Begin with Bet? Why does the Torah begin with the letter Bet, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet? This question, raised by the Sages of the Midrash, is premised on the idea that every detail in the Torah, including each letter and nuance, is precise. In that case, the Midrash comments, would it not be more fitting for the Torah to begin with an Aleph, the first Hebrew letter? The Midrash teaches that indeed, for the first twenty-six generations of history, until the Torah was given, the letter Aleph complained to G-d, asking why it was not the first and primary letter in the opening statement of the Torah describing the beginning of creation. G-d responded by reassuring the Alef that when G-d would give the Torah to the Jewish people, the ten commandments would indeed begin with the letter Aleph: Rabbi Elazar bar Ḥanina said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: For twenty-six generations, the alef complained before the throne of the Holy One blessed be He. It said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, I am the first of the letters, but You did not create Your world with me.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to it: ‘The world and all its contents were created only for the sake of the Torah, as it is stated: “The Lord founded the earth with wisdom…” (Proverbs 3:19). Tomorrow {in the future}, I will be coming to give the Torah at Sinai, and I will open it at its beginning only with you, as it is stated: “I [Anochi] am the Lord your God”’ (Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit 1:10) The opening verse of Genesis, “In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth”, represents the duality of the universe we live in, where everything is comprised of matter and energy, body and soul, physical and spiritual. The letter Bet, the second letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, was chosen to begin the story of creation, precisely because it represents the number two, the challenge and tension that is created by the conflict between the matter and the spirit, the holy and the mundane, the positive and the negative. This tension seems to be at the bedrock of creation, for it is featured in the very first and primary word describing creation. Yet, for generations, the letter Aleph, representing oneness and unity, protested silently. The letter Aleph would not accept that the universe must always remain in a state of inner conflict between two extreme poles. “Why not create a cohesive and united universe, a world where the unity of G-d would permeate all of reality?” insisted the letter Aleph. G-d responds that, indeed, the Ten Commandments, representing the awesome power of the Torah, begins with an Aleph, for the Torah reveals the deeper truth, that both the body and soul, the physical and the spiritual, the positive and the negative, are part of one whole, created by one G-d, for one unified purpose. The Ten Commandments begin with an Aleph, because a Jew, through studying the Torah and implementing its teachings, stitches together the physical and spiritual, revealing that the polar opposite forces of heaven and earth represented by the Bet, can be united and incorporated into a wholesome oneness.
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