For 26 generations, the letter alef stood and protested to the Creator, “I am the first of all the letters! Why did You create the world with ‘beit,’ letter number two?”

Until G‑d replied, “Tomorrow I will give the Torah, the purpose of all Creation, and I will give it beginning with you, the most supreme of all letters.”

But why did He not create the world that way in the beginning?

Because at first the Creation required a protective shell. If the light from beyond, boundless and all-embracing, were to enter, there would be no distinction between good and evil. All would be the same before such light, and nothing at all would matter.

But when the Torah was given, the purpose of all things was revealed. When we know why we are here, boundless light can shine within each of us.

With purpose, the big and the small, the day and the night, the good and the seeming ugly, all resonate in unison.