The Midrash tells us that the letter aleph complained for hundreds of years that it was shortchanged when Hashem created the world, as it was the second letter, beis, which was chosen to open the story of creation, Braishis. The aleph received its due, however, at mattan Torah, as the aseres hadibros start with the letter aleph, Anochi...
Letters obviously don't have an ego and don't get jealous or upset. What are Chazal trying to teach us?
Aleph represents the full sense of Hashem's presence, the alufo shel olam. Creation masked Hashem's presence, hence the story begins with a beis.
Mattan Torah restored the aleph to its rightful place, as Torah is the key to finding Hashem's presence even within the physical. The ma'amaros of creation, devoid of spiritual content, were transformed into the dibros of mattan Torah, which infused the world with spiritual meaning and potential.
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"The Midrash tells us that the letter aleph complained for hundreds of years that it was shortchanged when Hashem created the world, as it was the second letter, beis, which was chosen to open the story of creation, Braishis".
ReplyDeleteIt could have been worse:
The Torah could have started from "haChodesh haZeh Lakhem", and shortchanged the first four letters, from Alef to Dalet( or five, to He', had the Torah started at the beginning of the Parashah: "vaYomer haShem el Mosheh ve'el Aharon").
Also, doesn't saying "... the letter aleph complained for hundreds of years ... [and then] received its due, however, at mattan Torah", suggest that part of the Torah( the story of Ma'aseh Bereshit) came into existence long before another part( Aseret haDiberot) ?
Nice idea.
ReplyDeleteyes, a very nice idea.
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ReplyDeleteThe beis introduces multiplicity, which is an inevitable consequence of creation.
ReplyDeleteThere are other midrashic instances of the letters arguing their case, so to speak. The yud felt it had lost by being removed from the name of the first Matriarch for a hey. Its consolation was to be added on to the beginning of Yehoshua's name.