Tranlated and annotated by Yacov David Shulman for Powerseferpress and Yeshiva Beth Moshe
Rabbi Akiva said:[1]
These are the 22 letters with which the entire Torah was given to the tribes of Israel. They[2] are carved with a pen of flame upon the awesome and terrible crown of the Holy One, blessed be He.
At the time that the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to create the world, all of them immediately descended and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
Each one told Him: “Create the world with me.”
First, the letter tav came before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said to Him, “Master of the universe, create the world with Me, because it is with me that You will give the Torah [which begins with the letter tav] to Israel through Moses. As the verse states, ‘Moses commanded us the Torah…” (Deuteronomy 34:4).
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said: “No, because in the future I will use you to inscribe an impression upon the foreheads of the groaning and sighing men so that they will not attain the [messianic] future.” As the verse states, “Hashem said to him: Pass through the midst of the city, through Jerusalem, and mark a tav upon the foreheads of the men who groan and sigh over all of the abominations that are done in its midst” (Ezekiel 9:4). What does “mark a tav” mean? That teaches that when the Holy One, blessed be He, decreed the destruction of Jerusalem, He called the Angel of Death and told him, “Go first to Jerusalem and identify its righteous and wicked individuals. Write a tav of ink upon the forehead of every righteous person there, [as the first letter of the word,] tichyeh—‘you will live.’ And write a tav of blood upon the forehead of every wicked person there, [as the first letter of the word,] tamut—‘you will die.’”
What makes the letter tav special among all of the letters? [It is the first letter in the word “Torah,”] which teaches us that the Torah saves a person from all sorts of tribulations.
At that time, the trait of judgment stood up before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said to Him: “Master of the universe, inscribe a tav of blood upon the forehead of the righteous in Jerusalem in order to kill them as well and destroy them together with the wicked.”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “Why?”
It said to Him: “Because they did not reprove Your children with words of rebuke.[3] They did not say to them, ‘Do not sin and do not do ugly things, things that are unseemly, things that should not be done.’”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and told it: “It is revealed and known to Me that even if the righteous people would have rebuked the wicked people, they would not have listened.”
The trait of judgment replied and said before Him: “Master of the universe, although the wicked would not have accepted the rebuke, the righteous people should have nevertheless rebuked them.”
Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be He, fell silent and looked at all of the righteous people of that generation in Jerusalem as though they were wicked. At that moment, six angels of destruction were sent against Jerusalem and they eradicated those people within it. As the verse states, “And behold, six men coming from the way of the upper gate, which is turned to the north, each person with his sledgehammer in his hand, and one man amidst them clothed in linen with a scribe’s tablet upon his loins, and they came and stood next to the copper altar” (Ezekiel 9:2).
And what makes the north[4] special amidst all of the directions? This teaches that all of the evil winds[5] that come to the world only come from the north. As the verse states, “Hashem said to me: From the north, misfortune will break forth upon all of the residents of the land” (Jeremiah 1:14).
Those six men who were sent to Jerusalem were Anger, Wrath, Fury, Destroyer, Breaker and Annihilator. And each one held a double-edged sword in his hand. As the verse states, “Each man had his [weapon] in his hand” (Ezekiel 9:2).
When the tav heard this from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, it immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter shin came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said to Him: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because Your Tetragrammaton name (shem, which starts with the letter shin) is referred to by me. As the verse states, ‘This is My name forever’ (Exodus 3:15). Moreover, I am the first letter in the name Shaddai (‘Almighty’).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because you are the first letter in the words shav (‘false’) and sheker (‘deceit’). And just as the letters of the word sheker have no feet—[in the letters used in a Torah scroll, the letters of the word sheker do not have a flat, wide base]—so you too have no feet. How will I create the world with a letter that has no feet?”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter reish came.
It said to Him: “Master of the universe, create the world with me, because [I am the first letter in the word rosh (‘head’)]. I am used in order to say, “The head of Your words is truth” (Psalms 119:160). And I am also the first letter in Your title, Rachum (‘Compassionate’), and I am also the first letter of the word refuah (‘healing’).”
The Holy One, blessed be he, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because in the future Israel will be subjugated to idolatry through you. As the verse states, ‘Let us appoint a rosh and return to Egypt’ (Numbers 14:4), and we know that idolatry is called rosh because of the verse, ‘The [idolatrous] image had a head of fine gold’ (Daniel 2:32).[6] In addition, the letter reish is the first letter of the words ra (‘wicked’) and rasha (‘wicked person’).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter kuf came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said, “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because in the [messianic] future people will proclaim before You the triple sanctification (the word kadosh, ‘holy,’ begins with the letter kuf). As the verse states, ‘And one called to the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts…’ (Isaiah 6:3).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He told it: “Because through you curses will come into the world in the generation of the Flood. [Kuf is the first letter in the word k’lalot—‘curses.’] As the verse states, ‘He is light upon the face of the waters; their portion in the earth is cursed…’ (Job 24:18).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter tzaddik came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said, “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because in the future people will use me to speak of ‘Your righteousness.’ [The first letter in the word tzedakah, ‘righteousness,’ is tzaddik.] As the verse states, ‘Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains…’ (Psalms 36:7). ‘You are righteous, Hashem, and Your judgments are upright’ (ibid. 119:137), ‘for Hashem is righteous, He loves [workers of] righteousness…’ (ibid. 11:7).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He told it: “Because in the future many troubles will come upon Israel through you. [The letter tzaddik is the first letter in the word tzarot—‘troubles.’] As the verse states, ‘You showed me great and evil troubles…’ (ibid. 71:20), and, “Woe! for great is that day, with none like it, and it is a time of trouble for Jacob…’ (Jeremiah 30:7) and a verse states, ‘From the west they will fear the name of Hashem, and from the rising of the sun His honor, for trouble will come like a river’ (Isaiah 59:19).”
And when the tzaddik heard this, it immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter peh came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said, “Master of the universe, create your world with me, because it is through me that people call out to You. [The letter peh is the first letter in the word peh—“mouth.” Also, the Torah’s commandments are called pekudim—‘rules’—a word that begins with peh—as in the verse,] ‘The rules of Hashem are upright, rejoicing the heart’ (Psalms 19:9). They gladden the heart of man. And in addition I am the first letter of [one of Your names, Redeemer]—Podeh.[7]
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because with you in the future Israel will expose [parua, which starts with a peh] themselves before idolatry. As the verse states, ‘And Moses saw that the people were exposed, because Aaron had exposed them to be disgraced before their adversaries’ (Exodus 32:25). And ‘disgrace’ is a reference to idolatry.[8]”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter ayin came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because [the letter ayin is the first letter in the word ayin—‘eye.’] And the verse states, ‘The eyes of Hashem rove throughout all the land’ (Zechariah 4:10). Your eyes go throughout all the world. As the verse states, ‘Because whoever despised the day of small things … the eyes of Hashem rove throughout all the land’ (ibid.).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because in the future adulterers will use you to await the evening—[erev, the first letter of which is ayin]—to transgress with their lovers in secret. As the verse states, ‘And the eye of the adulterer awaits the evening…’ (Job 24:15). But in the future I will carry out judgment against you. As the verse states, ‘The eyes of the wicked will fail…’ (ibid. 11:20).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter samech came before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because [the first letter in the word somech, ‘support,’ is a samech]. And You are ‘the one who supports the fallen’ (siddur). As the verse states, ‘Hashem supports all those who fall…’ (Psalms 145:14).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because in the future My enemies will use you to turn My city into heaps—[the Hebrew word for ‘heaps,’ iyim, begins with the letter ayin]. As the verse states, ‘They have made Jerusalem into heaps’ (ibid. 79:1).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter nun came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because in the future You will use me to give a soul [neshamah, the first letter of which is a nun] to people. And the soul is called a lamp [ner, the first letter of which is a nun]. As the verse states, ‘Man’s soul is Hashem’s lamp’ (Proverbs 20:27).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because in the [messianic] future I will use you to extinguish the lamps of the wicked. As the verse states, ‘May the lamp of the wicked be extinguished’ (Job 21:16). And not only that but with you[9] souls are incinerated in Gehennom. As the verse states, ‘because Tophteh [Gehennom] is set up from yesterday…’ (Isaiah 30:33).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter mem came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because in the future people will use me to declare Your sovereignty [malchut, the first letter of which is mem]. And Your governance [memshalah, the first letter of which is mem] is over all. As the verse states, ‘Your kingdom is a kingdom of [all] worlds…’ (Psalms 145:13). And mem is the first letter in God’s title as King (melech).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because you will cause the [messianic] future to be a day of breaking (mehumah, the first letter of which is mem). As the verse states, ‘It is a day of breaking and trampling and confusion to Hashem…’ (Isaiah 22:5).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter lamed came before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said to Him: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because in the future You will use me to give Israel the tablets (luchot, the first letter of which is lamed) of the covenant and teach them the Ten Commandments. As the verse states ‘The tablets were the work of God…’ (Exodus 32:16).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because in that future, through you they will be broken at the foot of the mountain and the Ten Commandments will fly up from them.[10] As the verse states, ‘I grasped the two tablets…’ (Deuteronomy 9:17).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter kaf came. At that time, when the kaf descended from the awesome crown [keter, the first letter of which is kaf] of the Holy One, blessed be He, there was a great commotion before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It entered and stood before the throne of glory. The throne was in an uproar, and the wheels of the chariot were seized by trembling.
The Holy One, blessed be He, addressed them: “Throne of glory and wheels of the chariot, why are you in such an uproar?”
They responded and said: “Because of the kaf that descended from our head and entered and stood within, because all of our honor [kavod, the first letter of which is kaf] and our preciousness are only called such through it. As the verse states, ‘The throne of honor exalted from the beginning…’ (Jeremiah 17:12). And a verse states, ‘They will tell the honor of Your sovereignty’ (Psalms 145:11), and a verse states, ‘May the honor of Hashem be forever’ (ibid. 104:31), and a verse states, ‘The honor of Hashem shone upon you’ (Isaiah 60:1).”
Immediately the Holy One, blessed be he, called to kaf and said to it: “What do you request?”
It said to Him: “Master of the universe, I request that You create Your world with me, because I am used in reference to Your throne [kisei, the first letter of which is kaf] and Your crown [keter, the first letter of which is kaf], and because Your honor [kavod, the first letter of which is kaf] is in me. Your throne is alluded to in the verse, ‘Your throne is established of old’ (Psalms 93:2). Your crown is alluded to in the verse, ‘Kings reign with me’ (Proverbs 8:15). Your honor is alluded to in the verse, ‘All of the world is filled with His honor’ (Isaiah 6:3).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because in the future I will use you to strike my hands [kaf, the first letter of which is kaf] together. As the verse states, ‘I too will clap My hands, one upon the other, until My fury is spent’ (Ezekiel 21:22). Not only that, but you will cause the eyes of Israel to weep until their tears are spent [kalu, which begins with the letter kaf]. As the verse states, ‘My eyes are spent with tears’ (Lamentations 2:11). And will I create My world with you?”
When kaf heard this from the mouth of the Mighty One, it immediately left Him in dismay.
And next, the letter yod came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because I am used to begin Your names: ‘Yah Havayah [both Names begin with yod] is the Rock of eternity’ (Isaiah 26:4). And not only that, with me all of Your creatures in the world thank [yodu, which begins with yod] You every day.[11] As the verse states, ‘All of Your creatures thank You, Hashem…’ (Psalms 145:10). And not only that, but I begin Your title, Yachid (“Unique One”).
He said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because I will in the future use you to create the [evil] inclination [yetzer, which begins with the letter yod], which misleads people. As the verse states, ‘The inclination of the heart of the man is evil from his youth’ (Genesis 8:21).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter tet came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because You use me to place the spirit of holiness in the mouth of those who fear You, so that they proclaim Your goodness [tov, beginning with the letter tet]. As the verse states, ‘Hashem is good to all…’ (Psalms 145:9). And not only that, with me You have hidden Your goodness for the righteous, to bequeath it to them in the [messianic] future.[12] As the verse states, ‘How vast is Your goodness that You have laid away…’ (ibid. 31:20).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because with you I will in the future call My nation unclean [tamei, beginning with the letter tet]. As the verse states, ‘I am a man of unclean lips and amidst a people of unclean lips…’ (Isaiah 6:5). And not only that, but with you a leprous man will in the future call out, ‘Unclean!’ As the verse states, ‘They called out to them, Depart, unclean ones!’ (Lamentations 4:15).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter chet came before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because people will use me to speak of Your kindness [chesed, beginning with the letter chet], Hashem. As the verse states, ‘He loves righteousness and justice; the kindness of Hashem fills the earth…” (ibid. 33). And with me You are called ‘compassionate and gracious [chanun, which begins with the letter chet], Hashem’ (ibid. 145).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because with you I will in the future write with a pen of iron the sin [chatat, beginning with the letter chet] of My nation. As the verse states, ‘The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen, with a diamond point, engraved…’ (Jeremiah 17:1).”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter zayin came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because with me Your remembrance [zecher, beginning with the letter zayin] is proclaimed to every generation. As the verse states, ‘This is My remembrance forever…’ (Exodus 3:15). And not only that, but You will use me in the future make a remembrance of Your wonders.”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It told Him: “Why?”
He told it: “Because in the future you will cause people in the world to turn astray [zenut, beginning with the letter zayin]. As the verse states, ‘The land goes astray from following Hashem” (Hosea 1:2). And not only that, but in the future you will be instrumental in Israel turning astray after the daughters of Moab, in consequence of which 24,000 Israelites will fall. As the verse states, ‘And the nation began to turn astray…’ (Numbers 25:1), and a verse states that ‘those that died in the plague were 24,000’ (ibid. 9). And how will I create the world with you?”
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter vav came before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because with me people praise You, ‘And [ve-, a prefix consisting of the letter vav] You are holy, You dwell in the midst of the praise of Israel’ (Psalms 22:4).
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because in the future I will use you to strike Israel with a mighty blow because of [their] lust. As the verse states, ‘And [the prefix vav] Hashem struck the nation with a very mighty blow” (Numbers 11:13).
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter hey came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Master of the universe, create your world with me, because in the future Israel will use me to express thanksgiving [hodiah, beginning with the letter hey] and majesty [hadarah, beginning with the letter hey] before You. As the verse states, ‘Thanksgiving [hod] and majesty [hadar] are before Him…’ (I Chronicles 16:27). And in the future they will proclaim and express thanksgiving for Your might. As the verse states, ‘Give thanks to Hashem, call out in His name…’ (Psalms 105:1).
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because in the future you will cause the great day of judgment, burning like a furnace, to come to the world. As the verse states, ‘For behold the day [hayom, which begins with the prefix ‘the,’ ha, consisting of the letter hey] is coming, burning like a furnace, and all of the audacious sinners will be…’ (Malachi 3:19).
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter dalet came and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said: “Create Your world with me, because in the future people will use me to tell Your greatness to their generations [dorot, beginning with the letter dalet]. As the verse states, ‘Generation to generation will praise Your deeds’ (Psalms 145:4). And not only that, but with me Your word [devarchah, starting with the letter dalet] stands firm in heaven. As the verse states, ‘Forever, Hashem, Your word stands firm in heaven’ (ibid. 119:89).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He told it: “Because with you Israel are judged [din, beginning with the letter daleth]. As the verse states, ‘If a matter eludes you in judgment…” (Deuteronomy 17:8).
It immediately left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter gimel came before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said to Him: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because with me are Your greatness [gedulah, beginning with the letter gimel] and Your might [gevurah, beginning with the letter gimel] proclaimed. As the verse states, ‘Great is Hashem and much praised’ (Psalms 145:3) and as the verse states, ‘Who will tell the mighty deeds of Hashem?’ (ibid. 106:2).”
The Holy One, blessed be He, responded and said to it: “No.”
It said to Him: “Why?”
He said to it: “Because in the future I will use you to repay recompense to the islands and the enemies (cf. Isaiah 59:18). As the verse states, ‘According to their deeds, accordingly He shall repay’ (Isaiah 59:18).
And when gimel heard this, it left Him in dismay.
Next, the letter beit came before the Holy One, blessed be He.
It said to Him: “Master of the universe, create Your world with me, because with me those who come into the world praise You every day. As the verse states, ‘Blessed [baruch, beginning with the letter beit] is Hashem forever, amen and amen…’ (Psalms 89:53). ‘Bless Hashem His angels…’ and ‘Bless Hashem, all of His hosts, His ministers…’ (ibid. 103:21). And in the future, all generations of the world will say before You, ‘Blessed is Hashem God, the God of Israel’ (ibid. 72:18). And the verse states, ‘And blessed is His glorious name forever, and His glory will fill…’ (ibid. 19).”
Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, accepted its request and told it: “Yes.”
And He told it, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Hashem” (Psalms 108:26). And He created His world with beit. As the verse states, “In the beginning [Bereishit, which begins with beit] God created.”
When alef heard about this and saw that the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to create the world with beit, it stood off the side and remained silent until the Holy One, blessed be He, called to it and told him: “Alef, alef, why do you remain silent and do not say anything to Me?”
It said to Him: “Master of the universe, it is because all of the letters have a large numerical value, but I have a small numerical value.
“Beit is two, gimel is three, dalet is four, hey is five, whereas I am one.”
The Holy One, blessed be He, replied and said to it: “Alef, do not be upset, because you are the head of them all, like a king. I am one, you are one and the Torah is one. And in the future I will give the Torah with you to Israel My nation, which is called one. As the verse states, ‘I [Anochi, which begins with the letter alef] am Hashem your God’ (Exodus 20:1). Anochi is the head of [the first word] of all of the Ten Commandments, and alef is the head of all of the letters.”
And from where [do we see] that the Holy One, blessed be He, is called one [echad, which begins with the letter alef]? The verse states, “Hashem, our God, Hashem is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). And from where [do we know] that the Torah is called one? As the verse states, “You will have one Torah” (Numbers 15:29). And how [do we know] that Israel is called one? The verse states, “Who is like Your nation Israel, one people in the land?” (II Samuel 7:23). And from where do [we know] that alef is called echad?[13] As the verse states, “How can one [person] pursue 1,000 and two put 10,000 to flight?” (Deuteronomy 32:30).[14] [The Hebrew word for “thousand,” elef, is spelled like alef, and the verse states, echad elef, implying that echad is equal to elef.]
[1] Quoted in Yalkut Shimoni, beginning of Parshat Bereishit, in the name of Otiot Derebbe Akiva.
[2] So too in the Yalkut, first edition, Salonica, and in the Venice edition “hen.”
[3] Shabbat 55.
[4] As the verse states “אשר מפנה צפונה
[5] In manuscript from Egypt the word “the winds” does not appear.
[6] Sanhedrin 107 “rosh” means nothing else but idolatry. As the verse states, “He is the image….”
[7] Baal Haturim in his gematriot in numbers 11:16 counts seventy names of the Holy One, blessed be He, and one of them is Podeh, but in the Midrash Zuta: Shir Hashirim end of chapter 1, this is not counted amidst the names. See there.
[8] In Tosafot on Pesachim 3b shemetz pichol, explanation of Rabbeinu Chananel “a matter of idolatry, as is written to shimtza against those who rise against them לשמצה בקמיהם
[9] It appears that it means to say מתבערות and it is an interpretation of the end of the verse there “the soul of Hashem is like a river of pitch burning in it נשמת ה’ כנחל גפרית בוערה בה
[10] In Pesachim 87b ואשברם לעיניכם תנא the tables were broken and the letters fly up it appears that he interpreted on the basis of לעיניכם see Rashi there. And see Pirkei Derebbe Eliezer chapter 45 and Yalkut: Tisa remez 391 in the name of tana דב”א
[11] As is written in Berachot 4 whoever says tehillah ledavid everyday …
[12] So is it in the Egypt manuscript.
[13] In Bereishit Rabbah beginning of chapter 1 “they say to bet who created you and he shows with his point oketz upward, and what is His name and he shows to them with his oketz behind him and says Hashem is His name Rashi there what is written before the beit alef which is one and so is the explanation in Sefer Haterumah that he shows with his oketz to the letter alef before him, which is one.
[14] This passage is brought in Yalkut Shimoni beginning of chapter Bereishit siman in the version published already in the name of the Tanchuma but it is clear that it is a copyist’s error who marked in it the word Tanchuma and in truth it is one passage with the previous passage where alef is alluded to by the name Otiot Derebbe Akiva.