Said Rabbi Yitzchak: The Torah ought to have started with "This month shall be to you..." (Exodus 12:2), which is the first mitzvah commanded to the people of Israel. Why, then, does it begin with, "In the beginning [G-d created the heavens and the earth]"? ... So that if the nations of the world say to Israel, "You are thieves, for having conquered the lands of the seven nations", they would reply to them: "The entire world is G-d's; He created it, and He grants it to whoever He desires. It was His will to give it to them, and it was His will to take it from them and give it to us"