One of the first prayers we recite in the core of the morning service praises G-d as the Creator. It particularly emphasizes G-d as the creator of light. Hence, it cites Psalm 136 “Praise the Creator of great lights, for His love endures forever.” The prayer begins with these lines: “You illumine the world and its creatures with mercy; in Your goodness, day after day You renew Creation.”

The common understanding of these verses could be paraphrased like this: In Your mercy, You illumine the world and its creatures; in Your goodness, day after day You renew Creation.”

 

The point of such a reading would be to emphasize how good G-d is. G-d is so merciful that He fills the world with light each morning; G-d is so good that He gives us one new day after another. In the modern period, even with all our scientific understanding of cosmology, the appearance of the sun—so elemental and archetypal—drives us to near ecstasy. As “Rabbi” George Harrison wrote,

 

“Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun

And I say, it’s alright”

(do do do do dodo dododo do)

 

It’s no coincidence that “Here comes the sun” is the single most streamed Beatles song, and that’s saying a lot. So it’s more than reasonable to think that our ancestors would want to thank the good and merciful G-d Who makes it all happen.

 

But…

There’s a deeper interpretation of our prayer that makes it even more profound. We can read it like this: “You illumine the world and its creatures with mercy; day after day You renew creation with goodness.” The point of the prayer, by this reading, is not that G-d, Who is merciful, illumines the world. Instead the prayer is saying that when G-d illumines the world, the thing that is illumining the world is mercy. Similarly, the point is not that G-d Who is good renews creation. Instead, it is that the power with which the world is renewed is goodness.

 

When we look at the world in which we live, the world G-d has given us to live in, what exactly do we see? What “wavelength” of “light” should we be perceiving? It’s easy to see the darkness of the world. Check out a newspaper if you don’t believe me. And we are left with the impression that we are going to Hell in a handbasket, that everything is getting worse. But this is a distorted view. Consider that in January 2024, murder and rape in New York City had decreased by 25% compared to January the year before. How many of us would have guessed that? If we didn’t sense this, it’s because we are not seeing the world through the proper lens. The world is filled with mercy and goodness, and we don’t see it nearly enough.

 

The Rabbis were wise enough to point this out, indeed to institutionalize it. “Rabbi Dosta’I the son of Rabbi Yannai explained: If a person gives even a penny to a poor person, that person is privileged to sense G-d’s Presence. “ (Bava Batra 10a). The giver knows there is mercy in the world, and senses the Divine source of it. And the poor who receive the gifts? It’s harder for them to “put on the right set of glasses.” If they only could, though, it would be a source of great relief to them, as it should be for all of us. This is a world where mercy and goodness are meant to dominate.

 

G-d’s mercy abounds. We just need to look for it. It illumines the world. As the Rascals sang (around the same time as Here Comes the Sun):

It’s a beautiful morning, aha.

I think I’ll go outside for a while

and just smile.

 

G-d’s mercy and goodness can make you feel that way. And in our prayers, we remember it every day.