Genesis Explained: Why the Torah Counts Days from Evening to Morning

Yehuda asks: "Why did God begin the creation of the world in the evening and not in the morning? Why does the Torah say ‘And it was evening and it was morning, one day,’ and not ‘And it was morning and it was evening, one day’? Thank you in advance, Rabbi."

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Shalom and blessings, Yehuda,

I have not found a clear explanation for this in the classical commentaries, so I will share a personal line of reasoning: 

In Parshat Bereishit it first says, “And the earth was void and formless, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Only afterwards do we read, “And there was light.” At first there was complete darkness, and only then was light brought into reality, because darkness represents absence, while light represents existence. Thus, by its very nature, darkness preceded light.

The first day of Creation therefore began with night, into which light then entered. Our daily cycle is based on the way God created the world, and within this there is also a profound moral idea: each day, the sunrise teaches us about the ongoing renewal of creation, how every new day is formed by the light entering into it, just as in the Six Days of Creation, starting from a state of night and darkness.

As we recite in prayer: “Who renews in His goodness, every day, continually, the work of Creation.” In this way, every day we witness in miniature the miracle of creation, which begins from night.