Portion Bereishit

Genesis 1:1 - 6:8

Why Does the Torah Start with a Beit Instead of an Aleph?

One of the fascinating aspects of Jewish tradition is how even the smallest details of the Torah can be filled with mystery and teach us something about God’s heart and our place in his plan. An example of this can be found in the long-standing discussion on why the Torah, the first five books of the bible, begins with the Hebrew letter beit (ב) rather than aleph (א), which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. At first glance, this might seem like a trivial question, but it touches on deeper theological, philosophical, and mystical ideas discussed by the ancient sages of Judaism. Over centuries, many interpretations have been offered, each contributing to our understanding of the Torah's opening words: "Bereishit bara Elohim" (In the beginning, God created...).

To follow are some of the key explanations, rooted in classical Jewish thought. Whether true or not isn’t really the point. Our hope in sharing this is to gain insight into how the ancients approached the scripture and were constantly seeking to find God’s wisdom and teaching in even the smallest nuance of the text, like starting with one letter over another. 

Humility and the Silent Aleph

One of the most common interpretations comes from the tradition in the Talmud, a central body of knowledge in rabbinic Judaism, and various commentaries. The tradition says that the Torah begins with the letter beit (ב) to teach us the importance of humility. The letter aleph (א) is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, is a silent letter, and is often associated with God and the beginnings of creation. The silence of the aleph represents the idea that God's true essence is beyond human comprehension. By starting with beit, the Torah may be teaching us that human knowledge of the divine is always partial, and we must approach it with humility.

The Midrash offers a related explanation: the aleph was initially upset that it was not chosen to start the Torah. But God reassured it, saying that while the Torah would start with beit, the first letter of the Ten Commandments, Anochi (I am), would begin with aleph. This suggests that the aleph is reserved for a more direct divine self-revelation.

The Beit as a Symbol of Blessing

Another significant interpretation is that beit is the first letter of the word beracha (ברכה), which means "blessing." According to this explanation, the Torah begins with beit to symbolize that it is a source of blessing for the world. The sages say that the world was created through the Torah, and the Torah brings divine blessing into the physical world.

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi), the famous medieval commentator, touches on this idea by emphasizing that the Torah’s purpose is to guide humanity and bring goodness to creation. The world’s foundation is thus set in blessing, and the beit reminds us of the Torah’s role in sustaining the world.

For us as believers, we understand that Yeshua (Jesus) is the living Torah. In this light, we can hear Paul agreeing with the sages when he writes to the believers in Colossians: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” Colossians {1:16, NIV}

The Boundaries of Human Understanding

The shape of the beit itself is also filled with symbolic meaning. It is open on one side and closed on three sides. According to Bereishit Rabbah 1:10, this represents the idea that human understanding is limited. We can only comprehend the world from the point where God began to reveal it, symbolized by the beit of Bereishit. 

In Hebrew, writing & reading go from the right to the left, opposite of English. The image below shows the very first words written in the Torah (Genesis 1). The first letter, bolder and larger in the top right, is the beit and visually looks like a box with only the left side open and all words of the Torah flowing from there. The other three closed sides signify the unknowable aspects of what came before creation.

The Aleph is Reserved for God

The first letter of the Torah, aleph, is often associated with God's presence and ultimate unity. While the Torah begins with beit, it reserves the aleph for when God speaks directly to humanity, as seen in the first word of the Ten Commandments, Anochi ("I am the Lord your God") (Exodus 20:2). The aleph here signifies the divine "I" and the unification of God’s oneness with the universe.

This distinction is explored in the Midrash, which suggests that the beit starts the Torah for the human realm, but when God refers to Himself, He uses the aleph to indicate His transcendence and uniqueness.

Creation as a Continuation

Another interpretation suggests that the Torah starts with the second letter, beit, because it indicates that creation itself is a continuation of something that came before it—namely, God's existence. Aleph symbolizes God, who is eternal and precedes creation, while beit represents the moment creation begins and the world is formed. In this sense, the Torah begins not at the absolute beginning, but at the start of the physical universe.

Focus on the Physical World

Finally, beit also signifies the dual nature of the physical world. In gematria (Jewish numerology), the letter beit has the numerical value of two. This reflects the fact that the created world is full of dualities—light and darkness, good and evil, male and female. The Torah, which is concerned with guiding humanity through this world of duality, starts with beit to emphasize that it deals with the complexities of the physical world, where opposites must be balanced and choices made.

Conclusion

The decision to begin the Torah with beit rather than aleph may reflect deep theological concepts, including the limitations of human understanding, the importance of humility, the divine blessing inherent in creation, and the distinction between God's transcendent unity and the multiplicity of the physical world. Each interpretation offers a window into the richness of Jewish thought and the potential layers of meaning hidden in the sacred text.

Through these various explanations, we are reminded that the Torah is not just a book of laws and stories but a profound guide to the relationship between the divine and the human, the hidden and the revealed, the eternal and the temporal. This wealth of interpretations invites us to explore the Torah with a sense of awe, recognizing that even its first letter offers profound insights into the mysteries of creation and the nature of the divine.