Bereshit, back to beginning and to the intriguing presentation of the creation of the world around us, which will continue to engage us, as to the majesty of Hashem’s creative power. We read of the creation of light and dark, the universe, plants and animals and man. When reading through, I noticed and was puzzled by the description of day five “And Hashem said, Let the waters swarm with living creatures and birds that fly above the earth, in the open heaven. And Hashem created great sea giants (taninim), and every living being that moves, which the waters brought forth lavishly, after their kind, and every winged bird, after their kind: and Hashem saw that it was good.” It would seem that the marine and bird life preceded the creation of land animals, but why the specific mention of the taninim, sea giants, which from my brief research has mystically puzzled our sages and I shall just survey some of what I have found.
Rashi, based on Rav’s explanation in the Talmud Baba Batra explains that the tanin is a large fish, and according to the agada (legend) it is a whale (livyatan). Hashem created a male and female and killed the female and preserved it for the righteous in the future, as otherwise, if they would have multiplied, the world would not have survived.
His grandson Rashbam, based on the other opinion in the Talmud of R Yochanan, still goes for the fish called the livyatan, but thinks this is altogether a different creature. This is based on Isaiah ch37v1 – “On that day, Hashem will punish with his fierce, great and powerful sword, the leviatan the gliding serpent, and the leviatan the coiling serpent, he will slay the tanin.” And a verse in Job “Can you pull in leviatan with a fishhook, or tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through its nose, or pierce its jaw with a hook?”
The argument is interesting, but does not really explain why such a mystical animal should be single out here. Not only that, the expression that the Torah uses here is that Hashem created (bara) the taninim, a word only used again when Hashem created man. This fits with Rashi’s explanation in v14, that Hashem actually created everything on day one including the sun and the moon and then just put everything in the appropriate place over the next five days, except for man and the taninim. Rashi does not explain further, but the Maharal suggests that both man and the taninim are special creations with heavenly powers not given to other creatures. They are two unique creations, that are only complete with the combination of male and female. However, the taninim combining to produce progeny, would be too powerful for the world to handle, so Hashem killed the female tanin.
I must admit that in my search I have not found any clearer explanations, but would add two more fascinating notes, to add to the mystery. Firstly, when we leave the Succah we say “I hope to merit next year to dwell in the succah of the skin of the livyatan.” This is definitely kabalistic, and is explained that Hashem, when he killed the livyatan, saved the skin to dress Adam and Eve when they left the Garden of Eden, and there was skin and meat left for the righteous for the future. Elsewhere, we are told in the Tosefta Hulin that the livyatan is a kosher species. There is much more, including Jonah’s whale, but enough enigma for now, and anyone who finds any clearer understanding, please comment.
To end on a fun note. Last night we were at the Laniado Dinner to honour Rabbi Morowitz who has raised amazing sums of money for the hospital for over 40 years. There was a raffle, but most of our friends at the table left before the draw and we were left to claim the expensive bottle of whisky, won by one of the tickets. The ticket was left with us, so there is an interesting Halachic question as to who gets the whisky. Warren Rance has solved the problem by deciding to share it (Glenmorangie 18 year old Extremely Rare) at his retirement kiddush at Shem Leshimon on Parshat Vayetze and he invites all to attend.