Welcome to Embrace Shabbat. The Medrash in Bereshit Rabba 3:7 teaches that HaKadosh Baruch Hu created worlds and destroyed them, until he made our world and said, “This one pleases me,” as the passuk says: וַיַּ֤רְא אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה וְהִנֵּה־ט֖וֹב מְאֹ֑ד , And G-d saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good. In other words, this world was pleasurable to him, while others were not. The Maharal writes that at first glance, this Medrash seems very strange. Even a human artisan doesn’t build and destroy things; he properly repairs that which he created until it is perfected. A house is not built and then destroyed because the owner is unhappy with the final product! The plans are brought to the architect, who works with them to repair the house. Obviously, G-d did not make any mistakes, so what is the meaning behind this Medrash that teaches that G-d built worlds and destroyed them? He explains that HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s creations are a developmental process. His creations begin at a foundational level, and then continuously improve. For example, G-d first created animals, until Man was finally brought into the world, and G-d stood back and said, “This is what I wanted.” At that point, the prior creations were no longer important. This is the meaning of “G-d built worlds and destroyed them”- He created more basic forms and then continuously improved them until the primitive forms were no longer significant. Similarly, when the Jewish people received the Torah at Har Sinai, the world trembled. This was because the world was not considered “finished” until the Jewish people received the Torah. The Maharal says that this concept can also explain the relationship between the weekdays and Shabbat. Once Shabbat arrives at the end of the week, it is as if all of the previous “worlds”- or days- were destroyed. Everything until that point was insignificant because their purpose was only to bring a person to Shabbat- סוף מעשה במחשבה תחילה , the end goal was there at the beginning . This concept is analogous to the building of a house- the studs and framing are all but forgotten once the house is completed. The end goal- moving into the house and utilizing it- is the primary “world” and any previous “world” ceases to exist. This should be our mindset once we finally reach Shabbat at the end of the world. The world of chasing the dollar, the world of constant activity, the world of distraction and business- those worlds are to be destroyed once Shabbat arrives. Our job is to just appreciate the end goal, the purpose of all creation, and bask in the bracha of Shabbat. ויחל אלוקים ביום השביעי - the Talmid Yerushalmi teaches that ויחל can mean to end or to yearn , as in the passuk נכספה וגם כלתה נפשי , my heart yearned and wanted . ויחל אלוקים ביום השביעי - G-d yearned for the seventh day. After all of the melacha of the six days of creation, G-d looked forward to the end goal, the ultimate טוב מאד , when everything was finished and the purpose was actualized. May we appreciate that final world, the Olam of Shabbat, that disqualifies all previous worlds. Have a Shabbat Shalom.