SOME SEFER TORAH STATISTICS

BS"D


For Sifrei Torah written since about 1860:

42 lines per amud, column
248 amudim, columns (approximately)
With the exception of 6 amudim, all begin with the letter Vav, ו
3 - 5 amudim per yeri'ah, sheet of parchment
50 - 62 yeri'ot, parchment sheets, per scroll


The 42 lines refer to the number of stops we made on our desert journey, from Egypt to the Land of Israel, as summarized in Be-midbar/Numbers 33:1 - 49 (text taken from Mechon-Mamre:

א אֵלֶּה מַסְעֵי בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֲשֶׁר יָצְאוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם--לְצִבְאֹתָם: בְּיַד-מֹשֶׁה, וְאַהֲרֹן. 1
These are the stages of the children of Israel, by which they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
ב וַיִּכְתֹּב מֹשֶׁה אֶת-מוֹצָאֵיהֶם, לְמַסְעֵיהֶם--עַל-פִּי יְהוָה; וְאֵלֶּה מַסְעֵיהֶם, לְמוֹצָאֵיהֶם. 2
And Moses wrote their goings forth, stage by stage, by the commandment of the LORD; and these are their stages at their goings forth.
ג וַיִּסְעוּ מֵרַעְמְסֵס בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן, בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן: מִמָּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח, יָצְאוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיָד רָמָה--לְעֵינֵי, כָּל-מִצְרָיִם. 3
And they journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,
ד וּמִצְרַיִם מְקַבְּרִים, אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִכָּה יְהוָה בָּהֶם--כָּל-בְּכוֹר; וּבֵאלֹהֵיהֶם, עָשָׂה יְהוָה שְׁפָטִים. 4
while the Egyptians were burying them that the LORD had smitten among them, even all their first-born; upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.
ה וַיִּסְעוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, מֵרַעְמְסֵס; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּסֻכֹּת. 5
And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.
ו וַיִּסְעוּ, מִסֻּכֹּת; וַיַּחֲנוּ בְאֵתָם, אֲשֶׁר בִּקְצֵה הַמִּדְבָּר. 6
And they journeyed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.
ז וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵאֵתָם, וַיָּשָׁב עַל-פִּי הַחִירֹת, אֲשֶׁר עַל-פְּנֵי בַּעַל צְפוֹן; וַיַּחֲנוּ, לִפְנֵי מִגְדֹּל. 7
And they journeyed from Etham, and turned back unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon; and they pitched before Migdol.
ח וַיִּסְעוּ מִפְּנֵי הַחִירֹת, וַיַּעַבְרוּ בְתוֹךְ-הַיָּם הַמִּדְבָּרָה; וַיֵּלְכוּ דֶּרֶךְ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים, בְּמִדְבַּר אֵתָם, וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּמָרָה. 8
And they journeyed from Penehahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness; and they went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.
ט וַיִּסְעוּ, מִמָּרָה, וַיָּבֹאוּ, אֵילִמָה; וּבְאֵילִם שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה עֵינֹת מַיִם, וְשִׁבְעִים תְּמָרִים--וַיַּחֲנוּ-שָׁם. 9
And they journeyed from Marah, and came unto Elim; and in Elim were twelve springs of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees; and they pitched there.
י וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵאֵילִם; וַיַּחֲנוּ, עַל-יַם-סוּף. 10
And they journeyed from Elim, and pitched by the Red Sea.
יא וַיִּסְעוּ, מִיַּם-סוּף; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּמִדְבַּר-סִין. 11
And they journeyed from the Red Sea, and pitched in the wilderness of Sin.
יב וַיִּסְעוּ, מִמִּדְבַּר-סִין; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּדָפְקָה. 12
And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, and pitched in Dophkah.
יג וַיִּסְעוּ, מִדָּפְקָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּאָלוּשׁ. 13
And they journeyed from Dophkah, and pitched in Alush.
יד וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵאָלוּשׁ; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בִּרְפִידִם, וְלֹא-הָיָה שָׁם מַיִם לָעָם, לִשְׁתּוֹת. 14
And they journeyed from Alush, and pitched in Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.
טו וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵרְפִידִם; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּמִדְבַּר סִינָי. 15
And they journeyed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai.
טז וַיִּסְעוּ, מִמִּדְבַּר סִינָי; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּקִבְרֹת הַתַּאֲוָה. 16
And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai, and pitched in Kibroth-hattaavah.
יז וַיִּסְעוּ, מִקִּבְרֹת הַתַּאֲוָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בַּחֲצֵרֹת. 17
And they journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah, and pitched in Hazeroth.
יח וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵחֲצֵרֹת; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּרִתְמָה. 18
And they journeyed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.
יט וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵרִתְמָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּרִמֹּן פָּרֶץ. 19
And they journeyed from Rithmah, and pitched in Rimmon-perez.
כ וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵרִמֹּן פָּרֶץ; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּלִבְנָה. 20
And they journeyed from Rimmon-perez, and pitched in Libnah.
כא וַיִּסְעוּ, מִלִּבְנָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּרִסָּה. 21
And they journeyed from Libnah, and pitched in Rissah.
כב וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵרִסָּה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בִּקְהֵלָתָה. 22
And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelah.
כג וַיִּסְעוּ, מִקְּהֵלָתָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּהַר-שָׁפֶר. 23
And they journeyed from Kehelah, and pitched in mount Shepher.
כד וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵהַר-שָׁפֶר; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בַּחֲרָדָה. 24
And they journeyed from mount Shepher, and pitched in Haradah.
כה וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵחֲרָדָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּמַקְהֵלֹת. 25
And they journeyed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.
כו וַיִּסְעוּ, מִמַּקְהֵלֹת; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּתָחַת. 26
And they journeyed from Makheloth, and pitched in Tahath.
כז וַיִּסְעוּ, מִתָּחַת; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּתָרַח. 27
And they journeyed from Tahath, and pitched in Terah.
כח וַיִּסְעוּ, מִתָּרַח; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּמִתְקָה. 28
And they journeyed from Terah, and pitched in Mithkah.
כט וַיִּסְעוּ, מִמִּתְקָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּחַשְׁמֹנָה. 29
And they journeyed from Mithkah, and pitched in Hashmonah.
ל וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵחַשְׁמֹנָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּמֹסֵרוֹת. 30
And they journeyed from Hashmonah, and pitched in Moseroth.
לא וַיִּסְעוּ, מִמֹּסֵרוֹת; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בִּבְנֵי יַעֲקָן. 31
And they journeyed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan.
לב וַיִּסְעוּ, מִבְּנֵי יַעֲקָן; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּחֹר הַגִּדְגָּד. 32
And they journeyed from Bene-jaakan, and pitched in Hor-haggidgad.
לג וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵחֹר הַגִּדְגָּד; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּיָטְבָתָה. 33
And they journeyed from Hor-haggidgad, and pitched in Jotbah.
לד וַיִּסְעוּ, מִיָּטְבָתָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּעַבְרֹנָה. 34
And they journeyed from Jotbah, and pitched in Abronah.
לה וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵעַבְרֹנָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּעֶצְיֹן גָּבֶר. 35
And they journeyed from Abronah, and pitched in Ezion-geber.
לו וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵעֶצְיֹן גָּבֶר; וַיַּחֲנוּ בְמִדְבַּר-צִן, הִוא קָדֵשׁ. 36
And they journeyed from Ezion-geber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin--the same is Kadesh.
לז וַיִּסְעוּ, מִקָּדֵשׁ; וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּהֹר הָהָר, בִּקְצֵה אֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם. 37
And they journeyed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.--
לח וַיַּעַל אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אֶל-הֹר הָהָר, עַל-פִּי יְהוָה--וַיָּמָת שָׁם: בִּשְׁנַת הָאַרְבָּעִים, לְצֵאת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַחֲמִישִׁי, בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ. 38
And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.
לט וְאַהֲרֹן, בֶּן-שָׁלֹשׁ וְעֶשְׂרִים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה, בְּמֹתוֹ, בְּהֹר הָהָר. {ס} 39
And Aaron was a hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor. {S}
מ וַיִּשְׁמַע, הַכְּנַעֲנִי מֶלֶךְ עֲרָד, וְהוּא-יֹשֵׁב בַּנֶּגֶב, בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן--בְּבֹא, בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. 40
And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.--
מא וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵהֹר הָהָר; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּצַלְמֹנָה. 41
And they journeyed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.
מב וַיִּסְעוּ, מִצַּלְמֹנָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּפוּנֹן. 42
And they journeyed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.
מג וַיִּסְעוּ, מִפּוּנֹן; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּאֹבֹת. 43
And they journeyed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth.
מד וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵאֹבֹת; וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּעִיֵּי הָעֲבָרִים, בִּגְבוּל מוֹאָב. 44
And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched in Ije-abarim, in the border of Moab.
מה וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵעִיִּים; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּדִיבֹן גָּד. 45 And they journeyed from Ijim, and pitched in Dibon-gad.
מו וַיִּסְעוּ, מִדִּיבֹן גָּד; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בְּעַלְמֹן דִּבְלָתָיְמָה. 46
And they journeyed from Dibon-gad, and pitched in Almon-diblathaim.
מז וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵעַלְמֹן דִּבְלָתָיְמָה; וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּהָרֵי הָעֲבָרִים, לִפְנֵי נְבוֹ. 47
And they journeyed from Almon-diblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, in front of Nebo.
מח וַיִּסְעוּ, מֵהָרֵי הָעֲבָרִים; וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּעַרְבֹת מוֹאָב, עַל יַרְדֵּן יְרֵחוֹ. 48
And they journeyed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
מט וַיַּחֲנוּ עַל-הַיַּרְדֵּן מִבֵּית הַיְשִׁמֹת, עַד אָבֵל הַשִּׁטִּים, בְּעַרְבֹת, מוֹאָב. {ס} 49
And they pitched by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth even unto Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab. {S}


These "Vav Torahs", aka Vav Ha-Amud Sifrei, are a reference to the connexion between G@d & Creation. The letter Vav has the gematrial value of 6 & is the 6th letter of the Alefbet. The name "Vav" means "hook", & pictographically this letter looks like a hook or a tent peg (see above).

So, why do some Torah scrolls - particularly the ones written since 1860ish - begin all but 6 of their columns with this letter?
I recall an excited rabbi asking me about the first Torah I was about to start writing, 3 years ago: "Can it be a Vav-Torah?"
"Sure", I smiled.

So there I was learning with my sofer the laws of laying out a Torah. A rabbinic opinion we learned forbade anyone from writing a Vav-Torah.
"But wait a second, almost all Torahs I've ever seen are vav-Torahs" I remarked, puzzled. My sofer admonished me. I needed to be more patient & keep learning.

Apparently, the reason why it was forbidden to write Sifrei Torah whose columns began with Vav, was because nobody had done it yet. I know that doesn't make sense on the surface, but it went like this:
Because nobody had written a Vav-Torah before, there was no existing scribe's guide to how to write one properly. One of the laws of writing a Torah states that you have to copy from either a guide (known as a Tiqun le-Sofrim) or from another Torah. Therefore, each time somebody tried to write a Vav-Torah, the lines came out very unevenly - scrunched & stretched rather than even - so the resulting scroll was always:
1) hard to read
2) ugly
3) taking the chance that the Torah you are writing will be either of the above is not paying appropriate respect to the work
4) the proper holy intention had not been foremost in the mind of the scribe because he was obssessing about his Vavs

However, some scribes were determined to write a Vav-Torah. So somebody kept doing it until he got it right.
& now most modern Sifrei Torah are laid out this way.

Why were they so obsssesssed?
Vav's number, 6, reminds us of the 6 days of Creation. That we, Humankind, were created on the 6th day. That we work 6 days, rest on Shabbat, then begin the holy cycle again. That there will be 6 millenia between Creation & the appearance of Moshiach (that means we only have 233 years left, folks!)...

The Maharal teaches us that the number six indicates physical completion: as our world was finished in six days and as each individual object has six sides: above, below, right, left, front and back.
Vav is a conjunction, a link. He comes to us in the shape of a hook, which is the function he fulfills and what his name means. The presence of Vav at the beginning of a verse in the Torah indicates continuity with the previous text ("V'eyleh sh'mot b'nai Yisra'el..." - "And these are the names of the children of Israel..."). Vav's absence means we are beginning a new subject. Vav has the power to unite anything.
So...a Vav-Torah illustrates the midrash, story or legend, that the Torah was given to Moses as one long utterance. So each column reads: "...AND x...AND...y...AND..."
In fact, the middle letter of the Torah is the Vav in the word gachon, belly (& the vav is written enlarged for this reason), Va-yiqra/Leviticus 11:42!
כֹּל הוֹלֵךְ עַל-גָּחוֹן וְכֹל הוֹלֵךְ עַל-אַרְבַּע, עַד כָּל-מַרְבֵּה רַגְלַיִם, לְכָל-הַשֶּׁרֶץ, הַשֹּׁרֵץ עַל-הָאָרֶץ--לֹא תֹאכְלוּם, כִּי-שֶׁקֶץ הֵם. 42 Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all fours, or whatsoever hath many feet, even all swarming things that swarm upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are a detestable thing.

Gorgeous :)

Also, a Vav/hook at the top of each amud/column is a beautiful reference to the body of the holy Mishkan, the Tabernacle.
Sh'mot/Exodus 27:9 - 10 reads:
ט וְעָשִׂיתָ, אֵת חֲצַר הַמִּשְׁכָּן--לִפְאַת נֶגֶב-תֵּימָנָה קְלָעִים לֶחָצֵר שֵׁשׁ מָשְׁזָר, מֵאָה בָאַמָּה אֹרֶךְ, לַפֵּאָה, הָאֶחָת. 9
And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen a hundred cubits long for one side.
י וְעַמֻּדָיו עֶשְׂרִים, וְאַדְנֵיהֶם עֶשְׂרִים נְחֹשֶׁת; וָוֵי הָעַמֻּדִים וַחֲשֻׁקֵיהֶם, כָּסֶף. 10
And the pillars thereof shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
יא וְכֵן לִפְאַת צָפוֹן בָּאֹרֶךְ, קְלָעִים מֵאָה אֹרֶךְ; וְעַמֻּדָו עֶשְׂרִים, וְאַדְנֵיהֶם עֶשְׂרִים נְחֹשֶׁת, וָוֵי הָעַמֻּדִים וַחֲשֻׁקֵיהֶם, כָּסֶף. 11
And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, and the pillars thereof twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

This beautifully expresses the building of our Sacred Space for the In-Dwelling of G@d's Presence, the Shekhinah (Mishkan & Shekhinah come from the same root, Sh-K-N, meaning to dwell intimately). The yeri'ot, sheets of parchment, are likened to the woven curtains of the tent. They are hung from Vavs, silver hooks, on the amudim, columns/posts, which are the foundation. Torah is the foundation.

We hook ourselves to Torah by hooking the text to the skin, the curtains to the posts, creating a spiritual home in the world.

[Addendum: I apologize for neglecting to cite the source for a Sefer Torah with 42 lines per column reflecting our 42 stops in the desert. It's Talmud Bavli Soferim 2:6.
Sifrei Torah with 60, 72 or 98 lines per column were justified by the word "60" in Be-midbar/Numbers 1:46; the 72 elders in Numbers 11:16 (but there's actually only 70, but there are purportedly 72 names of G@d, so maybe that's it); & the 98 curses & warnings of Devarim/Deuteronomy 27:28.]




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SHA'AGAT ARYEH HA-SHEYNIT

BS"D

ח אַרְיֵה שָׁאָג, מִי לֹא יִירָא; אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה דִּבֶּר, מִי לֹא יִנָּבֵא.
Aryeh sha'ag, mi lo yirah; Ad@nai Y-H-V-H diber, mi lo yinavey
"The lion has roared, who will not fear? The L@rd G@D has spoken, who can but prophesy?"
Amos 3:8

R' Nechemiyah used to say, "They who converted to Judaism because of lions...are not deemed proselytes unless they are ready to be converted again..."
This great sage is referring to the Samaritans, who became Jewish after being visited by lions, because their coming was a manifestation of Divine Wrath. But only love of Torah can move people to truly become Jews.

כד וַיָּבֵא מֶלֶךְ-אַשּׁוּר מִבָּבֶל וּמִכּוּתָה וּמֵעַוָּא וּמֵחֲמָת, וּסְפַרְוַיִם, וַיֹּשֶׁב בְּעָרֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן, תַּחַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וַיִּרְשׁוּ, אֶת-שֹׁמְרוֹן, וַיֵּשְׁבוּ, בְּעָרֶיהָ. 24
"& the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, & from Kuthah, & from Avva, & from Chamath & Sefarva'im, & put them in the cities of Samaria (Shomron) instead of the children of Israel; & they possessed Samaria, & lived in its cities."

כה וַיְהִי, בִּתְחִלַּת שִׁבְתָּם שָׁם, לֹא יָרְאוּ, אֶת-יְהוָה; וַיְשַׁלַּח יְהוָה בָּהֶם אֶת-הָאֲרָיוֹת, וַיִּהְיוּ הֹרְגִים בָּהֶם. 25
"& so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the L@RD; therefore the L@RD sent lions among them, which killed some of them."

כו וַיֹּאמְרוּ, לְמֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר לֵאמֹר, הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הִגְלִיתָ וַתּוֹשֶׁב בְּעָרֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן, לֹא יָדְעוּ, אֶת-מִשְׁפַּט אֱלֹהֵי הָאָרֶץ; וַיְשַׁלַּח-בָּם אֶת-הָאֲרָיוֹת, וְהִנָּם מְמִיתִים אוֹתָם, כַּאֲשֶׁר אֵינָם יֹדְעִים, אֶת-מִשְׁפַּט אֱלֹהֵי הָאָרֶץ. 26
"So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying: 'The nations (Israel) which you have carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, don't know the manner of the G@d of the land; so He has sent lions among them, & look, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the G@d of the land.'
2 Kings/Melekhim 17:24-26

The Hebrew word for lion is אריה aryeh. Spelled Alef, Reysh, Yud, Hey.
This is an acronym.

The letter Alef stands for the month of אלול Elul, which begins with Alef. The Reysh represents ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, Yud stands for יום כפור Yom Kippur, & the Hey represents הושנה רבה Hoshanah Rabah.

This is the time of Divine judgment, the Yamim Nora'im, days of awe. If we allow ourselves to hear the roar, G@d will wake us up to repentance so we can prepare to gently turn what is ready to be moved. In this way we inspire the Holy One to transform Divine judgement to Divine compassion.

I'm off to the miqveh now, for the annual pre-Yom Kipur women's gathering. Many blessings to you for an easy transformation.




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A SMALL YUD IN HA'AZINU

BS"D


The letter Yud has a numerical value of 10. Ten fingers, ten toes, ten commandments & with ten utterances Ha-Shem created the universe; ten emanations - "eser Sefirot" - of the Eitz Chayim, the Tree of Life in Kabbalah, from conception to completion...

Yud is the building block of the Alefbet, each letter in fact being made up of a series of Yuds. The seed, the sperm, the primordial force initiating the flow of life. The catalyst.

Yad, hand, indicates a means of action. Agency. The universe is set in motion by the movement of the Yad Chazaqah - the strong hand of G@D - being the symbol of creative and directive energy.

The Zohar (Vayikra 147) explains that Yud consists of three parts: a point rising upwards to the One above, a point directed downwards to earth and the middle part uniting both. The shape of the Yud is symbolic of a person in prayer. Our eyes are lowered in humility as we stand before the Holy One, while our hearts are turned upward, toward heaven (Yevamot 105b). All three parts of the Yud are of equal importance Halakhically. The Talmud notes that it is "obvious [peshita]" that a mezuzah klaf or Torah scroll is invalid if it lacks even a "qotzo shel Yud", the point of the Yud (Menachot 29a; Rashi).

& with all this in mind...

In this week's Parsha for Shabbat Tshuvah, Ha'azinu/Deuteronomy 32:18, there's a small Yud in in the word teshi - unmindful.

יח צוּר יְלָדְךָ, תֶּשִׁי; וַתִּשְׁכַּח, אֵל מְחֹלְלֶךָ.
"The Rock that birthed you, you neglected/were unmindful of, you forgot the G@D that produced-you-in-labour:"

This tiny Yud was listed in Midrash Rabbah Aqim as one of the letter oddities which must be written into a Sefer Torah for it to be considered kosher for ritual use.
R' Chayim David HaLevy, who is a Kabbalist rabbi I quote often, wrote that a letter written in miniscule indicates that a person or people in the narrative have somehow missed the mark; that they could have done better.

Among the many gifts that Ha-Shem has given us is the power of shikhah — forgetfulness. Moshe Rabeynu said this to us right before he died. This is the last sheet of parchment in the Torah, people. Our problem is that vatishkach Keil mecholelekha — we're using our power of forgetfulness to neglect Ha-Shem, Who gives us each breath straight from Divine compassion. Is that any way to act?

It's so hard to be human. & G@d knows just what a hard job we have. That's why we got Torah. But if we forget, then our agency, our yad, is diminished. So here we have a small Yud to remind us...not to forget :)

May we all be blessed with consciousness enough to become good humans this year.

Cross-posted at Radical Torah .




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LOOK OUT FOR THE LARGE LAMED!

BS”D


I'm in Portland, healing a sick Sefer Torah & staying with some very special people. I was on my way to shul this morning to give over this drush, but I fell down the stairs & the concensus between the adults in the household was that I should not walk on my injured leg. So I never had the opportunity to share this with the community I wrote it for, but you can read it below:

There is an enlarged letter Lamed in this week’s Parsha, Nitzavim, in Devarim/Deuteronomy 29:27.

וַיִּתְּשֵׁם יְהוָה מֵעַל אַדְמָתָם, בְּאַף וּבְחֵמָה וּבְקֶצֶף גָּדוֹל; וַיַּשְׁלִכֵם אֶל-אֶרֶץ אַחֶרֶת, כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה.

“Vayit’sheym Y-H-V-H mey’al adematam b’af uv-cheymah uv-qetzef gadol va-yash’Likheym el-eretz acheret kayom hazeh:”

“So Y-H-V-H uprooted them from their soil in anger, & wrath, & great fury, and cast them into another land, as is to this day:”

The word in which this enlarged Lamed appears - “va-yash’Likheym” (& cast them) - is from the same shoresh/root as “tashlikh” - to throw out or away; exile. Like what we do with bread crumbs on the afternoon of first day Rosh Ha-Shanah (when it’s not Shabbes, like this year - then we save it for second day), & symbolically to our sins, contracted spaces & narrowness which needs healing.

Context: Devarim 29:21 reads, “A future generation, consisting of your descendants, who rise up after you, along with the foreigner from a distant land, shall see the punishment directed against that land (Israel), & the plague with which G@d has struck it… ”

Followed by 29:23, “All the nations will ask, ‘Why did G@d do this to the land? What was the reason for this great display of anger?’”

Then 29:24, “They shall answer, ‘It is because they (the Jews) abandoned the covenant that G@d, L@rd of their ancestors, made with them when He brought them out of Egypt.’”

The verse immediately following, 29:28, says,

הַנִּסְתָּרֹת–לַיהוָה, אֱלֹהֵינוּ; וְהַנִּגְלֹת לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ, עַד-עוֹלָם–לַעֲשׂוֹת, אֶת-כָּל-דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת.
“Ha-nistarot (Esther/Nestor/Nistar/Astoroth) la-Y-H-V-H Eloqeynu ve-ha-nig’lot lanu u-le-vaneynu ad-olam…”

“The concealed is for G@d our L@rd, & the revealed is for us & for our children forever. We must therefore keep all the words of this Torah.”
So… why the letter Lamed? The pictographic shape of Lamed is that of a goad - that’s an instrument with which we coax animals to go in the direction we want, rather than the direction that they want. Sort of a non-electric cattle prod.

The Shoresh/root is the same as that of talmud/limmud/learn/teach. So here we have “a big teaching”, as my friend Chaim Rothschild Lev yesterday said to me about this.

R’ Chayim Dovid Ha-Levy, z”l, the former Chief Sefardi Rabbi of Tel Aviv, was a great scholar, posek & Kabbalist. He said that anytime we see an enlarged letter in our writings, that is a place where G@d takes over the direction. That Ha-Shem steps out of the status quo & is proactive about something. Example: the enlarged letter Bet which begins the Torah. B’Reyshit bara Eloqim…

So here we see that Ha-Shem is goading us away from the direction we would choose to go & instead take the path which G@d wants for us.

Talmud Bavli Yoma 29a tells us that there are 22 saintly women in our history, each with a quality which represents a letter of the Hebrew alefbet. The letter Lamed is the symbol of Devorah (Haftarah Beshallach = Judges 4:4-5:31). Who was Devorah? She was named after Rivqah’s wet nurse, who died at the same time as Rivqa (B’reyshit/Genesis 35:8 Parshat Va-yishlakh) & was buried in that area. & what did Devorah do? She judged for us & decided questions of law for the whole nation - a posek, or poseket. She was considered to have been a vessel for the ru’ach nevu’ah/spirit of prophesy. She also goaded Baraq - who was commanded by G@d to go to war with Sisera. Ha-Shem guaranteed Baraq would be victorious & yet he, feeling unworthy of such a miracle, refused to go to war unless Devorah accompanied him. Baraq felt that only her merit would guarantee his success. Devorah’s response: “I will go with you, but the path you have chosen to go will not be for your glory. Ha-Shem will deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman.” In Devorah’s song, Judges 5:1 - 31, she sings of how when the people of Israel devote themselves to Ha-Shem, they travel safely, the land blossoms & there is no war made against us. But when we forget G@d, we experience calamity.

This enlarged Lamed prophesies the coming of Devorah ha-Neviyah. Just to remind us about being very careful of the path that we choose.

Shabbat Shalom

Cross-posted at Radical Torah.




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A STILL, SMALL VOICE...FROM MYSPACE

BS"D


I received this in my MySpace inbox:

Wow, I just hope she knows not to do it during her cycle when she's going through mood swings. (Eze 36:17) Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt on their land, they even defiled it by their ways and by their doings. As the defilement of woman's impurity, their way was before Me. Something to keep in mind when doing things of holiness. Yah bless.

& this is the answer to that non-question: I've been coming here every morning...

(Community miqveh at the JCC in St Louis)

before I go here:

(Conference room at B'nai Amoona, where I've been restoring Torahs)

One of my fave odd letters in the Sefer Torah:

Parshat Shmini/Sefer Va-yiqra (Leviticus) 11:42 – large Vav in the word gachOn, belly.

כֹּל הוֹלֵךְ עַל-גָּחוֹן וְכֹל הוֹלֵךְ עַל-אַרְבַּע, עַד כָּל-מַרְבֵּה רַגְלַיִם, לְכָל-הַשֶּׁרֶץ, הַשֹּׁרֵץ עַל-הָאָרֶץ--לֹא תֹאכְלוּם, כִּי-שֶׁקֶץ הֵם.
"Kol holeykh al-gachon v'khol holeykh al-arba ad kal-marbeyh raglim l'khal-hasheretz hashoreytz al-ha'aretz lo tokh'lum ki-sheqetz heym:"
"Anything going about on its belly, anything going about on all fours, up to anything with many legs, among all swarming-creatures that swarm upon the earth: you are not to eat them, for they are detestable-things!:"

Vav has the numerical value of 6. The Maharal teaches us that the number six indicates physical completion: as our world was finished in six days and as each individual object has six sides: above, below, right, left, front and back.

Vav is a conjunction, a link. He comes to us in the shape of a hook, which is the function he fulfills and what his name means. The presence of Vav at the beginning of a verse in the Torah indicates continuity with the previous text ("V'eyleh sh'mot b'nai Yisra'el..." - "And these are the names of the children of Israel..."). Vav's absence means we are beginning a new subject. Vav has the power to unite anything.

This is, according to midrash, the middle letter of the Sefer Torah, & it has been written large like this since the 3rd century, CE.




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