Why Did God, Commence the Account of the Creation of His World with

"In the beginning God created" (Genesis 1:1). This is what Scripture says: "Blessings are upon the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence" (Proverbs 10:6). Why did He open the creation of the world with a bet and not with an alef, when the alef is the head of all the letters? Rather, because the alef is the beginning of the word "cursed" (arur) and the bet is the beginning of the word "blessed" (barukh), the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I will create the world with the language of blessing. And consider: when it was created with the language of blessing, human beings provoke their Maker; with the language of cursing, how much the more so. And further, why was it created with a bet? To teach the creatures that there are two worlds, this world and the World to Come. Whoever has occupied himself with goodness in this world will eat of its goodness in this world and in the world to come. And the Sadducees deny this and say: "As a cloud is consumed and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up" (Job 7:9). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence" (Proverbs 10:6). Hadrian asked Akylas: Upon what does the world stand? He said to him: Upon the wind. Do you wish to know? Bring a camel. He brought a camel and set its load upon it. He said to it, "Stand," and it stood. "Sit," and it sat. He placed upon it more than its load and put a rope on its neck. He said to it to pull. This one pulled from here and that one pulled from there, and they strangled the camel. He said to him: Tell the camel to stand. Hadrian said to him: You strangled it, and shall it stand? He said to him: And what, have I killed it, or is it perhaps missing one of its limbs? He said to him: You took out its breath. He said to him: And consider, if the camel could not bear and could not carry its load except by the breath that was in it, then the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, does His breath not bear the whole world? Hadrian was silent. See the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He: from the earth to the heavens. A man builds a hall; its height is half its length and half its breadth. The height of the heavens is half its length, and its breadth is half the height of the firmament, as it is said, "Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the topmost stars, how high they are" (Job 22:12). This sun enters the inhabited world for one moment, and there is no creature in the world who does not see it above his head, yet it appears in the heavens only as the breadth of a span, because the heavens are high. And when the sun rises, it is wide, and likewise when it sets. But when it is in the middle of the dome of the firmament, you see it as the breadth of a span, because of the height of the heavens. And do not say of the sun that it is larger than the inhabited world. We find one star that places all the creatures beneath it. The star passes, its fellow comes and places everything beneath it. And just as you see it above your head, so all who come into the world see it above their heads. Yet it appears only like a lamp, as it is said, "Is not God in the height of heaven?" (Job 22:12). And the thickness of the firmament is like the distance from the earth to the heavens. From the stars that came down upon Sisera you may know the thickness of the firmament, for it was slipping out from the firmament and coming down and making war on the earth. Like nails fixed in a door: if one slips out from the door you may know the thickness of the door, so the star is fixed in the heavens and comes down and makes war on the earth, to teach you that the thickness of the firmament is like the distance from the earth to the heavens. And if His creatures are thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, how much the more so. And thus it says, "Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised" (Psalms 145:3); greater than His creatures. A king of flesh and blood sits upon a lofty throne, and his feet do not reach the footstool that is beneath his feet. But the Holy One, blessed be He, "the heavens are His throne and the earth is His footstool" (Isaiah 66:1). A king of flesh and blood sits upon a bench, with others sitting at his right and at his left. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is like a king who sits upon a throne and fills it, and the world is hidden beneath His feet, as it is said, "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" (Jeremiah 23:24). With a king of flesh and blood, those sitting at his right and at his left are of honor like his own. But the Holy One, blessed be He, sits upon His throne and all stand before Him, as it is said, "I saw the LORD sitting upon His throne and all the host of heaven" and so on (1 Kings 22:19). And thus it says, "and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him" (Daniel 7:10). And thus, "seraphim were standing" and so on (Isaiah 6:2). And thus, "I approached one of those who stood by" (Daniel 7:16). A king of flesh and blood is of lofty stature, and among his attendants there are some lofty like him. But the Holy One, blessed be He, "Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised" (Psalms 145:3). A king of flesh and blood is wise, and among his attendants there is one mighty and wise like him. But the Holy One, blessed be He, "there is none like You, O LORD" and so on (Jeremiah 10:6). And it says, "for among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like You" (Jeremiah 10:7). His angels are great, but not like Him. Come and see: an angel stretched out his hand from the firmament and seized Ezekiel by a lock of his head, as it is said, "And He put forth the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head" (Ezekiel 8:3). The verse implies that from the firmament to the earth is only the breadth of an angel's palm, as it is said, "Then from before Him was sent the part of the hand, and this writing was inscribed" (Daniel 5:24), to make known to you that there is no limit to His attendants. And if His attendants are thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, how much the more so. Therefore it is said, "Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable" (Psalms 145:3). And it says, "My own hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens" and so on (Isaiah 48:13). From the sitting of the Holy One, blessed be He, you may know what He is. These heavens are spread out over the sea and over the inhabited world and over the desert, and they do not fill the throne. From His handful you may know who He is, as it is said, "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand?" And from His finger you may understand who He is, as it is said, "and meted out the dust of the earth with a measure" (Isaiah 40:12). Woe to the one of flesh and blood who sins: before whom does he sin! And happy is the one who merits: before whom does he merit! Woe to the one who is destined to give judgment and reckoning, and happy is the one who is destined to give him his reward, as it is said, "Behold, the LORD will come in fire" and so on (Isaiah 66:15).