The first blessing before the morning Sh’ma references the creation of the world, in particular the creation of light. It begins with “Blessed are You, G-d, Ruler of the Universe, Who fashions light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates everything.” This is obviously a reference to the very beginning of the universe, before there were Jews, or people in general, or planets, or anything astronomical or in fact, anything at all. Before there existed matter, light, and energy (as in Einstein’s famous formula), and all that could be made out of them, G-d was there to make it all happen.
(I note in passing that this is a pretty heavy duty insight when you haven’t had your coffee yet.)
By the time we come to the end of the prayer, though, the focus has shifted entirely. From the profoundly abstract to the extremely concrete. From a beginning of light piercing through the nothingness of darkness, we go past the creation of “anything at all,” and anything astronomical, and the planets, and people in general, and Jews, and focus in on the most important clump of matter in the created universe: Zion.
“May a new light shine on Zion, and may we all quickly merit to see its light.”
In this short prayer, we are witness to one of the most remarkable aspects of the Jewish religion—the linking of the most transcendent and the most immanent. This theme is repeated in many different contexts. For example, there is a tradition when reciting Baruch she’amar that we hold the two front tzitzit together, as if to unite heaven and earth; when we recite a normal berachah (blessing) we speak to G-d in the second person, i.e., “You” as if G-d is standing there right in front of us, and then quickly revert to the third person, (“G-d Who…”) as if we are speaking about something abstract and impersonal; and, of course, the great paradox found in the opening line of the Sh’ma, “ad-nai elokeynu” “the Lord [of the entire universe] is our G-d” that is, He “belongs” to this insignificant tribe from the one place in the Middle East that doesn’t have oil. Who knew?
The important point is that when we pray as Jews, we share with everyone else a respect for the “Lord of the Universe.” But at the same time, we focus, unabashedly and proudly, on that which is uniquely specific to us—Zion, our Holy City in our Holy Land.