Verse one says God created the heavens and the earth and they became tohubohu, why? He obviously did not create them in vain waste, they became that way. How?
Here’s one simplified explanation (think Big Bang Theory) -
“Tohu refers to the initial state of utter formlessness. Bohu is an intermediary state where the four fundamental properties have been established (Nachmanides). These are fire, air, water and earth.
These four are not to be understood as materials, but as potential properties of the materials that will come to be.
In terms of quantum mechanics they are positive, negative, matter and anti-matter (the Rebbe). From them and through combinations of them will extend all states of matter. Matter itself, however, has yet to come into being.
It should also be noted that matter can be found in four distinct states: solid, liquid, gas and plasma. Energy also comes in four distinct forms: gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force and the strong nuclear force. The ancients also distinguished four domains of the biosphere: domem (lit. dumb, mute), flora, fauna and ‘speakers’ (humans).”
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/2588/jewish/Genesis.htm
Out of tohubohu comes God’s creations. Awesome. A+++