THE ALPHABET

When God was about to create the world by His word, the
twenty-two letters of the alphabet[10] descended from the
terrible and august crown of God whereon they were engraved with
a pen of flaming fire. They stood round about God, and one after
the other spake and entreated, "Create the world through me! The
first to step forward was the letter Taw. It said: "O Lord of the
world! May it be Thy will to create Thy world through me, seeing
that it is through me that Thou wilt give the Torah to Israel by
the hand of Moses, as it is written, 'Moses commanded us the
Torah.' " The Holy One, blessed be He, made reply, and said,
"No!" Taw asked, "Why not?" and God answered: "Because in days to
come I shall place thee as a sign of death upon the foreheads of
men." As soon as Taw heard these words issue from the mouth of