At the beginning, said Rav Hamnuna Sava, we find the letters in reverse order. The letter bet comes first, and then bet comes first again, namely bereshit, and then bara. After this we have alef coming first, and then alef coming again, namely elokim and then et. What happened was that when the Holy One Blessed Be He, wanted to make the world, all the letters were sealed, and two thousand years before He created the world the Holy One, Blessed Be He, examined them and took delight in them. And when He wanted to create the world, all the letters presented themselves to Him, from the end to the beginning.

The letter tav entered first and said: May it be Your will, Master of the Worlds, to create the world through me, because I am the seal on Your signet ring: Truth. And you are called ‘Truth’. It is only proper that the king should begin with the letter of Truth, and create the world through me. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to her: You are beautiful and deserving, but it is not right that the world should be created through you, because you are in the future to be inscribed on the foreheads of the righteous who fulfill the Tora from alef to tav, and they shall die through your sign. Furthermore, you are the seal of death, and since this is so it is not right that the world should be created through you. She then departed. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to her: You are beautiful and deserving, but it is not right that the world should be created through you, because you are in the future to be inscribed on the foreheads of the righteous who fulfill the Tora from alef to tav, and they shall die through your sign. Furthermore, you are the seal of death, and since this is so it is not right that the world should be created through you. She then departed.




The letter shin came into His presence. She said to Him: May it be Your will, Master of the Worlds, to create the world through me, because it is through me that Your name is called ‘Shaddai’, and it is only proper that the world should be created with the holy name. He said to her: You are beautiful and you are good, and you are truthful, but since the letters of deceit have taken you to be their companion, it is not My wish to create the world through you, for lies (sheker) would not have existed if kuf and resh had not taken you. 

  

Why is this? The letter yod of the name the Holy Covenant came and rode upon the letter nun, and became united with it. And this is the mystery: When the Holy One, Blessed Be He, created Adam, he created him with two sides, and this is why the yod faces backwards, like this: Zadde. It looked downwards like this: Zadde. The Holy One Blessed Be He said to her: Retract your request, for I shall split you, and make you face-to-face. You shall, indeed, go away to a different place. She left His presence and departed. The letter pe entered. She said to Him: May it be Your Will, Master of the Worlds, to create the world through me, because the redemption that You will bring to the world is indicated by me, namely pedut (redemption) and it is only proper that the world should be created through me. He said to her: You are beautiful, but secret sin (pesha) is represented by you, like the snake that bites and tucks its head into its body: so the sinner bows his head, but stretches out his hands. And similarly with ayin the first letter of avon (sin), even though she said that humility (anavah) existed because of her, the Holy One Blessed Be He said to her: I shall not create the world through you. And she departed.

The letter samekh entered. She said to Him: May it be Your will, Master of the Worlds, to create the world through me, for it is through me that support (semikha) exists for those that fall, as it is written ‘ The Lord supports all that fall’. He said to her: It is for this reason that you must remain in your place, and never remove from it; for if you left your place what would happen to those that fall? They rely upon you for support. She immediately left His presence. The letter nun entered. She said to Him: Master of the World, may it be Your will to create the world through me, for through me it is written ‘Awesome (nora) in praises’, and the praise of the righteous, namely, ‘Praise is comely (navah) for the righteous. He said to her: Nun, return to your place, for it is because of you that samekh has returned to her place. Rely upon her. She immediately returned to her place, leaving His presence. The letter mem entered. She said to Him: Master of the World, may it be Your will to create the world 6.Yud-Caph-Lamed-Mem through me because it is through me that You are called ‘melekh’ (king).

He said to her: That is certainly true. But I shall not create the world through you, because the world needs a king. Return to your place, together with lamed and kaf, for it is not right that the world should exist without a king. At that moment the letter kaf came down to Him from His glorious throne, and said to Him: Master of the World, may it be Your will to create the world though me, for I am kevodekha (Your glory). When kaf came down from the glorious throne two hundred thousand worlds were shaken, the throne was shaken and all the world were shaken, and were about to fall.

The Holy One Blessed Be He said to her: kaf, kaf, what are you doing here? I shall not create the world through you. Return to your place, for destruction (kelayah) exists through you; ‘a decisive destruction’ has been heard. Return to your throne and stay there. She left his presence and returned to her place. The letter yod entered. She said to Him: Master of the World, may it be Your will to create the world through me, for I am the beginning of Your holy name, and it is only proper for You to create the world through me. He said to her: it is enough for you that you should be engraved in Me, that you should be inscribed in Me, and that My whole delight should be in you. Arise. It is not right that you should be uprooted from My name. The letter tet entered. She said to Him: Master of the World, may it be Your will to create the world through me, for through me You are called ‘tav ve-yashar (good and upright). He said to her: I shall not create the world through you, because your goodness is concealed within you, and hidden within you. This is the meaning of ‘How great is Your goodness which You have stored up for those that fear You’.Since it is stored within you it is the world to come that will share in it, not the world that I wish to create now. Furthermore, because your goodness is stored within you, the gates of the Temple will be sunk. This is the significance of ‘Her gates are sunk into the ground’. Moreover, the letter het is next to you, and when you are joined together you make ‘het’ (sin). Therefore, these letters do not appear in the holy tribes. She immediately left His presence.

The letter zayin entered. She said to Him: Master of the World, may it be Your will to create the world through me, because it is through me that Your children will observe the Sabbath, as it is written ‘Remember (zakhor) the Sabbath day to keep it holy’. He said to her: I shall not create the world through you, because war exists through you, and a sharp sword, and a battle-lance, like the letter nun. She immediately left his presence. The letter vav entered. She said to Him: Master of the World, may it be Your will to create the world through me, because I am a letter in Your name. He said to her: Vav, it is sufficient that both you and hey are the letters of My name, that you are in the mystery of My name, and that you are engraved and inscribed in My name. I shall not create the world through you.

The letters dalet and gimel entered. They said the same thing. He said to them also: It is sufficient for you that you are together, for the poor (dalim) will never cease from the world, and it will be necessary to act charitably (gemol) towards them. (Dalet) is poor, and gimel acts charitably towards her. Do not separate from one another. It is sufficient for you that you should support one another. The letter bet entered. She said to Him: Master of the World, may it be Your will to create the world through me, because it is through me that they bless you in the upper and lower worlds. The Holy One Blessed Be He, said to her: Yes, to be sure, I shall create the world through you, and you shall be at the forefront of the creation of the world.

The letter alef arose, but did not enter. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to her: Alef, alef, why do you not come into My presence like the other letters?

She said to Him: Master of the world, since I have seen all the other letters leaving Your presence without success, what point is there? Moreover, You have given this great gift to the letter bet, and it would not be right for a king to take away a present that he has given to his servant and give it to someone else. The Holy One Blessed Be He said to her: Alef, alef, although I shall create the world through the letter bet, you will be the first of all the letters. I have no unification except through you. All calculations and every deed in the world will begin with you. No unification will be effected except through the letter alef.


From: Hazohar, Tishby-Lachover Mishnat Hazohar Vol. 1 2b-3b
Translated by Dr. David Goldstein