Version A was likewise known to Judah Hadassi, the Karaite, in the 13th century (see Jellinek, B. H. iii., xvii. 5).
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It is directly based upon, if not coeval with, Shab. 104a, according to which the school-children in the time of Joshua ben Levi (the beginning of the 3rd century) were taught in such mnemonic forms which at the same time suggested moral lessons.
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Version A, considered by Adolf Jellinek to be the older form, and by Bloch to be of a much more recent origin, introduces the various letters as contending with each other for the honor of forming the beginning of creation (bereshit).
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