(1) In the beginning Elohim [God] created: Elohim means judge. Indeed, just like the statutes of the Torah are called judgement [or laws]. Similarly, the properties of nature that the Holy One, blessed be He, ingrained in His world are called judgement [or laws]. As is explained in [Tractate] Shabbat 155, "'The righteous One knows the judgement of the poor ones' (Proverbs 29:7); the Holy One, blessed be He, knows that that the dog's food [supply] is sparse, etc.;" and the matter is not in the category of punishment, but rather this is [its] nature, and that is called judgement. And behold [regarding] the name, God/Judge, even though its simple understanding is the One who runs His world in judgement, nonetheless, here, its understanding is the One who creates His world with judgement. And this is its understanding in the Sifri, at the beginning of Parshat Ve'etchanan concerning the prayer of Moshe, "Lord, God/Judge, in judgement have your created the world." And there, we explained with His help, may He be blessed, why the Sages, of blessed memory, explained the intention of Moshe in this way. And also see, what I have written further, Genesis 9:16, and in the Book of Exodus 6:2.