Question
This specific letter is the first of seventeen letters in the Hebrew Bible to be printed with a larger-than-normal font size. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this specific letter, which, according to a midrash, signifies that we do not have permission to ask “what is above” or “what was before,” since it is closed on all sides except the front. Give the letter and the place it occurs.
ANSWER: the beit at the beginning of Genesis [or the beit at the beginning of Bereshit; or the beit at the beginning of the Torah; or the beit at the beginning of the Hebrew Bible; accept the beit in bereshit; or the beit in “in the beginning”; accept bet or beth in place of beit; prompt on beit or bet or beth by asking “where does that particular instance of beit occur?”; prompt on the first letter of the Bible / the Torah / Genesis / Bereshit by asking, “what is the name of that letter?”]
[10e] The midrash explains that the Bible begins with a beit and not this letter because beit begins the word for blessing, but this first letter in the Hebrew alphabet begins the word for curse.
ANSWER: aleph [or alef]
[10m] When aleph complains he was not chosen to begin the Creation, God chooses him to begin a passage set at this place. That passage set at this place begins, “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
ANSWER: Mount Sinai [or Mount Horeb] (The midrash mentioned throughout is the Bereshit Rabbah.)
<JF, Religion (Judaism)>
Data
Summary
| Tournament | Edition | Exact Match? | Heard | PPB | Easy % | Medium % | Hard % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 RMP Fest Online Mirror | 05/31/25 | N | 4 | 17.50 | 100% | 25% | 50% |
| 2025 RMP Fest Carleton Mirror | 07/13/25 | Y | 3 | 20.00 | 100% | 100% | 0% |
| 2025 RMP Fest CO Mirror | 08/10/25 | Y | 6 | 18.33 | 100% | 83% | 0% |