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.

Now, back to the enlarged “BEIT” (BEIS for ashkenazi pronunication) on the first word of the Genesis (Bereshit). The Ba’al HaTurim explains that the Torah begins with “B” (BEIT) because it is associated with “BRACHA” (blessing), as opposed to the first letter “A” (ALEPH), which is associated with “ARUR” (curse). The Torah wants to begin on a pleasant note, as Mishlei (Proverbs) 3:17 states: “Its way are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace.”

Can you see here, how the Rabbi was using the “Letter Interpretation” method here? He uses the meaning of the letter to interpret the verse. He further tells us that the letter “BEIT” has the numeric value of two. (In Hebrew school, children quickly learn that each letter has a numerical value, the first 10 letters based on the sequence of the alphabet). The number two is associated with duality. If we use our imaginations, to what duality could the first verse of the Bible be referring? Perhaps of heaven and earth, or the physical world verses the spiritual world (the seen as opposed to the unseen).

Dualtiy is also expressed in creation. Reproduction occurs between male and female. Genesis also refers to the contrast of the sun and the moon. From a physics perspective, the parts of the molecule have positive and negative charges, as does electricity and magneticism. One balances the other.

The letter “BEIT” is also the word “BEIT” which literally means “house” or “home”. The temple is called the “BEIT HA-MIKDASH” – basically meaning “the house of holiness”. Thus, the large “BEIT” at the beginning of BERESHIT can also allude to the first and second temple, which represents God dwelling among men.