Note 24 — I.

The notion that the creation is a blessing, and that this is indicated in the first letter, is already propounded in the Midrash, as may be seen from the following remark. The reason why the Law begins with Beth, the second letter of the Alphabet, and not with Aleph, the first letter, is that the former is the first letter in the word blessing, while the latter is the first letter in the word accursed, ‏למה בבית מפני שהוא לשון ברכה ולא בא״לף שהוא לשון ארירה‎ (Midrash Rabba, sec. i). ↑