Someone recently asked me if we have a prayer for light, the same way we have a prayer for peace. The answer, of course, is yes. We have a prayer for everything. When a bird poops on your shoulder, what blessing do you say? Blessed be the One who didn’t give cows wings.”
But back to light. The first blessing before the Shema is the blessing of G-d the Creator. While discussing the creation of the world, the blessing frames the creation as an extension of light: “Blessed are you G-d, King of the Universe, who forms light and creates darkness, makes harmony and creates everything.” The text goes on to emphasize that every day, G-d “brings forth the sun from its place…illuminating the entire world and all its inhabitants…with mercy. With kindness You illumine the earth and all who dwell on it, and in Your goodness, day after day, You renew creation.”
In composing this prayer, the rabbis clearly had the intention of expanding our image of creation beyond the purely physical. “Light” is not merely electromagnetic energy at specific wavelengths. It is also a metaphor for creation on a higher, moral and spiritual, level. G-d’s light carries with it harmony, peace, mercy, goodness, compassion. G-d’s light is “illumination” in both the physical and intellectual sense.
Quite literally, “We see the light.”
Hank Williams great song “I saw the light, Lord” is closely linked to the Christian tradition:
“I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness, no more night
Now I’m so happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.”
On the other hand, we Jews have a very different, and very specific take on what “seeing the light of the Lord” is all about. Our prayer concludes this way: “To the One Who makes the great luminaries, for His mercy endures forever, let a new light shine on Zion, and may we all be privileged to quickly see it.” As usual, this prayer, like all our others, is linked to Zion; and as usual, it calls not for our individual redemption but for our collective return to the Land where G-d’s light first began to shine.