THE ALPHABET

When God was about to create the world by His word, the twenty-two letters of the alphabet descended from the terrible and august crown of God whereon they were engraved with a pen of flaming fire. They stood round about God, and one after the other spoke and entreated, " Create the world through me! " The first to step forward was the letter Taw, It said: " O Lord of the world! May it be Thy will to create Thy world through me, seeing that it is through me that Thou wilt give the Torah to Israel by the hand of Moses, as it is written, , Moses commanded us the Torah,' " The Holy One, blessed be He, made reply, and said, " No! " Taw asked, " Why not ? " and God answered:" Because in days to come I shall place thee as a sign of death upon the foreheads of men," As soon as Taw heard these words issue from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, it retired from His presence disappointed.

The Shin then stepped forward, and pleaded: "O Lord of the world, create Thy world through me, seeing that Thine own name Shaddai begins with me," Unfortunately, it is also the first letter of Shaw, lie, and of She~er, falsehood, and that incapacitated it, Resh had no better luck, It was pointed out that it was the initial letter of Ra', wicked, and Rasha', evil, and af ter that the distinction it enjoys of being the first letter in the Name of God, Rahum, the Merciful, counted for naught. The Kof was rejected, because Kelalah, curse, outweighs the advantage of being the first in Kadosh, the Holy One. In vain did Zadde call attention to Zaddik, the Righteous One ; there was Zarot, the misfortunes of Israel, to testify against it. Pe had Podeh, redeemer, to its credit, but Pesha', transgression, reflected dishonor upon it. 'Ain was declared unfit, because, though it begins 'Anawah, humility, it performs the same service for 'Erwah, immorality, Sarnek said: " O Lord, may it be Thy will to begin the creation with me, for Thou art called Samek, after me, the Upholder of all that fall," But God said: " Thou art needed in the place in which thou art; thou must continue to uphold all that fall." Nun introduces Ner, " the lamp of the Lord," which is " the spirit of men," but it also introduces N er, " the lamp of the wicked," which will be put out by God. Mem starts Melek, king, one of the titles of God. As it is the first letter of Mehumah, confusion, as well, it had no chance of accomplishing its desire.

The claim of Lamed bore its refutation within itself. It advanced the argument that it was the first letter of Luhot, the celestial tables for the Ten Commandments ; it forgot that the tables were shivered in pieces by Moses. Kaf was sure of victory. Kisseh, the throne of God, Kabod, His honor, and Keter, His crown, all begin with it. God had to remind it that He would smite together His hands, Kaf, in despair over the misfortunes of Israel. Yod at first sight seemed the appropriate letter for the beginning of creation, on account of its association with Yah, God, if only Yezer ha-Ra', the evil inclination, had not happened to begin with it, too. Tet is identified with Tob, the good. However, the truly good is not in this world; it belongs to the world to come. Het is the first letter of Hanun, the Gracious One; but this advantage is offset by its place in the word for sin, Hattat. Zain suggests Zakor, remembrance, but it is itself the word for weapon, the doer of mischief. Waw and He compose the Ineffable Name of God; they are therefore too exalted to be pressed into the service of the mundane world. If Dalet had stood only for Dabar, the Divine Word, it would have been used, but it stands also for Din, justice, and under the rule of law without love the world would have fallen to ruin. Finally, in spite of reminding one of Gadol, great, Gimel would not do, because Gemul, retribution, starts with it.

After the claims of all these letters had been disposed of, Bet stepped before the Holy One, blessed be He, and pleaded before Him: " O Lord of the world! May it be Thy will to create Thy world through me, seeing that al1 the dwellers in the world give praise daily unto Thee through me, as it is said, ' Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen, and Amen.'" The Holy One, blessed be He, at once granted the petition of Bet. He said, " Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord." And He created His world through Bet, as it is said, " Bereshit God created the heaven and the earth." The only letter that had refrained from urging its claims was the modest Alef, and God rewarded it later for its humility by giving it the first place in the Decalogue.

Uit: L. Ginsberg: The Legends of the Jews

Ontwikkeling van het Hebreeuwse schrift

(G.J. = Gangbare Jaartelling, de jaartelling zoals we die nu kennen.)

© 2002 Tora Pagina’s      http://home.wanadoo.nl/tora/

THE ALPHABET OF CREATION 

Twenty - six generations before the creation of the world, the twenty- two letters of the alphabet descended from the crown of God whereon they were engraved with a pen of flaming fire.

They gathered around about God and one after another spoke and a entreated, each one, that the world be created through him.  

The first to step forward was Tav. "O Lord of the World," said he, " be it Thy will to create the world through me, seeing that it is through me that Thou wilt give the Torah to Israel by way of the hand of Moses.

For it is written: 'Moses commanded US to keep the Torah.' "

The Holy One, blessed be He, made answer and said, "No . . . Because in the days to come I shall place thee as a sign of death upon the foreheads of men." And Tav retired.

Shin then stepped forward. " O Lord of the World, create Thy world through me, seeing that Thine own name, Shaddai, begins with me !"

But Shin was rejected because it was his ill fortune to stand at the beginning of the words Shav, lie, and Sheker, falsehood.

So it was with Resh that stands at the head of Ra, wicked, and Rasha, evil, even though he could claim the honor of being the first letter in the name of God- Rahum, the Merciful.

Koph, in his turn, had to be rejected, for although he begins the word Kodesh, the Holy One, he also suffers himself to be used for the word curse - Kelalah. 

When the letter Zadhe presented himself, saying that he stood at the head of the word Zaddik, the Righteous One, God replied,