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§ 2 Bais — The Letter Bais ב ב BAIS — Numerical Value: 2 | First letter of the Torah | 52 source entries [Translator's Note] The letter Bais begins the Torah (Bereishis — "In the beginning") and carries the significance of blessing (berachah) and of the revealed, created world. Many entries in this section revolve around the word Bereishis itself and its multiple permutations. Cross-references (the same connection listed from both directions in the source) are consolidated into single entries. Hebrew Entry English Translation & Explanation Source ב׳ ראשית Notarikon The word Bereishis (בראשית, "In the beginning") is read as ב׳ ראשית — "Bais is the beginning." The Torah begins with Bais because Bais is the letter of berachah (blessing) and of the revealed world. Likutay Mooharan 49:6 באר Tziroof Be'er (באר, "a well") — its letters are a permutation of רַבָּא (Rabbah, "the great one" — Aramaic title of greatness). The well of Torah is the well of greatness. Roshay Saveivos Be'er — first letters of ב׳שמעו א׳ת ר׳נתם: "when they heard their [joyful] song" [Numbers 21:17 — the Song of the Well]. [The Song of the Well in Numbers 21 is one of the ten songs of Israel. The well responds to song — a central teaching about music, prayer, and spiritual sustenance in Rebbe Nachman's thought.] Likutay Mooharan 177; 27:5 ב׳דבר י׳י ש׳מים נ׳עשו Roshay Saveivos The first letters of "By the word of Hashem the heavens were made" (ב׳דבר י׳י ש׳מים נ׳עשו) [Psalms 33:6] spell נביא (navi, "prophet") — for the Alef [silent, invisible] is the firmament [rakia] through which divine speech travels to become prophecy. [Prophecy arises when the "word of Hashem" — the divine utterance — passes through the firmament of the Alef, the silent bearer of all speech.] Likutay Mooharan II:1; 9 בְּהִבָּרְאָם Tziroof BeHibaram (בְּהִבָּרְאָם, "when they were created" [Genesis 2:4]) — its letters are a permutation of באברהם ("through Avraham"). The Midrash teaches: the world was created in the merit of Avraham — and his name is hidden in the very word for Creation. Likutay Mooharan 67:7; II:2; 3 ב׳זעת א׳פיך ת׳אכל ל׳חם Multiple The first letters (roshay saveivos) of "By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread" (ב׳זעת א׳פיך ת׳אכל ל׳חם) [Genesis 3:19], together with the gematria of all four words, connect to the laws of shechitah (ritual slaughter). [The curse of Adam's labor is connected through letter and number to the laws of permitted eating — transforming the curse into the framework of holy consumption.] Likutay Mooharan 37:6 בְּיֵין Gematria BeYayin (בְּיֵין, "with wine"), together with its letters, has the same gematria as the first letters of the three species: א׳תרוג ה׳דס ע׳רבה — esrog, hadas, aravah. [Cross-reference from Esrog Hadas Aravah in Section 1.] Sefer HaMidos, "Eating" 2:13; "Garments" 2:7 בַּיָם / בַּכֹּל Gematria BaYam (בַּיָם, "in the sea" = 52) = gematria of BaKol (בַּכֹּל, "in everything" = 52) — and vice versa. The sea and totality are numerically one: to be truly in the sea of Torah is to be in everything. Likutay Mooharan 38:7 ב׳ית ת׳חלק ש׳לל Roshay Saveivos The first letters of "the house divides the spoil" (ב׳ית ת׳חלק ש׳לל) [Psalms 68:13] spell שבת (Shabbos). The division of Shabbos from the weekdays brings the ultimate spoil — rest and holiness. Likutay Mooharan 49:7; Sichos HaRan 86 בכי / בכיה Roshay Saveivos Bechi (בכי, "weeping") — first letters of ב׳צל כ׳נפיך י׳חסיון: "In the shadow of Your wings they take refuge" [Psalms 36:8]. Tears bring one under the shelter of the Divine. Bechiyah (בכיה, "weeping / crying") yields two more first-letter sources: (1) ב׳ני י׳שראל כ׳חול ה׳ים — "the children of Israel [are] as the sand of the sea" [Hosea 2:1]; (2) ב׳שמך י׳גילון כ׳ל ה׳יום — "in Your Name they rejoice all the day" [Psalms 89:17]. Gematria Bechiyah = gematria of the full-spelling (milui) of the Divine Name ס"ג [= 63, the Name יוד הי ואו הי]. [The Name Samech-Gimel (63) is associated with the sefirah of Binah — Understanding, the Divine Mother — which is the source of tears. The very letters that spell "weeping" also spell the multitude of Israel and their joy — teaching that tears and joy before G-d are spiritually the same root.] Sefer HaMidos, "Sweetening of Judgment" 33; Likutay Mooharan II:30; 175; Chayay Mooharan §§13, 96 בלעם Notarikon Bilam (בלעם, the wicked prophet) corresponds to the Torah: Bais (ב) is the beginning of the Torah (Bereishis); Lamed (ל) is the final letter of the Torah (Yisrael); Ayin (ע) corresponds to the 70 faces of Torah; Mem (מ) corresponds to the 40 days during which the Torah was given. [Bilam is the unholy mirror-image of Moshe. His name encodes the entire span of Torah precisely because he sought to corrupt it. The most potent evil always mimics the structure of the most exalted holiness.] Likutay Mooharan 36:2 בן / בנימין Gematria Ben (בן, "son" = 52) = gematria of Eliyahu (אליהו = 52). [Cross-reference from Section 1.] Notarikon Binyamin (בנימין) is בן ימין — "son of the right hand." [Rachel called him Ben-Oni, "son of my sorrow"; Yaakov renamed him Binyamin, "son of the right" — the side of chesed / lovingkindness.] Likutay Mooharan 117; 55:1 בנים Gematria Banim (בנים, "children" = 102) = gematria of Emunah (אמונה, "faith" = 102). Children are the fruit of faith — they come into the world through the power of belief. [Cross-reference from Section 1.] Sichos HaRan 34; Chayay Mooharan §477 ב׳ני י׳שראל כ׳חול ה׳ים Roshay Saveivos The first letters of "the children of Israel [are] as the sand of the sea" [Hosea 2:1] spell בכיה (bechiyah, "weeping"). [Cross-reference from Bechiyah above.] Likutay Mooharan II:30 בקי Multiple Baki (בקי, "expert / well-versed") yields three connections: (1) Tziroof Its letters are a permutation of the Divine Name יבק (Yabbok — formed from יichud, בrachah, קdushah: unification, blessing, holiness); (2) Gematria Baki twice = gematria of the Divine Name קס"א [161, the full-spelling of Ehyeh with Yuds]; (3) Gematria Baki twice = gematria of דרך (derech, "the path / the way"). [The derech — the true path in life — equals twice the gematria of baki (expertise): genuine expertise, doubled, is the path. The connection to the Name of Yabbok — the river where Yaakov wrestled the angel — is deep in Breslov teaching.] Likutay Mooharan 6:7; II:15 בקם Sofay Saveivos Bekom (בקם, "in their arising") is the final letters of אברה׳ם יצח׳ק יעק׳ב — Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov. [Cross-reference from Section 1.] Roshay Saveivos Bekom — first letters of ב׳שמן ק׳דשי מ׳שחתיו: "with My holy oil have I anointed him" [Psalms 89:21]. The arising of the Patriarchs is an anointing with holy oil. Likutay Mooharan 57:3 בראשית Tziroof (×7) The letters of Bereishis (בראשית, "In the beginning") yield seven permutations, each a complete teaching: (1) ברא שית — "He created six" [the six days of Creation]; (2) ברא תיש — "He created a [male] goat" [a kabbalistic allusion to the forces of the world]; (3) ב׳ ראשית — "Bais is the beginning"; (4) ברית אש — "covenant of fire" [the Torah is a covenant sealed in fire]; (5) ירא בשת — "fear of shame" [the beginning of wisdom is the fear of disgrace before G-d]; (6) ירא שבת — "fear of Shabbos" [the creation begins with awe of Shabbos]; (7) ראשי בת — "the beginning / head of the daughter" [the first letters of bas, the feminine aspect of the Divine Presence]. [The Torah's opening word is a universe of meaning. Every permutation is an entire teaching — Rebbe Nachman's genius was to reveal multiple faces of a single word simultaneously.] Likutay Mooharan 63; II:12; 49:6; 63; II:72; II:72; 13:4; 38:7 ב׳ראשית … ישרא׳ל Tziroof The first letter of the Torah (ב of בראשית) and the last letter of the Torah (ל of ישראל) together spell לב (lev, "heart"). The Torah from beginning to end is the heart of the universe. [One of the most beloved teachings in all of Breslov: the entire Torah, from its first letter to its last, spells the word "heart." The Torah is G-d's heart, and through it we connect to the heart of all existence.] Likutay Mooharan 10:7; 36:6; 266 in Meimay HaNachal; Chayay Mooharan §57 ברכה Roshay Saveivos Berachah (ברכה, "blessing") — first letters of כ׳י ר׳וח ה׳חיה ב׳אופנים: "for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels" [Ezekiel 1:20]. Blessing flows where the divine spirit is in motion. Likutay Mooharan II:69 ברסלב / בשר לב Tziroof Breslov (ברסלב) — its letters spell בשר לב (basar lev, "heart of flesh") — based on the Midrashic teaching: "Do not read basar [flesh] but boser [unripe fruit / ripening]." The name of the holy city encodes the promise of Ezekiel 36:26: "I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." [The very name Breslov contains the prophecy of the heart of flesh — the total transformation of the Jewish soul in the time of redemption.] Chayay Mooharan §339 ב׳רצות י׳י ד׳רכי א׳יש Roshay Saveivos (double) The first letters of "When Hashem is pleased with a man's ways" (ב׳רצות י׳י ד׳רכי א׳יש) [Proverbs 16:7] are identical to the first letters of ד׳אגה ב׳לב א׳יש י׳שחנה — "anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down" [Proverbs 12:25]. The same letters that spell worry spell Divine favor — one transforms into the other through teshuvah. [The Sages read yashchenah ("weighs it down") also as yesikenah ("let him tell it to others"). Rebbe Nachman taught: speak out your worries — to G-d, to a friend, to a Tzadik — and the very heaviness of anxiety is transformed into the lightness of trust.] Omitted passages of Chayay Mooharan ב׳שבעים נ׳פש י׳רדו א׳בותיך Roshay Saveivos The first letters of "with seventy souls your fathers went down [to Egypt]" (ב׳שבעים נ׳פש י׳רדו א׳בותיך) [Deuteronomy 10:22] spell נביא (navi, "prophet"). The seventy souls who descended to Egypt carry within them the seed of prophecy. [This is a second source for the word navi beginning with Bais — distinct from the verse "By the word of Hashem the heavens were made" above. Both are cited.] Likutay Mooharan II:8; 5 בשלום Multiple BeShalom (בשלום, "in peace") yields three connections: (1) Tziroof Its letters are a permutation of מלבוש (malbush, "garment / clothing"). Peace is the garment of the soul; (2) Gematria Its gematria equals that of חשמל (chashmal — the mysterious luminous substance of Ezekiel's vision [1:4]); (3) Gematria Its gematria equals ש"ע נהורין ("370 lights") together with the 8 חיוורתא ("white threads / hairs" — a Zoharic concept of the Divine countenance). [Peace, garments, the chashmal, and the 370 lights are facets of the same spiritual reality — the luminous garment of the Divine Presence that clothes the world in holiness.] Likutay Mooharan 41 ב׳שם י׳י א׳לקינו נ׳זכיר Roshay Saveivos The first letters of "In the Name of Hashem our G-d we will call out" (ב׳שם י׳י א׳לקינו נ׳זכיר) [Psalms 20:8] spell נביא (navi, "prophet"). Calling out in G-d's Name is the act of prophecy. [This is a third source for the word navi beginning with Bais. Three separate biblical verses all reveal the prophet hidden in their first letters.] Sefer HaMidos, "Prayer" 2:14 ב׳שמך י׳גילון כ׳ל ה׳יום Roshay Saveivos The first letters of "In Your Name they rejoice all the day" [Psalms 89:17] spell בכיה (bechiyah, "weeping"). [Cross-reference from Bechiyah above.] Likutay Mooharan 175; Chayay Mooharan §§13, 96 ב׳שמן ק׳דשי מ׳שחתיו Roshay Saveivos The first letters of "with My holy oil have I anointed him" [Psalms 89:21] spell בקם (bekom). [Cross-reference from Bekom above.] Likutay Mooharan 57:3 ב׳שמעו א׳ת ר׳נתם Roshay Saveivos The first letters of "when they heard their joyful song" [Numbers 21:17] spell באר (be'er, "a well"). [Cross-reference from Be'er above.] Likutay Mooharan 27:5 בשר לב — ברסלב Tziroof Basar Lev (בשר לב, "heart of flesh") — its letters spell Breslov (ברסלב). [Cross-reference from Breslov above.] Chayay Mooharan §339 בשרא Roshay Saveivos Bisra (בשרא, Aramaic: "flesh") — first letters of ש׳שים ר׳בוא ב׳כרס א׳חד: "sixty myriads [of souls] in one belly." Every individual human being contains within them the entirety of the Jewish people — sixty myriads of souls in one body of flesh. Likutay Mooharan II:1; 2 ב׳ת ע׳ין ש׳ין Tziroof The letters ב, ע, ש — Bais, Ayin, Shin — are the letters of עשב (eisev, "grass / herb"). [A permutation connecting three letters to the natural world — the source in Chayay Mooharan develops the significance of this connection.] Chayay Mooharan §92 ב׳תולה נ׳שאת ל׳יום ה׳רביעי Roshay Saveivos The first letters of "a virgin is married on the fourth day [Wednesday]" (ב׳תולה נ׳שאת ל׳יום ה׳רביעי) [Mishnah, Kesuvos 1:1] spell לבנה (levanah, "the moon"). The marriage of a virgin on Wednesday — the day the moon was created — reveals the lunar connection embedded in the laws of marriage. [Wednesday = the fourth day of creation = the day the lights of heaven were made, including the moon. The Mishnah's legal ruling about the day of marriage contains within its first letters the very celestial body whose cycle governs Jewish time.] Sefer HaMidos, "Marriage" 2 [Translator's Summary — Section 2, Bais — 52 source entries fully covered] This section is dominated by three towering themes: (1) Bereishis — the seven permutations of the Torah's first word, and the teaching that its first and last letters spell lev (heart); (2) Bechiyah (weeping) — whose letters also spell the multitude of Israel and their joy before G-d, and whose gematria equals the Divine Name of 63; (3) Navi (prophet) — revealed through no fewer than three separate biblical verses beginning with Bais. The teaching that Breslov contains basar lev ("heart of flesh") — the promise of Ezekiel's prophecy — is one of the most beloved in Rebbe Nachman's legacy.