It’s a question that's kept commentators busy for centuries!
R. Yehuda bar Shalom offers a beautiful, and perhaps surprising, answer in the Yalkut Shimoni. He points out that the very first words of Genesis, "In the beginning God created…" (בראשית ברא אלהים), could have been written differently. Instead of "from the beginning" (בראשית – Bereshit), it could have said "from before and from the beginning." But it doesn't. Why?
R. Yehuda suggests that the world was actually created in the merit of Israel! He cleverly notes the verse doesn't state ere, meaning "before," but rather Bereshit, "from the first." This "first," he says, refers to Israel, which is called the "beginning of its crop" in Jeremiah 2:3: "The Holy of Israel is to God, the beginning of its crop."
Think of it like this:
R. Yehuda uses a metaphor of a king who desperately wants a son. Imagine the king constantly acquiring things, moving things around, but everyone keeps saying, "He has no son! What's it all for?" But when the son finally arrives, everything changes. The king finally has a purpose, a reason for his actions.
In the same way, R. Yehuda suggests, the world was created for a purpose – for the sake of Israel, who would ultimately recognize and serve God. We, the Jewish people, were the reason God got everything going. Pretty humbling, right?
Rabbi Yehudah ben Pazi offers another take, focusing on the letter Bet itself. He expounds that the Bet hints at duality. It comes to tell you, he says, that there are two worlds: Olam HaZeh, this world, and Olam HaBa, the world to come.
So, what does this all mean?
Perhaps it's a reminder that creation isn't just a one-time event, but an ongoing process. We, the Jewish people, have a role to play in bringing purpose and meaning to this world, and in preparing for the world to come. The very first letter of the Torah, Bet, is a subtle but powerful reminder of our responsibility.