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Alef, the first letter

The twenty-two letters · article 2 of 23

Value one, a breath. Alef complained that it did not open creation; G-d reserved for it the first word at Sinai.

Alef opens the alphabet and has the value one. Sefer Yetzirah places it among the letters formed in the throat, with Chet, Heh and Ayin. Its name is commented on by the Midrash: Rabbi Hoshaya asks why it is called Alef, and answers that it agrees with elef, a thousand, as in the verse "the word He commanded for a thousand generations."

In Sefer Yetzirah, Alef is the first of the three mothers, Emesh. Mem is silent, Shin hisses, and Alef, which is air and breath, ruach, "decides between them." The book compares it to the tongue of the scale, the law that decides between the pan of merit and the pan of guilt. G-d "made the letter Alef reign over breath and bound a crown to it," and through it formed air in the world, the temperate season in the year and the torso, geviyah, in the body of man and woman.

In tractate Shabbat, the Sages tell Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi that children came to the house of study and said things that had not been said even in the days of Joshua son of Nun. Their reading begins thus: "Alef Bet, alef binah," learn wisdom. The name of the letter becomes a verb, alef, "learn," and the name of the next one gives binah, understanding. The first lesson of the alphabet is an invitation to study.

The Midrash Bereshit Rabbah asks why the world was created through a Bet, that of bereshit, and not through Alef. Rabbi Elazar bar Hanina, in the name of Rabbi Acha, relates that for twenty-six generations Alef complained before the throne of the Holy One, blessed be He: "I am the first of the letters, and You did not create Your world through me." G-d answered that the world and all it contains were created only by the merit of the Torah, and added: "Tomorrow I come to give the Torah at Sinai, and I will open only with you," anokhi, "I am the Lord your G-d." Sefer HaBahir says for its part that Alef stands at the head because it preceded everything, even the Torah. The Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva reads the three letters of the name as initials: emet, lamed, pikha, "teach your mouth truth," to merit the life of this world, and in the reverse order to merit the world to come.

Alef has the value one, stands at the beginning and is pronounced like a breath. The sources give it two roles: in Sefer Yetzirah, it is the air that arbitrates between water and fire; in the Midrash, it opens the word of Sinai rather than creation. And the children of the house of study draw from it the first instruction of the alphabet: learn.

Source text

עשרים וששה דורות היתה האל"ף קורא תגר לפני כסאו של הקדוש ברוך הוא אמרה לפניו רבש"ע אני ראשון של אותיות ולא בראת עולמך בי

For twenty-six generations, Alef complained before the throne of the Holy One, blessed be He. It said before Him: Master of the world, I am the first of the letters, and You did not create Your world through me.

Bereshit Rabbah 1:10, Wikisource Bereshit Rabbah, CC-BY-SA.

Key terms

HebrewTransliterationMeaning
אalefone; "learn," and close to elef, a thousand
אמותimotthe three mother letters
רוחrouahbreath, air
אנכיanokhi"I am," first word at Sinai

Sources

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In the same section

The letters, stones of creationThree mothers, seven doubles, twelve simples. For Sefer Yetzirah, G-d formed the world by engraving and combining twenty-two letters.Alef, the first letterValue one, a breath. Alef complained that it did not open creation; G-d reserved for it the first word at Sinai.Bet, the houseValue two, the letter that opens the Torah. Closed on three sides, open to the front: a house, and a blessing.Gimel, the one who givesValue three. The foot of Gimel stretches toward Dalet, for the one who does good runs after the poor.Dalet, the poor oneValue four. Dalet makes itself available to Gimel, but turns its face away, so that the gift is given in secret.Heh, the open doorValue five. This world was created through Heh: open below for whoever wants to leave, with an opening above for whoever returns.Vav, the hook and six directionsValue six. A straight line that joins, the hook of the Tabernacle pillars, and the seal of the six directions of the world.Zayin, the crowned letterValue seven. Moses found G-d binding crowns to the letters, and Zayin is among those that carry three.Chet, life at the summitValue eight. Scribes draw a hump on the roof of Chet: He lives, at the height of the world.Tet, the letter of goodValue nine. The first Tet in the Torah is that of "it is good." Seeing a Tet in a dream is a good sign.Yod, the smallest letterValue ten. The world to come was created through Yod, for the righteous there are few, and their heads are bowed.Kaf, the palm and the crownValue twenty. Kaf is the palm and the pan of the scale; the children of the house of study read in it the crown promised in the world to come.Lamed, the heart that learnsThirty, the letter of Tishrei in Sefer Yetzirah. Rabbi Akiva reads its name as a heart that understands knowledge.Mem, water and the hidden wordForty, mother of water in Sefer Yetzirah. Open in the middle of a word, closed at the end: a revealed word, a hidden word.Nun, the faithful one bent, then uprightFifty. Bent in the middle of a word, straight at the end: the humble faithful one and the upright one. For Rabbi Akiva, the lamp of the soul.Samekh, support for those who fallSixty, a closed letter that stood by a miracle in the tablets. The children of the study hall read in it: support the poor.Ayin, the eye of the TorahSeventy, a letter of the throat. The children read in it the poor; Rabbi Akiva, the eye of the Torah, light of every light.Peh, the open and closed mouthEighty, bent in the middle of a word, straight at the end. The children of the study hall read in it: open mouth, closed mouth.Tzadi, the righteous one bent, then uprightNinety. The Talmud adds the bending of the righteous to that of the faithful: hence the Torah was given with bowed head.Kuf, holiness that waitsOne hundred. The Talmud reads in it the Holy One who turns His face from the wicked, yet turns His crown toward him and leaves him an open door.Reish, the head and the fallTwo hundred. Head of all things for Rabbi Akiva, the wicked for the children of the study hall: the same letter carries the beginning and the fall.Shin, the fire with three branchesThree hundred, mother of fire in Sefer Yetzirah. It opens the name Shaddai, but also the word sheker, and falsehood has no feet.Tav, the mark of truthFour hundred, the last letter. For the children of the study hall, truth on wide bases; for Rabbi Akiva, the first to come forward.

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