Thursday, June 11, 2009

Nunim Hafukhim in Parshat Be-ha'alotekha

BS"D

This week's Torah portion, Be-ha'alotekha, has a very clearly recognizable scribal feature: that of the Nunim Hafukhim, which most lay people are familiar with. These letters Nun are written backwards (or upside down, as הָפוּךְ hafukh can mean reversed, inverted, inverse, in disarray, or even in slang "cafe au lait"!), each also known as a Nun mezuneret, an "isolated" Nun who enclose Sefer Be-midbar/Numbers 10:35-36.

However, as oceans of ink have been devoted to forests of paper to thoroughly record the infinite explanations, midrash, extrapolations, legends, history, exegesis, secrets and lessons of these special letters by scholars greater than I, I will not be writing of them here.

Shabbat Shalom

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Cross-posted on Facebook

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