Bereishit with a Capital Bet
With this week鈥檚 parashah, we once again commence the cycle of reading the Torah from the first chapter of Genesis, which begins with the Hebrew word bereishit. Attentive readers may note that, in the Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary, this first word is printed with a large Hebrew letter, bet, and is followed by an asterisk with an explanation stating that the bet is written large in accordance with traditional editions of the text. This clarification may have been deemed necessary because this oversized bet is not in the manuscript that the editors of Etz Hayim use as the basis for their edition, namely the great Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete Hebrew Bible in existence dated to 1008 CE.
However, the bet of bereishit is not the only letter that is printed in a different font in this week鈥檚 parashah. In chapter 2, verse 4, the letter heh of the word 产别丑颈产补谤鈥檃尘 (when they were created) is printed in small (miniscule) type. In fact, there is a scribal convention that every letter of the alphabet is written somewhere in the Bible large and small and that, in the Torah, every letter of the alphabet is somewhere written large. For example, in traditional humashim, or Bible editions, there is a large aleph on the word Ashrekha at Deuteronomy 33:29, a large gimel on the word vehitGalah at Leviticus 13:33, a large dalet on the word 鈥�ehaD at Deuteronomy 6:4, and so on. Why are these letters written large and small? The truth is that we really do not know, although many theories have been advanced. It might seem obvious that, in the word bereishit, the first letter would be written large because it is the start of a new book in the Torah. But other books of the Torah do not have large letters written with their first words (e.g., the first word of Exodus, 惫鈥檈濒别丑, does not have a large vav). Neither do the first words of the other three books, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The only books of the Bible that are written with large letters at the beginning are Proverbs, which has a large mem on the first word; Mishlei, Song of Songs, which has a large shin on the first word, shir; Qoheleth, which has a large dalet on the first word, dibrei; and Chronicles, which has a large aleph on the first word, Adam.
Various explanations have been advanced for these large letters. One theory is that they mark a significant statistical point in the text. For example, the word vehitGalah of Leviticus 13:33, written with a large gimel, is the middle verse of the Torah, or the word gahOn of Leviticus 11:42, written with a large vav, is the midpoint of the Torah in letters. Another theory is that these big letters emphasize the precision of the reading. A good example of this is in the first line of the Shema鈥� (Deut. 6:4), where there is large 鈥榓测颈苍 written in the word shema鈥�, and a large dalet in the word 鈥檈丑补顿.&苍产蝉辫;The scribe is thereby cautioned: watch out, do not write 蝉丑别尘补鈥� (hear!) as though it were 蝉丑别尘补鈥� with analeph, which would change the meaning to 鈥減erhaps鈥� (鈥淧erhaps O Israel鈥�); rather, be careful to write it with an 鈥榓测颈苍 (hear; 鈥淗ear O Israel鈥�). Similarly, with the last word, the scribe is warned: watch out, do not write 鈥檈丑补诲 as though it was 鈥檃丑别搁 with a resh, which would change the meaning to 鈥渁nother鈥� (鈥渢he Lord is another鈥�); rather, be careful to write it with a dalet (one; 鈥渢he Lord is our god, the Lord is one鈥�).
But these reasons apply to a very small proportion of the cases of large and small letters and, because of this, most of these large and small letters have attracted midrashic or homiletical explanations. Thus a popular midrashic explanation of the large 鈥榓测颈苍 and dalet in the verse containing the Shema鈥� is that these two letters should be joined to form the Hebrew word 鈥榚诲(witness). The thought would then be, as expressed in the Hertz Humash, that 鈥渆very Israelite by pronouncing the Shema鈥� becomes one of God鈥檚 witnesses, testifying to His Unity before the world.鈥� Another example of a midrashic interpretation is in our parashah in chapter 2, verse 4, where the letter heh of the word 产别丑颈产补谤鈥檃尘 is printed in small font. Here, the midashic explanation for the small heh is that it stands as an abbreviation for 鈥渢he Lord.鈥� Therefore, instead of translating the phrase with the impersonal 鈥渨hen they (the heavens and earth) were created,鈥� which is the correct grammatical interpretation, one should translate 鈥渨hen the Lord created them.鈥� This would bring God directly back into the Creation story as indeed God is when we read our first verse with the large bet of Bereishit鈥渨hen God began to create heaven and earth.鈥�
One thing is quite clear: the scribes entrusted with the responsibility to preserve and protect the text of the Hebrew Bible did so with the utmost fidelity to tradition. These scribes were known as Masoretes, and the text they preserved is known as the Masoretic text. To the Masoretes, not only was every word to be carefully guarded, but also every letter: each word had to be written properly with its consonants and full vowels. Each letter had to be written in accordance with tradition, whether in regular, large, or small font. The result of their enterprise is called the Masorah,which not only ensures the accuracy of the biblical text, but is testimony to the sanctity of the Torah. This is a good lesson for us as we commence rereading our Torah. Not only do the words of Torah have significance, but also the letters. When we study the biblical text with its large and small letters, we engage in a spiritual practice symbolizing our love for God and Torah. Our appreciation for the smallest detail of the text that has sustained us for thousands of years is, in many ways, an expression of our joy in God鈥檚 revelation.
The publication and distribution of the 91快活林 Commentary are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee and Harold (z鈥漧) Hassenfeld.
