In the beginning of Bereshit, which we read last week, it tells us, in English, says the Midrash. What are these four words describing the beginning of creation? From day one, God said, “There’s going to be the Jewish people.” Where are the Jewish people hinted at? In the word Bereshit. Bereshit means, “I am creating the world for my firstborn.” We are God’s firstborn child, so the world is created for us.
However, the Jewish people are going to have to endure four exiles, and each one of those words represents one of the four exiles. Tohu (formless) refers to the Galut (exile) of Babylonia, Babel. Tohu, va-vohu (and void). Vohu represents Paras uMadai. Choshech (darkness) represents the Greek exile. Al Penei Tehom (upon the face of the deep). Tehom in English means the abyss. The abyss means it’s just endless: an open, unending abyss, emptiness. And that refers to the longest of the four exiles, which is the exile that, unfortunately, we’re enduring until today. It’s almost 2,000 years, much more than all the four or three previous exiles combined. You want to call it Galut Edom, or Galut Romi, Rome, or the Galut of European nations—whatever you want to call it. But that’s what we’re in now. And that’s called Tehom.
But, God, what’s going to happen after Tehom? After Tehom, it says that at a certain point, the spirit of God is going to manifest itself. And who is that spirit of God, says the Zohar or the Midrash? That is the spirit of Mashiach (Messiah). But the question is, when is Mashiach going to come? Do we have any signs of what is going to come? So the Midrash says that right before Mashiach comes, which is now, today, tomorrow, any day, any moment, any moment. It could be when we leave, it could be waiting by the door for us. It says the world is going to be filled with wisdom. The Navi (prophet) writes, “It’s going to be a generation of De’ah (wisdom).” And you know how much wisdom there’s going to be? There’s going to be so much wisdom, like the waters that expand and spread over the ocean. The generation before Mashiach is going to be referred to as Dor De’ah (generation of wisdom). And we’re witnessing it. We are living in that generation.
Now, whenever you live in a generation of wisdom, there’s going to be Torah wisdom, but against it, there’s going to be artificial intelligence. Now we’re starting to see intelligence that’s coming down from the heavens in the most incredible ways that nobody could imagine. And I don’t even believe we’re witnessing the beginning of it. We’re seeing the floodgates. Now, against those floodgates of corrupt wisdom and of a lot of inaccuracy and falsehood, and the internet, it's called the information superhighway. So much information today. Today, wisdom is so accessible. In the old days, if you wanted to know something, you had Encyclopedia Britannica. You remember Encyclopedia Britannica? This is what we’re seeing today. We’re seeing the wisdom of artificial intelligence, and it’s coming down to the word. Look at the inventions that are coming. Look at the wisdom that’s coming down. Every day, there’s another technology that’s outdoing the old technology. There’s wisdom. And the Zohar predicted that, or the Navi predicted it. But against it, there’s also going to be so much Torah wisdom.
And it’s true. Look how much wisdom there is today. Look how much access we have to Torah, like no other generation. Today, we can study Torah in any language. Today, if we go on the internet or go to the bookstore, there are books on every level, on every topic. That didn’t exist. Look what’s happening today. We’re living in the generation of the Mashiach. And the Torah predicted it. Because the Torah said there’s going to be Tohu and there’s going to be Vohu and there’s going to be Choshech and then there’s going to be Tehom and then Ruach Elohim (spirit of God), the spirit of Mashiach. And when the spirit of Mashiach starts to come, what is it going to look like? It’s going to be like Merachefet al penei hamayim (hovering over the face of the waters). The world is going to go back to what it was on day one, when it was all water. But it’s not going to be physical water. It’s going to be the spiritual waters of the Torah. And right before Mashiach, there’s going to be that competition between the terrible water. So now, in our generation, we’re experiencing both. We’re experiencing the Mabul (flood) of bad intelligence and the Mabul of pure intelligence. It’s the clash that we’ve been waiting for from day one. But the Torah tells us that ultimately, Ruach Elohim Merachefet Al Penei Hamayim (the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters), and then we go to the next Pasuk (verse), but we don’t know who’s going to win. Vayomer Elohim Yehi Or, “And God said, let there be light.” And light is another parable to the Torah. And the Torah predicts that at the end of time, it is only the light of the Torah that is going to prevail.