In Heaven there are two lines for husbands. The first line is for husbands who, during their lives, ruled over their wives. The second line is for husbands who were ruled over by their wives. The second line is filled to capacity. However, standing in the first line is a fellow named Schmerel. A few of Schmerel’s earthly colleagues notice him there and call out, “Eh, Schmerel, everybody knows your wife treated you like a doormat. Why are you standing in the line for husbands who ruled their wives?” Schmerel, says, “Nu, what do you want from me? My wife told me to stand here.”

  * * *

Bereishis: “Woman, the Crown of Creation”

Bereishis bara Elokim et… In the Beginning G-d created…

With its very first letter the Torah invites our curiosity. Why does the Torah begin with Beis, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet? A more logical beginning letter would have been Alef. Not only does Aleph come first alphabetically, but spiritually, Aleph represents preeminence. Aleph is the numeral one, alluding to G-d’s Oneness. Aleph alludes to Alufa Shel Olam, ‘the Chief —or Master—of the World’, the One Who precedes all.

Another curious phenomenon: rare for the Torah script, this letter Beis is written in a large font, making it stand out among all the other letters on the page. Nothing in the Torah is ambiguous or meaningless. What is the message therefore, in this beginning letter, and in its size?

MALE AND FEMALE
We could explore this letter Beis within the framework of the passage, “G-d created Adam … male and female He created them.[1]” Commenting on this verse, Rashi quotes the Midrash: G-d created Adam as a hermaphrodite—both genders together, a man and a woman attached back to back. There are four different descriptive terms for ‘man’: adam, ish, enosh, and gever.[2] The most prestigious of these terms is adam, meaning a human being who manifests G-d’s image, a truly exalted person. To be an adam therefore, a complete person, a mensch, one must possess the holy qualities of both genders. One must balance masculine and feminine energies in terms of giving versus receiving, silence versus speech, aggressiveness versus sensitivity, and abstract contemplation versus devoted commitment.

THE LETTER OF BALANCE T
he letter Beis expresses this inclusivity and balance:

Graphic Design: Graphically, the letter Beis is built from two other letters: a Dalet, which is a feminine letter,[3] and below it a horizontal Vav, which is a masculine letter.[4]

Gematria: Beis = two. This tells us that G-d created the world for two: man and woman.

Meaning: Bereishis or bina. The word Bereishis can mean “With the first”—meaning the first sefirah or attribute of consciousness, called chochma. Chochma, original insight, is understood to be a masculine phenomenon.

Bina, understanding or intuition, is the second sefirah or attribute of consciousness. Bina is a feminine quality.

THE CROWN OF HER HUSBAND
On second thought, with further evaluation, within this picture of the letter Beis, there appears to be an additional emphasis on the feminine. Does the Torah actually consider the feminine to be greater than the masculine?

As the Messianic Era begins to unfold, we become conscious of the fact that the feminine mystique will be greater than that of the masculine. This is hinted in the enigmatic phrase of King Solomon: “The woman of valor is the crown of her husband,”[5] indicating that the woman of valor, the feminine quality, is the crown, being higher than her husband, the masculine attribute. Similarly, the Prophet Jeremiah states,[6] “The feminine will surround (overpower) the masculine.”

THE BEIS ADVANTAGE

Let’s re-examine the letter Beis.

Graphic Design: the feminine Dalet, is indeed positioned higher than the masculine Vav, representing the superiority of the feminine mystique.

Furthermore, the top of the Beis is adorned with a single-pronged crown. Because the crown is placed on the left side of the letter, the feminine side, bina is again emphasized. This alludes to the fact that the woman is the crown of Creation.

Gematria: The woman was created second, after Adam. We can derive from this that she was an improvement upon the original human. Unusually large size of this Beis may also suggest that the principle of the second is more important than the first.

Meaning: The Talmud says a greater level of bina was given to women. Kabbalah explains that bina, the feminine, actually comes from a higher source than chochma, the masculine.

Thus, the first word of the Torah can be read ‘B‘ reishis, meaning ‘The Letter Beis is reishis, first.’ In other words, the Beis—the feminine mystique that is dormant in each individual—is most essential. Indeed, it is the crown of creation. The Lubavitcher Rebbe stated that our mission today is to “accept the countenance of our Righteous Mashiach.” He explained, “Every mitzvah we perform should be infused with this focus: ‘With this mitzvah may we receive our Righteous Mashiach.’”[7] The quality of ‘receiving’ is feminine. This sheds light on the Talmudic passage, “In the merit of the righteous women, our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt.” In the future Redemption we will merit the countenance of Mashiach through the essential feminine attribute of “receiving”.

A STORY

Despite his busy schedule, the Belzer Rebbe was involved with every detail of the construction of his new synagogue in Russia. When the synagogue was almost complete, some of his Chassidim approached him and said, “Rebbe, perhaps we can begin to have services in this beautiful new shul.” The Rebbe responded, “Not yet, the ezras nashim, the women’s section, is not completed. The Chassidim said, “We don’t necessarily need the women to pray with us.” The Rebbe firmly answered, “Yes, we do. The Talmud states, “Since the Holy Temple’s destruction, the gates of prayer have been closed; yet the gates of tears are still open.”[8] When women pray, they pray with tears. In their merit, our prayers will be answered.”

ACTION: Think about something that you should have done today, but you didn’t. Use your feminine quality of devotion to carry out the task.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Bereishis, 1:27
[2] See Hayom Yom, Elul 4; and Letters of Light, page 66.
[3] Dalet stands for dibbur, speech, which corresponds to the feminine sefirah of Malchus.
[4] Vav has the numerical value of six, and symbolizes the six masculine sefiros of Ze’er Anpin.
[5] Jeremiah, 31:21
[6] Proverbs 12:4
[7] Sefer HaSichos 5752, Parshas Chaya Sarah, page 111
[8] Berachos, 32b