The Letter Bet — study | Rav Ziegler zatsal
Letter study · ב · value 2

The Letter Bet

The house, the blessing, and the letter the Torah opens with
A teaching of Rav Haim Ziegler zatsal · Éditions Gueoula
Translated from the French original; the French version remains the reference text.
The Letter Bet
The house, the blessing, and the letter the Torah opens with

The bet asked that the world be created through it, because it opens the word בָּרוּךְ (barukh), blessed.

It received what it asked: the Torah begins with Bereshit bara Elohim.

Bet means בַּיִת (bayit), the house: the world is the house G-d builds to dwell in.

Its value is two: the duality without which there is no choice.

📖 Read the lesson
1 The Zohar account
“Master of the world, may it please You to create the world through me, for through me begins barukh, blessed. You are blessed above and below.”

The answer came: with you I shall create the world, and you shall be its foundation; the Torah will begin with you — Bereshit bara Elohim.

Creation therefore begins with a blessing: nothing exists that was not first blessed.
2 Why the bet and not the alef

Because bet means house. The world is the house G-d builds in order to dwell in it.

And because bet is two: heaven and earth, spiritual and material, hidden and revealed. The world had to begin in duality so that choice would be possible.

3 The shape of the letter

The bet is closed above, on the left and below, and open ahead, on the side where the text continues.

One does not question what precedes the beginning. One moves forward, on the open side.

Did you follow the study?

Four questions on the letter bet.

1
Which word did the bet invoke before the Holy One?
“You are blessed above and below.” Creation begins with blessing.
2
What does the word bet mean?
Bayit: the world is the house G-d builds to dwell in.
3
What does the value two of the bet carry?
Heaven and earth, spiritual and material, hidden and revealed.
4
On which side is the bet open?
One does not question what precedes the beginning: one moves forward.

Result