בראשית ברא…
“In the beginning of Hashem’s creating the heavens and earth …” (1:1)
I heard from Rav Yitzchok Fingerer that the first letters in the opening Pasuk stress the fact that the building blocks for the creation of the universe were the twenty-two letters of the Aleph Beis. The first letters of each word, the Roshei Taivos, are Beis, Beis, Aleph, Aleph, Hei, Vav, Hei. They are Gematriah, the numerical value of twenty-two. The last letters of the first three words (Bereishis Barah Elokim) of the Pasuk (the letters Tuf, Aleph and Mem) spell Emes, alluding to the fact that Hashem created the world with Emes, truth. The last letters of the remaining words (Tuf, Mem, Tuf, Tzadi) of the Passuk are Gematriah the years of Adam’s life – 930.
One versus Two
The first word in the Torah is בראשית , making the first letter of the Torah a beis. Why did Hashem start the Torah with the second letter of the Hebrew Alphabet – beis, rather than the first letter—alef? There are many answers to this question. One of the reasons is to teach us a very important message on the way we should view the Torah. The Torah is not just a book with nice stories and deep ideas. The Torah is Hashem’s holy wisdom, and by learning it, we become very closely connected to Hashem. The alef, the first thing, is Hashem. Learning Torah is the second stage, which involves connecting to Him. We should not learn Torah as an intellectual study—as if it were any another subject. That would be starting the Torah with an alef, as if nothing existed before it. We should approach Torah as a beis, as a means to connect us with the alef – Hashem. Learning Torah without recognizing its holiness can lead to having a big ego, which is the opposite of what the Torah wants from us. However, when we recognize the holiness of the Torah and that it is Hashem’s wisdom, which was given to us so we can connect to Him, then the more we learn, the humbler we become, and this reason that the Torah is compared to water. Just as the nature of water is to descend from a high place to a low place, so too, Torah comes to a person who has lowered himself. That is why Torah wisdom is found specifically with those who are humble and recognize that they are learning Hashem’s infinite wisdom.
Two becoming One
The Aseres Hadibros begin with an Aleph. The Torah begins with a Beis. The question is why? Aleph stands for the oneness of Hashem. Shouldn’t the Torah begin with Aleph, oneness? Rav Yitzchok Fingerer explains: The answer is that Anochi refers to Hashem himself who is One. The universe is binary: Heaven and earth. Light and dark. Male and female. The Torah was given to people with the objective to make from two into one. Hashem wants us to make oneness. Bring heaven out of earth. Bring light into darkness. Unite the male and female.
