"He hath formed, weighed, and composed with these twenty-two letters every created thing, and the form of everything which shall hereafter be." (from the Sepher Yetzirah) The 22 hebrew letters from the central ontology of classic kabbalah. they are, in a very real sense "what there is". There is a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer which serves to relay their importance to Judaism. My retelling of it follows.