Before the universe existed, not even parchment existed — no animals had yet been created to provide skins for scrolls. So the Torah was written on the arm of God Himself, in black fire upon white fire. And God would gaze at it, and from it He would build everything.
When God decided to create the world, every letter of the Hebrew alphabet came forward, each lobbying to be the one through which creation would begin. Tav stepped up first, arguing that Torah itself starts with tav. God refused — tav also begins the word terumah, inducement, and "an inducement-taking man destroys" (Proverbs 29:4). Shin came next, but God rejected it because shav (falsehood) and shochad (bribery) also begin with shin, and besides — a letter without a stable base cannot hold up a universe.
One by one, every letter stepped forward, and one by one, God found a flaw. Finally Bet entered and made its case: "By me, Your children will bless You — Barukh, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" (Psalms 118:26). God agreed. "By you I will create My world." And so the Torah opens with Bet: "Bereshit bara Elohim" — "In the beginning God created" (Genesis 1:1).
But Alef stood to the side, silent. God called out: "Why do you not speak like the others?" Alef answered: "How can I? Every other letter has a higher numerical value than I do. I am only one." God replied: "Do not fear. You are one, and I am One. I will give the Torah through you — for the Ten Commandments will begin with Anokhi, I am the Lord your God" (Exodus 20:2).
When Mount Sinai shook and the Torah descended, all of Israel — men, women, children, even the unborn in their mothers' wombs — heard the commandments. God asked the children themselves to guarantee that their parents would keep the Torah. The infants answered yes to every affirmation and no to every prohibition. From the mouths of babies, God founded strength (Psalms 8:3).