The Alef-Bet as the Twenty-two Saintly Women in our history, each with a quality represented by a Hebrew letter inspired by Talmud Bavli Yoma 29a - Table of Correspondences:
1. Alef/א - Sarah - שרה - Genesis 11:29-23:19 – בראשית יא:כט–כד:יט
2. Bet/ב - Riv’qah – רבקה - Genesis 24:15-25:25 – בראשית כד:טו–כה:כה
3. Gimel/ג - Rachel – רחל - Genesis 29:6-35:16 – בראשית כט:ו–לה:יו
4. Dalet/ד - Le’ah – לאה - Genesis 29:16-49:31 – בראשית כט:יו–מט:לא
5. Hey/ה - Yokheved – יוכבד - Exodus 2:1, 6:20 - שמות ב:א, ו:כ; Numbers 26:59 – במדבר כו:נט
6. Vav/ו - Miriyam – מרים - Exodus 2:4-Numbers 20:1 – שמות ב:ד–במדבר כ:א
7. Zayin/ז - Machlah - מחלה - Numbers 27:1-7 – במדבר כז:א–ז
8. Chet/ח - No’ah - נעה - ibid.
9. Tet/ט - Chaglah – חגלה - ibid.
10. Yud/י - Milkah – מלכה - ibid.
11. Khaf/כ - Tirtzah – תרצה - ibid.
12. Lamed/ל - Devorah – דבורה - Judges 4:4-5:1 – שופטים ד:ד–ה:א
13. Mem/מ - Mano’ach’s wife/Shimshon’s mother –אשת מנוח/אם של שמשון - Judges 13:2 - שופטים יג:ב
14. Nun/נ - Chanah – חנה - I Samuel 1:2-2:21 – א שמואל א:ב–ב:כי
15. Samekh/ס -Avigayil – אביגיל - I Samuel 25:3-42 – א שמואל כה:ג–מ:ב
16. Ayin/ע - Woman of Tekoa - אשה מתקוע - II Samuel 14:2-20 – ב שמואל ד:ב–כ
17. Peh/פ - Widow of Tzar’fat - אלמנת צרפת - I Kings 17:9-24 – א מלכים יז:ט–כד
18. Tzadi/צ - the Shunamitess – השונמית - II Kings 4:8-8:6 – ב מלכים ד:ח–ח:ו
19. Quf/ק - Chuldah – חלדה - II Kings 22:14 - ב מלכים כב:יד; II Chronicles 34:24 - ב דברי הימים לד:כד
20. Reysh/ר - Naomi – נעמי - The Book of Ruth – מגילת רות
21. Shin/ש - Yehosheva - יהושבע - II Kings 1:2 - ב מלכים א:ב; II Chronicles 22:11 - ב דברי הימים כב:יא
22. Tav/ת - Queen Esther – אסתר המלכה - The Book of Esther – מגילת אסתר
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Based on article originally published November 2004 at:
http://soferet.blogspot.com/2004/11/bsd-women-to-emulate-alef-bet-as.html
Copyright A. Barclay
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Parshat Yitro/Jethro - יתרו
בס"ד
So here's my chidush, new idea, for you...
In Sefer Sh'mot parshat Yitro/Exodus 19:5 the Torah tells us:
In some Sifrei Torah, but not all, the letters Lamed and Yud in the word לִי - "li", to me, my or mine - are written in such a way so as to appear joined. This is an extremely controversial practice, which most sofrim and rabbis disagree with, as one of the approximately 4,000 rules in sofrut dictates that there be no negi'ah (touching) between any of the letters. So why here? What message calling to us from out of the text here is so crucial that an exception is made only once in our entire tradition?
The Letter Lamed (ל) has a gematrial value of 30, while Yud (י) is worth 10. That makes 40. Forty also means גואל "go'El" - Liberator - and יד י-ה-ו-ה "yad Y-H-V-H" - Hand of the Eternal.
Yud is the yad, hand, holding the Lamed, the goad, directing us in Sacred Intimacy.
The place in the Torah where we read G@D saying to us, "...vi-heyiytem li segulah..." - "...you shall be to Me a special-treasure...", we learn that these two letters of the word "li", "to Me" or "for Me" are joined at this point in the Torah to show the closeness and intimacy that The Holy One wishes to share with each of us. G@d has consciously joined the individual energies of these two letters together to demonstrate how deeply connective a bond we can achieve through the pursuit of Yechidut, Unity, by performing mitzvot. It is then that we will experience true liberation, at the hand of The One.
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Based on my original article published February 2006 at Netivat Sofrut:
http://soferet.blogspot.com/2006/02/last-weeks-torah-portion.html
Subsequently published February 2009 on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=45123438204
Copyright A. Barclay
So here's my chidush, new idea, for you...
In Sefer Sh'mot parshat Yitro/Exodus 19:5 the Torah tells us:
וְעַתָּה, אִם-שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ בְּקֹלִי, וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם, אֶת-בְּרִיתִי--וִהְיִיתֶם לִי סְגֻלָּה מִכָּל-הָעַמִּים, כִּי-לִי כָּל-הָאָרֶץ.
"Ve-atah im-shamo'a tish'mu be-qoli ush'martem et-b'riti vi-heyiytem li segulah mikol ha-amim ki li kol ha-aretz"
"So now, if you will hearken, yes, hearken to My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be to Me a special-treasure from among all peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine:" (Everett Fox translation)
In some Sifrei Torah, but not all, the letters Lamed and Yud in the word לִי - "li", to me, my or mine - are written in such a way so as to appear joined. This is an extremely controversial practice, which most sofrim and rabbis disagree with, as one of the approximately 4,000 rules in sofrut dictates that there be no negi'ah (touching) between any of the letters. So why here? What message calling to us from out of the text here is so crucial that an exception is made only once in our entire tradition?
The Letter Lamed (ל) has a gematrial value of 30, while Yud (י) is worth 10. That makes 40. Forty also means גואל "go'El" - Liberator - and יד י-ה-ו-ה "yad Y-H-V-H" - Hand of the Eternal.
Yud is the yad, hand, holding the Lamed, the goad, directing us in Sacred Intimacy.
The place in the Torah where we read G@D saying to us, "...vi-heyiytem li segulah..." - "...you shall be to Me a special-treasure...", we learn that these two letters of the word "li", "to Me" or "for Me" are joined at this point in the Torah to show the closeness and intimacy that The Holy One wishes to share with each of us. G@d has consciously joined the individual energies of these two letters together to demonstrate how deeply connective a bond we can achieve through the pursuit of Yechidut, Unity, by performing mitzvot. It is then that we will experience true liberation, at the hand of The One.
---
Based on my original article published February 2006 at Netivat Sofrut:
http://soferet.blogspot.com/2006/02/last-weeks-torah-portion.html
Subsequently published February 2009 on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=45123438204
Copyright A. Barclay
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