Derasha 1 on Bereishis 1:5

TT #19 · Parashas Bereishis · First Aliyah · Passuk 5

Complete Passuk

וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

TT points to Pesachim 2a (verified).

E-Daf image (Pesachim 2a)

Core Text

Core Textלָאוֹר יוֹם — לֹא דְּאוֹר יוֹם הוּא, אֶלָּא הָכִי קָאָמַר: קַרְיֵהּ רַחֲמָנָא לִנְהוֹרָא וּפַקְדֵיהּ אַמִּצְוְתָא דִּימָמָא, וְקַרְיֵהּ לַחֲשׁוֹכָא וּפַקְדֵיהּ אַמִּצְוְתָא דְּלֵילְיָא.
English of Core Text: “To the light, day” — it does not mean that light is day; rather, this is what it means: The Merciful One called the light and assigned it to the domain of daytime, and called the darkness and assigned it to the domain of nighttime.
On the daf / in context: The opening of Pesachim discusses when “day” begins for the purpose of searching for chometz. The Gemara uses our passuk to show that “day” and “night” are designations of domains rather than simple synonyms for light and darkness.
Type of Learning: Custom (semantic force of “called”)
What Is Learned: God assigned light to the daytime domain and darkness to the nighttime domain; the names are jurisdictional.