If you read an English translation of the Bible, you would never know about the Jewish custom of writing some letters larger or smaller than other letters. You would only see this in a Hebrew text or Torah scroll. 17 times in the five books of Moses, a letter is printed either larger or smaller than the surrounding letters. In Hebrew, there are no capital letters - all letters are normally the same size. The first time this occurs is in the first word, "BERESHIT" which means "In the beginning [of]".
There are three approaches to these letters: 1) Letter Interpretation - based on the meaning of the letter itself, 2) Magnification/Diminuation - the impact of the size of the letter on the meaning of the word, 3) Addition/Omission - treating a large letter as doubled, or a small letter as omitted.
The first book of the Hebrew Bible is named "BERESHIT" after it's first word (not the Greek word "Genesis"). This first word begins with an extra large letter "BEIT" (BEIS for ashkenazi pronunication). The Ba'al HaTurim (Rabbi Jacob ben Asher of the 1300s), teaches that the Torah wanted to start on a pleasant note, as Proverbs 3:17 states: "Its way are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace." So why the second letter "BEIT" instead of the first letter "ALEPH"? The letter "B" (BEIT) because it is associated with "BRACHA" (blessing), whereas the first letter of the alphabet, "A" (ALEPH) can be associated with the word "ARUR" (curse).
Above, we mentioned three ways to interpret a verse based on an enlarged letter. Can you identify which one the Ba'al HaTurim is using here? He uses the meaning of the letter to interpret the verse. He goes on to show that the letter "BEIT" (since it is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet), has the numeric value of two. The number two is associated with duality. What duality is could this be referring to? Perhaps of heaven and earth, or the physical world verses the spiritual world (the seen as opposed to the unseen).
We see several examples of duality in the first few verses of Genesis. God created male and female, the sun and the moon. Biological reproduction of the animal and plant world depends on this duality. From the perspective of physical science, the parts of the molecule have positive and negative charges, as does electricity and magneticism.
Hebrew students also know that "BEIT" is not just a letter, it is also the word for "house". The tabernacle is called the "BEIT HA-MISHKAN" (place of dwelling), and the temple is called the "BEIT HA-MIKDASH" (place of holiness). Thus, the large "BEIT" at the beginning of Gensis can also allude to the first and second temple, which represents God dwelling among men.
There are three approaches to these letters: 1) Letter Interpretation - based on the meaning of the letter itself, 2) Magnification/Diminuation - the impact of the size of the letter on the meaning of the word, 3) Addition/Omission - treating a large letter as doubled, or a small letter as omitted.
The first book of the Hebrew Bible is named "BERESHIT" after it's first word (not the Greek word "Genesis"). This first word begins with an extra large letter "BEIT" (BEIS for ashkenazi pronunication). The Ba'al HaTurim (Rabbi Jacob ben Asher of the 1300s), teaches that the Torah wanted to start on a pleasant note, as Proverbs 3:17 states: "Its way are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace." So why the second letter "BEIT" instead of the first letter "ALEPH"? The letter "B" (BEIT) because it is associated with "BRACHA" (blessing), whereas the first letter of the alphabet, "A" (ALEPH) can be associated with the word "ARUR" (curse).
Above, we mentioned three ways to interpret a verse based on an enlarged letter. Can you identify which one the Ba'al HaTurim is using here? He uses the meaning of the letter to interpret the verse. He goes on to show that the letter "BEIT" (since it is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet), has the numeric value of two. The number two is associated with duality. What duality is could this be referring to? Perhaps of heaven and earth, or the physical world verses the spiritual world (the seen as opposed to the unseen).
We see several examples of duality in the first few verses of Genesis. God created male and female, the sun and the moon. Biological reproduction of the animal and plant world depends on this duality. From the perspective of physical science, the parts of the molecule have positive and negative charges, as does electricity and magneticism.
Hebrew students also know that "BEIT" is not just a letter, it is also the word for "house". The tabernacle is called the "BEIT HA-MISHKAN" (place of dwelling), and the temple is called the "BEIT HA-MIKDASH" (place of holiness). Thus, the large "BEIT" at the beginning of Gensis can also allude to the first and second temple, which represents God dwelling among men.
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