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Question
Hello Rabbi, moadim lesimcha. How can the Rambam say like the Greeks that darkness isn’t created but just absence of light, don’t we have the bracha “Yotzer Or Uvorei Choshech”
Answer
Rav Sa'adya Gaon (Emunot v'De'ot I, 3) presents that opinion voiced by the Rambam even before him, and immediately asks your exact question. In short, he explains that term in the Tanach (Yeshayau 45, 7) “Yotzer Or Uvorei Choshech”, is based upon how man senses things, for God created the universe in which both light and darkness appear. This is similar to the continuation there: "Oseh Shalom uVorei Ra", that all agree that the Perfect God didn't create evil, but created the possibility of the appearance of evil, through man's free-will.
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