagogue itself the place where an eternal candle burns day and night. The same goes for the Sabbath and festival candles.
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