As we know in so many areas in Judaism, the end is really just the beginning of something new, something greater
That’s it!
Chazak, chazak v’nischazeik! We have reached the end of the alef-beis!
What more is there to say?
But as we know in so many areas in Judaism, the end is really just the beginning of something new, something greater. At the end of the Torah cycle, we go back to Sefer Bereishis. At the end of Shabbos we start a new week. The end of life on earth heralds the beginning of life in the World to Come.
And when the little cheder boy finishes learning the alef-beis, does he stop right there? No. He moves on to words, to pesukim, to greater mastery of the Torah.
In his book, The Wisdom of the Hebrew Letters,[1] Rabbi Michael Munk discusses how the cyclical nature of the alef-beis is embedded within the creation of the world. According to kabbalistic sources, alef (i.e., Hashem) created Day One utilizing the energies of the next three letters, beis-gimmel-daled, Day Two using hei-vav-zayin, and so on… all the way until Day Seven-Shabbos, which ended with reish-shin-tav.
Create a free account to keep reading.
