Dotted Letters Example #2b: Be-reyshit/Genesis 19:33, Parshat Va-yeira

בס''ד


Be-reyshit/Genesis 19:33, Parshat Va-yeira relates the time when Lot is drunkenly seduced by his own daughters, after they escape the destruction of Sodom. You can find the verse in the following Chumashim:
Plaut p.132, Cohen p.98, Hertz p.69, Sforno p.99, JPS p.28, Jerusalem p.19, Stone p.90

וַתַּשְׁקֶיןָ אֶת-אֲבִיהֶן יַיִן, בַּלַּיְלָה הוּא; וַתָּבֹא הַבְּכִירָה וַתִּשְׁכַּב אֶת-אָבִיהָ, וְלֹא-יָדַע בְּשִׁכְבָהּ וּבְקוּמָהּ.

And they had their father drink wine that night. And the elder daughter went in, and slept with her father; and he didn't know when she lay down, nor when she got up.

“...ve-lo yada be-shikhvahh u-ve'qumahh.”

The root of the word וּבְקוּמָהּ, u-ve'qumahh, is קם. This is translated here as "arose" or "got up". It can also mean to be established or built, to be realized (as in a plan) or to persevere. And this is just what happened. The previous two verses, 19:31-32, read:

וַתֹּאמֶר הַבְּכִירָה אֶל-הַצְּעִירָה, אָבִינוּ זָקֵן; וְאִישׁ אֵין בָּאָרֶץ לָבוֹא עָלֵינוּ, כְּדֶרֶךְ כָּל-הָאָרֶץ.

And the elder daughter said unto the younger daughter, "Our father is old and there isn't a man in the world to come into us in the way of all the world.

לְכָה נַשְׁקֶה אֶת-אָבִינוּ יַיִן, וְנִשְׁכְּבָה עִמּוֹ; וּנְחַיֶּה מֵאָבִינוּ, זָרַע.

So, let us have our father drink wine, and we'll sleep with him so we can preserve the seed of our father.'

Ew.
So why is u-ve'qumahh such an important word? Because not only did each girl rise up after having intercourse with her father, but each girl did indeed realize her plan to establish herself through re-building their family by preserving their father's seed. They would persevere.
קם...קם...קם...

And that is why the scribal oddity in 19:33 is a dot above the second letter Vav in וּבְקוּמָהּ.

The dot tells us of one of Lot's great failings.

Lot's name (לוֹט) means covered, wrapped, concealed, veiled...so you never really knew the true man. He spent his whole life being mentored and supported by holy tzaddiqim Avraham and Sarah, yet when given the choice, he chose a life in Sedom and gAmorah.

Lot is like No'ach, only “relatively righteous” compared with the people around him. He may have been the most righteous person in Sedom, but that sets such a low bar...

Talmud Bavli Nazir 23a and Be-reyshit Rabah 51:8 say that the dotted Vav tells us that Lot was unaware of his elder daughter's lying down but by the time she'd finished with him he was aware of her getting up, and acted as if he wasn't.

Lot was innocent of the first incest incident, but the next night he still knowingly allowed himself to be seduced a second time, by his younger daughter. He knew and he didn't stop it.

This second Vav in וּבְקוּמָהּ is dotted because Vav means “hook”, and it is the letter of connexion. So this being the second Vav in the word and his being guilty of the second inappropriate connexion, it gets a dot to make us aware of this dimension of the story.

Shame on you, Lot. You were responsible to look after your traumatised children, not breed with them. You deserve grandchildren named Ben-Ammi ("son of my people/family") and Mo'av ("from Dad").


Copyright© A. Barclay

Dotted Letters Example #2a: Be-reyshit/Genesis 18:9, Parshat Va-yeira

בס''ד


In Be-reyshit/Genesis 18:9, Parshat Va-yeira (Plaut p.123, Cohen p.87, Hertz p.64, Sforno p.87, JPS p.25, Jerusalem p.17, Stone p. 80) the word אֵלָיו eylav has three dots, one dot each over the letters א Aleph, י Yud, and ו Vav. We read:

וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו, אַיֵּה שָׂרָה אִשְׁתֶּךָ; וַיֹּאמֶר, הִנֵּה בָאֹהֶל
And they said to him: 'Where is Sarah your wife?' And he said: 'There, in the tent.'
“Va-yom'ru eylav ayeyh Sarah ish'tekha? Va-yomer hineyh va-ohel.”

What are these dots for and what do they teach us? The angels who wished to announce Yitzchaq's conception actually knew where Sarah was; they asked this rhetorical question of Avraham out of courtesy, so they would not appear to be men approaching his wife unannounced, and also so that they wouldn't give their game away.
(Avot deRebbe Natan 30b)

Also, Alef-Yud-Vav spells איו ayo, a scholar. Nice.


Copyright © A. Barclay

Dotted Letters Example #1: Be-reyshit/Genesis 16:5, Parashat Lekh Lekha

בס''ד


Be-reyshit/Genesis 16:5, Parshat Lekh Lekha has a letter Yud which is naqud, dotted above, in the word "u-veynekha". This word can be found in the following Chumashim: Plaut p.111, Cohen p.76, Hertz p.56, Sforno p.77, JPS p.22, Jerusalem p.15, Stone p. 70...

וַתֹּאמֶר שָׂרַי אֶל-אַבְרָם, חֲמָסִי עָלֶיךָ--אָנֹכִי נָתַתִּי שִׁפְחָתִי בְּחֵיקֶךָ, וַתֵּרֶא כִּי הָרָתָה וָאֵקַל בְּעֵינֶיהָ; יִשְׁפֹּט יְהוָה, בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶיךָ.

And Sarai said to Av'ram: 'This outrage (Hamas) against me is your fault: I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was lowered in her eyes: may G@d judge between us.'

“Va-tomer Sarai el Av'ram chamasi alekha – anokhi natati shif'chati be-cheyqekha va-teyre ki ha-ratah va-eyqal be-eyne'ah; Y'shepot YHVH beyni u-veynekha.”

Sarah intends her words to remain a private conversation between her and her husband as words between them should be of no concern to others. (Avot deRebbe Natan 30b)

Names in Tanakh are really roles; the expression of that person's neshamah/soul.
Sarai/Sarah = female ruler/noblewoman; to struggle, to wrestle, to overcome.
Av'ram/Avraham = Big Daddy
Hagar = the stranger/outsider

Sarah used Hagar as a means to an end. According to the code of Hammurabi, the common law at that time and place, Hagar remained Sarah's property and any children Avraham had through Hagar would legally be considered Sarah's. So Sarah was within her rights to beat Hagar for belittling her, which Avraham supported in the narrative. However, any wife would expect her husband to defend their relationship against another woman intruding on their marriage, which is why Sarah blames her actions on Avraham. Had he protected Sarah's vulnerability from Hagar, she wouldn't have had to take matters into her own hands.

That Yud is dotted because of agency - it's a yad, hand! This is a power struggle. And not just a cat fight between rivals, but a revisitation of the balance of a long, lovingly established marriage which, like all marriages, has its challenges.

Parashat No'ach: Intercessory Prayer

בס''ד


Although there are several peculiar scribal oddities found in this week's Torah portion (according to Yemenite tradition, Sefer Taggin, the Machzor Vitri and various other sources and opinions), they generally have not been written into Sifrei Torah for some time now - a few hundred years. So instead I'd like to say a word about the origins of intercessory prayer in Judaism. I'll write about these ancient, disappearing "visual midrash" later, when I've done more research.

The first human intercessor according to Torah was No'ach ben Lemekh (לֶמֶך), known to the English speaking world as Noah, who built the ark. No'ach's name is generally spelled נֹחַ, but spelled with a letter Vav (ו) in Modern Hebrew, no'ach נוֹחַ means comfortable; taking it easy. נָח, nach, means to rest or relax. In Hebrew grammar it also indicates a mute letter; it doesn't say anything.

As with all people of the Bible, Noa'ch's father Lemekh's name is in fact a role. If we translate his name, לֶמֶךְ, into colloquial Modern Hebrew, it can mean a fool, schlemiel, or a clumsy person. The root letters Mem-Khaf (מך) mean "impoverished" in Biblical Hebrew. So his name, No'ach ben Lemekh, could be interpreted to mean Comfort son of the Foolish Pauper.

Maybe because he was taught to make do, and accept even bad situations, No'ach never became an activist. He didn't develop the sensitivity required to notice when something wrong is happening and to do something about it. He never disturbed the status quo. He was always comforable. He didn't say anything.

We find No'ach's story recorded in the Torah in Sefer Be-reyshit/Genesis 6:9-9:29 Parashat No'ach. We learn that everyone on the planet has just gone too far, they are irredeemable, that they have filled the world with violence (the word Scripture uses for "violence" is חמס, Hamas). We also learn this from chapter 6 verse 9:

אֵלֶּה, תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ--נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה, בְּדֹרֹתָיו: אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים, הִתְהַלֶּךְ-נֹחַ.
These are the generations of No'ach. No'ach was a just man and perfect/whole-hearted in his generations; No'ach walked with G@d.

No'ach ish tzedeq tamim hayah be-dorotav. He was a sincerely righteous man in his generation. And that is the key. He was righteous only compared to all the degenerates around him. He was not empirically righteous, only relatively righteous. No'ach didn't even know that there was a problem until G@d came to him to say He was going to destroy all flesh because it had corrupted itself.

And what was No'ach's reaction to this news? Did he act surprised? The Torah doesn't say. Did he argue with G@d to try to intercede like Avraham would? The Torah doesn't say. All we are told is that Noach obeyed G@d's command to build the תֵּבָה teyvah (ark). So he did exactly what he was told, and nothing more.

But that's all G@d needed to save the world...

No'ach doesn't intercede until Be-reyshit/Genesis 8:20-22, when he builds the altar and makes the sacrifice. Only then is G@d appeased.

כ וַיִּבֶן נֹחַ מִזְבֵּחַ, לַיהוָה; וַיִּקַּח מִכֹּל הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהֹרָה, וּמִכֹּל הָעוֹף הַטָּהוֹר, וַיַּעַל עֹלֹת, בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ. 20
And No'ach built an altar to Ad@nai and took from every ritually pure beast, and of every ritually pure bird, and offered burnt/rising offerings on the altar.

כא וַיָּרַח יְהוָה, אֶת-רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ, וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-לִבּוֹ לֹא-אֹסִף לְקַלֵּל עוֹד אֶת-הָאֲדָמָה בַּעֲבוּר הָאָדָם, כִּי יֵצֶר לֵב הָאָדָם רַע מִנְּעֻרָיו; וְלֹא-אֹסִף עוֹד לְהַכּוֹת אֶת-כָּל-חַי, כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי. 21
And Ad@nai smelled the fragrant scent and Ad@nai said in His heart: 'I won't curse the earth again for humanity's sake; because the instinctive tendency of humanity's heart is broken from youth; and never again will I strike down every living thing, as I've done.

כב עֹד, כָּל-יְמֵי הָאָרֶץ: זֶרַע וְקָצִיר וְקֹר וָחֹם וְקַיִץ וָחֹרֶף, וְיוֹם וָלַיְלָה--לֹא יִשְׁבֹּתוּ. 22
For eternity, all the days of the Earth, sowing and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will never end.'

Noah's Sacrifice and G@d's Response: What worked?
The word used to describe a burnt offering type of sacrifice is עוֹלָה, olah, "that which rises or ascends". The root עלה means to rise, ascend or go up, to increase, advance, to mount or get up onto, and to immigrate to Israel (because it is the highest point of the world, spiritually).

This very first sacrifice recorded in the Torah, which became the basis of our Temple worship in Jerusalem which, except for the hide, must be consumed entirely by fire on the altar. No part of them may be eaten by the worshipper, whereas both priest and worshipper partake of the sacrifices known as זְבַּחים zevachim (see Devarim/Deuteronomy 12:27). This olah goes up to G@d while the zevach stays with the priest and worshipper. This teaches us that we must ascend to G@d to intercede.

No'ach builds an altar and brings rising, intercessory burnt offerings on his own initiative. We don't know how he prepared or what he said, if anything, but he didn't stop attempting the intercession when G@d responds in the positive. The outcome of No'ach's intercession is G@d's promise to never wipe out virtually all life again using nature as a tool, provided that we accept His re-ordering of the new society (ie., when He gives permission to eat meat but puts a blood prohibition on it, and prohibits murder). For prosperity he puts a rainbow in the sky to seal the covenant. Now that the Earth has been purged of its evil, sacrifice symbolizes the restoration of harmony between G@d and humankind.

What can we learn from these stories about the qualities an intercessor needs?
Obedience to and acceptance of G@d. To be (comparatively) righteous/blameless. I say comparatively because Noach was only "righteous in his generation", so perhaps he was the best of what was left on earth, but not ideal - the only thing G@d had to work with, so He did His best with what He had.

You will note that he did not intercede on the Earth's behalf when G@d told him He would destroy everything. He waited until after the horror had been executed on all beings except those who had inhabited is teyvah to ask G@d to never do that again and thank Him for making an exception for him and his family. He may have cloistered himself and his family from the Earth's lawlessness, but he simply withdrew from the world and did not try to change it. Therefore, G@d had to intervene.

We can learn from this that we have a responsibility to be activists, ie., we cannot stand by the blood of our brother...G@d wants us to participate in struggling with our own tendencies and to bring about Tiqun Olam *with* Him...this is why I agree with Rebbe Yochanan's interpretation of No'ach's story rather than Reish Lakish's (Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 108a). HAD Noach been better than average, he could have fought to corruption, but because he was a beynoni, a weak or easily influenced person, he could only cloister himself and remain in his integrity that way.

So what does it mean to "walk with G@d" (Be-reyshit/Genesis 5:24; 6:9)?
To shape the agency of your own salvation (ie., build your own ark rather than wait for G@d to save you through Divine intervention)...and what qualities can you find in yourself which No'ach used? Voluntary offering/negotiating. Occasional submission...

At the end of the day, we shouldn't be too hard on poor old No'ach. What more can we expect from the world's first intercessor? If nobody has yet acted as one, then Noach has only his own instincts to follow and no example...



Sources:
Many thanks to Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan for inspiring this piece during our learning together in 2005.
R' Chaim Potok in JPS's Eytz Chayim: Torah & Commentary
Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 108a
The Five Books of Moses: A New Translation with Introductions, Commentary, and Notes by Everett Fox

Oy gib mir a heym vu di bufloksn geyn - Enlarged Letter Bet in Parashat Be-reyshit

בס''ד


That would be Yiddish for "Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam..."
Thanks to Marie Jaffee for her translation and hat-tip to Rebecca Boggs for her transliteration.

I'd like to talk about home in this post in relation to this week's Parsha, Be-reyshit! Yes, this Shabbat we being the cycle of reading the Torah all over again. We got a preview on Simchat Torah, which was yesterday, Sunday, when we read the very end of the scroll and then rolled it back to the beginning again to read some more! This week we're getting back to The Garden.

Sefer Be-reyshit parashat Be-reyshit/the Book of Genesis 1:1 begins thus:
בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ.
Be-reyshit bara Eloqim et ha-shamayim ve-et ha-aretz:
"At the beginning of G@D's creating of the heavens and the earth:"

The first letter, Bet (ב) should sport 4 crowns, called taggin or ketarim (unless you are Yemenite). These represent the Four Winds, the holy breath of G@d with which the entirety of Time and Space were brought into being.

As with many, but not all, sefarim/holy books, the first letter is often enlarged. However, here also is an example of an action taken from the next world, by G@D. The act of creation warrants a large Bet. According to Rabbi Chayim Dovid Halevy, z"l, a great Kabbalist and the former Chief Sefardi Rabbi of Tel Aviv, any time we see an enlarged letter anywhere in our canon (TaNa"KH), we are to understand that G@d has disturbed the staus quo with great חסד chesed, kindness, and אהבה ahavah, love.

Because the letter Bet carries the gematrial value of 2, it reveals to us the Divine creative mother-father energy within it, beginning the whole universe.

So, why was the world created with the letter Bet?
Just as Bet is closed on three sides and open only in front, so you are not permitted to investigate what is above (the Heavens) and what is below (the deep), what is before (the six days of creation) and what is (to happen) after (the world’s existence) - you are permitted only from the time the world was created and thereafter (the world we live in) [Genesis Rabbah 1:10. This may refer either to space or to time, or to both space and time. See Tosafot on Talmud Bavli Hag 11b, s.v. yakhol].

Some say that the Torah begins with the letter Bet to make the statement that the force that G@d used to initiate Creation was בינה Binah - with feminine understanding the world was created. . “For you shall call Understanding a Mother.” so says The Bahir. Binah means processed wisdom or deductive reasoning

Binah is in the world of יצירה Yetzirah, the formative dimension of "just Being". IS-ness. The letter Bet also begins בריאה B'riyah, the world of knowledge whose world is creative. Note that בריאה B'riyah and בְּרֵאשִׁית Be-reyshit have the same shoresh, root. For more on this, see http://inner.org/sefirot/sefbinah.htm

Reish Lakish taught that The Holy One made a deal with the rest of Creation, that if Israel accepts the Torah, you will continue to exist; if not, I will return you to nothingness (Shabbat 88a). How do we know this? Because the first word in the Torah, בְּרֵאשִׁית Be-reyshit, is an acronym: "Ba-rishonah Ra'ah Eloqim Shey'qab'lu Yisra'el Torah" - "From the start, G@D saw that Israel would accept the Torah" (Ba'al Ha-Turim).

In Judaism, G@d has many names, allowing us to attempt to express all the holy qualities of the Creator. One of those names begins with a letter Bet. בת קול Bat Qol, which literally means "Daughter of a Voice", but can also mean "Voice from Heaven", "echo", "Divine inspiration" or even "prophesy".

Just as with a ketubah, the traditional Jewish wedding contract, we begin this with a letter Bet which is often enlarged (but not always - that depends on the calligrapher). But we may have a similar situation here that requires a large Bet in a ketubah for the same reasons as in a Torah.

Many Jewish couples today enter their first marriage without their virginity (both literal and symbolic). There have been intimate relationships and home-building exercises, most often with people who now dwell in the past. Assuming these experiences have been dealt with, grown from and their lessons integrated into wisdom, there is no need to revisit them after the marriage begins.

All that came before, like lovers, homes, experiences, relationships...were only to bring each member of the wedding couple to this point and need only be included in the wedded relationship in their appropriate place. It's not that they get wiped away, or made to magically disappear. But from that large Bet which begins the building of this new, committed home, like the large Bet, the Bayit or "home" for all of Creation, we walk forward together and leave the rest behind.

...where seldom is heard a discouraging word...

Parashat Nitzavim - the Mysterious Dotted Letters ...לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ, עַד...

בס''ד



Sefer Ba'al Ha-Turim notes that Devarim/Deuteronomy 29:28 has letters which are מְנֻקָּד menuqad (dotted), despite the general rule that a Torah scroll must be without vowel points, any punctuation marks, cantillation symbols, etc., a dot is inscribed above certian letters:

הַנִּסְתָּרֹת--לַיהוָה, אֱלֹהֵינוּ; וְהַנִּגְלֹת לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ, עַד-עוֹלָם--לַעֲשׂוֹת, אֶת-כָּל-דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת.
The secrets belong to the Ad@nai our G@d, but that which is revealed are for us and also for our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

The phrase "...lanu u-le-vaneynu ad..." (...for us and also for our children until [forever]...) exhibits a total of eleven dots, one over each letter of these three words with the exception of the last letter, Dalet (ד).

What does this teach us, and why is the last letter not dotted?
Some commentary in Midrash Numbers Rabbah 3, 13 states that these eleven letters are dotted because they are not the ones which should be dotted. One popular interpretation of why some particular letters are dotted in our Sifrei Torah says these dots mean effacement, ie. that the dots indicate there is either a scribal error which has been incorporated into the traditional text or that there is a disagreement about whether these letters or words belong in the text at all.

Avot de-Rabbi Natan 30b explans that these dots were written to call attention to extrapolations on the words, however, they may indicate that the words or letters were doubtful and were to be deleted, presumably when Eliyahu Ha-Navi comes to resolve all the scribal variations before the coming of the Moshiach..

Ezra the Scribe is quoted as saying that if Eliyahu asks, “why have you written these words?”, indicating that they are incorrect, Ezra will reply, shrugging, “well, at least I've placed dots over them”, but if Eliyahu says, “you have written them correctly” then Ezra will remove the dots!

So when Midrash Numbers Rabbah 3, 13 states that these letters are dotted instead of the actual ones which should be dotted, what letters or words were meant to be dotted in the first place? And why can't they be dotted themselves? Why do these words carry the dots instead?

Because the letters which should be dotted are לַיהוָה, אֱלֹהֵינוּ. And because the dots are meant to efface, cancel, or annul, you can not cross out the Name of G@D...

So ChaZaL teach this pasuq, verse, is telling us of our accepting responsibility for each others' public sins, and to agree to be punished for not preventing them or not supporting each other sufficiently to avoid committing those sins.

Rashi explains that the way these letters are dotted means this deal we made with The Holy One only came into effect after Am Yisra'el crossed over the nehar ha-yarden, the River Jordan, and made the vow at the mountains of Har Gerizim and Har Eival.

So why is this last letter not dotted?
The Ba'al Ha-Turim writes about why there is a lonely dot over the letter Ayin (ע) of the word עַד ad, but not the Dalet (ד). It is because from the time that Moshe Rabbeynu began to expound the Torah at Arvot Mo'av, the Plains of Mo'av, until we crossed the Yarden was a total of seventy - the numerology of Ayin is 70 - days. This also hints at the seventy years of galut (exile) we would experience in Babylon, the collective punishment that the whole Nation of Yisra'el had to suffer for the shortcomings of those who were unrepentantly guilty.

But wait a second. If the letters are effaced by the dots, then we're off the hook, right?
No, sorry. G@d wanted to emphasise how much we could help our fellow Jews, and how important that is. We must learn from the very human mistake made by Qayin, Cain, in Be-reshit/Genesis 4:9: we are our brother's (and sister's!) keeper. We're all Jews and we must take responsibility for each other. We must take up the slack when they can't continue, help them when they're falling away from G@d. Kol Yisra'el areyvim zeh ba-zeh, each one of Israel is responsible one for the other. Go Team Jew!

And by embodying this directive of kindness, we can raise our interactions with each other, according to the mitzvot of beyn adam la-chaveiro (between a person his/her friend), and hopefully provide a security network for our family which is all Israel.


Copyright © A. Barclay

Par'shat Ki Tetze - תמחה את זכר עמלק

בס"ד

Tim'cheh et zeykher Amaleyq...
Blot out the remembrance of Amalek...
Devarim/Deuteronomy 25:19, parshat Ki Tetze

This is said by a congregation, together with the sofer, at the Siyum Ha-Torah held to dedicate a new Torah scroll (sometimes to re-dedicate a repaired scroll, too!).


According to the minhag, the custom, of Ha-Rav Ha-Ga'on Heschel of Krakow*, this is also what a scribe must say each morning as he (or I) begin/s work. As the qulmus, quill or reed, must be tested and sometimes re-shaped each morning. This test must also be performed each time the qulmus is cut or sharpened, as no writing of any STaM (Sifrei Torah, Tefilin and Mezuzot) may be commenced until the writing implement has passed this check. So what is the test?


Dip your nib into your bet d'yo (inkwell), and write the name עמלק, Amaleyq. As you speak the words "Tim'cheh et zeykher Amaleyq", cross it out.


Using a properly cut stylus is one of those "invisible things" I've referred to that sof'rim do in our work that are required for us to perform according to Qeset Ha-Sofer 3:6. Things that nobody can tell by looking at a scroll whether they have been correctly performed. This is why you need to have complete trust in your sofer/et. No different than your rabbi, your lawyer, your doctor, your taxi driver or your jeweller...


What's more, if your qulmus is not cut correctly before any writing or repairing of letters, then all of the work you do could be pasul. Not kosher. Bury it.

Torah-scribes may not write any part of a Torah-scroll, nor repair any of its letters, until the name of Amalek is written and completely blacked-out in fulfillment of the command in Deuteronmy 25:17. (ie. to blot-out the name of Amalek"...)
-- Rabbi Dr Eric Ray, z"l, Sofer STaM

Does this seem harsh? Perhaps. People I've met in my travels who have tried their hand at writing or correcting sofrut without being fully trained thought so. Maybe because the first they had heard of this was from me and it has severe implications for their product and their souls. But instead of brushing this requirement aside, let's unpack this both practical and vital practice...


Who was Amaleyq?
Jewish Encyclopedia.com gives a biblical-historical overview, while Wikipedia gives their own interesting version followed by religious, historical & philosphical links. Highly recommened before you read on :)


The name "Amaleyq", when you divide it up into two words, reads "עמ לק", am laq, a greedy people, a nation of takers. Am means nation or people, where laq indicates lapping something up greedily. We can extrappolate further by noticing that the Hebrew word amal - עמל - means trouble, misery, evil; the word laqah - לקה - means stricken, defective, blemished, flawed, spoiled.


These people, who preyed upon the fledgling Jewish nation as we crossed the Sinai, did so by picking off those who were bringing up the rear. The elderly, the children, the ill. They took advantage of other human beings who were weaker than they. A cowardly act, to attack the defenseless. G@d hates that.


So does this mean that Jewish scribes are responsible for committing a conscious ritual act of symbolic genocide with each test of the pen? That a xenophobic grudge is expressed in one of our most sacred practices? No.


There are three mitzvot connected to Amaleyq, all from mitzvah-book 14, Sefer Shofetim/the Book of Judges:
#598 - Blot out Amaleyq (Devarim/Deuteronomy 25:19)
#599 - Remember what the Amaleyqites did to the Jewish People (Devarim/Deuteronomy 25:17)
#600 - Don't forget Amaleyq's atrocities and ambush on our journey from Egypt in the desert (Devarim/Deuteronomy 25:19)


#599 and #600 are applicable at all times, anywhere in the world to all Jewish men and women above the ages of 13 and 12, respectively. #598 is equally applicable in all places at all times, but only adult Jewish men are obligated in this mitzvah. Adult Jewish women are free to choose to take this commandment on, if we wish.


How do we observe these mitzvot?
Rashi explains #600:
"From man unto woman, from infant unto suckling, from ox unto sheep, so that the name of Amaleyq not be mentioned even with reference to an animal by saying "This animal belonged to Amaleyq".


#599 is fulfilled by Shabat Zakhor, which I already wrote about here and here [include links], the Shabbes before Purim when we chant passages relating to Amaleyq and his descendant Haman, who is the villain in the Purim story.


That leaves #598. The way we fulfill this mitzvah today is precisely what I described above: writing out his name to check your nib and crossing it out, making the verbal declaration, with three diagonal strokes.


So, nu? Why the big production?
On the one hand, this test provides a very practical, mechanical step to writing. All professional calligraphers, regardless of origin, test their nibs in between dipping and writing. It's the only way to make certain your fine strokes will be fine, your wide strokes wide, your edges sharp and that there will be just the right amount of ink (no blobs or streaks). So of course writing a Sefer Torah, Mezuzah, or Tefilin (and Megillot, for that matter), deserves this conscious process, out of respect and because of it's content.


On the other hand, this is in fact a mitzvah connected to a very high, spiritual exercise, calling us to change ourselves from within. Ourselves???


What or who is Amaleyq today?
You are. I am.
Amaleyq is the temptation to take advantage of others, to see only with your own eyes, to feed our appetites off the disempowered.
So with each test of the pen, a sofer is called to remember that very unfortunate human tendency, that it lies dormant within, and that it is his/her responsibility to keep it in check, if not destroy it.
To kill the predator inside.


Now, back to the party...
The completion of this ritual occurs each year on Erev/the day before Tish'a be-Av. On that day, I take all the accumulated scraps of q'laf, kosher parchment on which I wrote and crossed out literally thousands of Amaleyqim, and burn them. The sofer holds a public outdoor service for the incineration, which includes prayer, recitations from the Books of Nachum, Yishaiyahu (Isaiah), Tehilim (Psalms) and Ovadiyah (Obadaiah), then concludes with blessings specific to this mitzvah. At the end, everyone present says "ameyn!".

Then we eat :D

So as you can see, this requirement isn't harsh at all. This is a beautiful, consciousness-raising exercise that, when practiced regularly, aids the sofer/et to imbue his/her work with appropriate intention and awareness. The work becomes Work. It allows us to gradually and gently correct one of our most negative tendencies, thus bringing our best Selves to the Holy service of writing.


* much gratitude to my husband, Mordechai Pinchas sofer STaM, for teaching me the rabbinic source from which this minhag came.



Copyright A. Barclay

Parshat Be-Ha'alotekha Parte Deux: Nuns Sealed Shut

BS"D


Psych!
Did you really believe yesterday's post, that I would refuse to comment on the two backward Nuns (those would be Hebrew letters (נ), not ladies dressed modestly and wearing crucifixes)?
How could I resist? I mean REALLY?

Peshat
Before and after Sefer Be-midbar/Numbers 10:35-36, there is a backwards letter Nun surrounded by space:

וַיְהִי בִּנְסֹעַ הָאָרֹן, וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה: קוּמָה יְהוָה, וְיָפֻצוּ אֹיְבֶיךָ, וְיָנֻסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ, מִפָּנֶיךָ.
לו וּבְנֻחֹה, יֹאמַר: שׁוּבָה יְהוָה, רִבְבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

Now it was, when the coffer was to march on, that Moshe would say: 'Arise (to attack), O Y-H-V-H, so that Your enemies may scatter; and that those who hate You may flee before You!'. And when it rested, he said: 'Return, O Y-H-V-H, You of the ten thousands myriad/families/clans of the divisions of Israel!

These verses preserve the invocation prayers in connection with the going forward and the resting of the Ark on our jouney through the desert to the Land of Israel. They are chanted to this day at the opening and closing of the ark and/or parokhet, whenever the Torah is read in the synagogue.

These two verses are enclosed with a long space, a letter Nun hafukh or mezuneret (isolated), then another long space on either end. I've seen thousands of Torah scrolls in my sofrut career, and I've noticed that these two Nunim can be written not only backward, but upside down, or even facing front, looking back over their shoulders. הָפוּךְ hafukh can mean reversed, inverted, inverse, in disarray, or even in slang "cafe au lait"!). There are many scribal rules about these spaces and letters, but no universal agreement.

Why are they here? Were they originally written into the text by hand by Moshe Rabbeynu atop Mount Sinai as dictated by The Holy One? If not, then do these addition graphic signs present a Halakhic or historical problem, since we are forbidden by Torah to add anything to the Torah?
Sefer Devarim/Deuteronomy 13:1 states:

אֵת כָּל-הַדָּבָר, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם--אֹתוֹ תִשְׁמְרוּ, לַעֲשׂוֹת: לֹא-תֹסֵף עָלָיו, וְלֹא תִגְרַע מִמֶּנּוּ.
All this word which I command you, that you will observe to do; do not add to it, nor diminish from it.

The RaMBaM, Maimonides, writes:

The intent of this prohibition is that we not add to the words of the Torah nor subtract from them, thereby permanently establishing the addition or subtraction as part of Scripture. This applies to both the Written Law and the Oral Tradition (transmitted to Moses on Mount Sinai).

So when the Rabbis institute a new law, they have to be clear that they aren't adding to the Torah at all, only building a fence around the Torah, to help the rest of us avoid breaking the Torah's laws.

When we trace these two Nunim and their wide spaces back through to our oldest surviving Torah scrolls and manuscripts - Rashi commented on this so we know this scribal feature of Torah scrolls is at least 1,000 years old - we find that there has in fact been a change, that there was some kind of metamorphosis. Here are the verses in a 700-year-old Torah scroll. Does this look like any of the Sifrei Torah you have in your synagogue? NO!
Forgive me for sounding apikorsodox when I ask: did our great Sages enact this change in text, or did the Scribes? Or both? Are these signs, added later, a fence around the journey of our Holy Ark?

So how is this a fence?
The backward Nuns could be written here like this to indicate either that they are not in their original place: Both Rav Ashi and R' Shim'on ben Gamli'el explain that when the Messiah comes in the future this section will be removed from here and written in its proper place.

Another traditional idea is that they are taken from another source (possibly from "The Book of the Wars of the Lord", Numbers/Be-midbar 21:14 [parshat Chuqat]) and form a distinct section, scroll, or even "book" of the Torah. Some of the Rabbis thought of the Book of Numbers/Sefer Be-midbar as consisting of three parts (Chapters 1 - 10:34; Chapter 10:35 - 36; Chapters 11 - 36), and, in consequence, counted seven books of the Torah.

Thus, according to Rabbi Yochanan, Mishley/Proverbs 9:1

חָכְמוֹת, בָּנְתָה בֵיתָהּ; חָצְבָה עַמּוּדֶיהָ שִׁבְעָה.
Wisdom hath hewn out her seven pillars.

referred to the Seven Books of the Torah. R' Shmu'el ben Nachman agrees.

There is a supporting baraita for this idea: Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nasi said the strange layout of spacing and inverted Nunim isn't because these pasuqim/verses are in the wrong place, but because they are an important book standing on their own.

Why the letter Nun?
There are no less than ten words, or letters, or groups of words or letters appearing in the text of our Torahs which carry a dot above their heads. That discussion is too broad for this particular article, so I'll deal with them at another time. The point here is that the word "dot" in Hebrew is נקד, naqud, and the initial of that word, obviously, is the letter Nun.

Many opinions suggest that in this instance every single letter of these two verses was dotted, causing a very problematic result: difficult to lay out, to write, and to read. This would also mean that G@d's name would be dotted, which is impossible, since dotting traditionally indicates a erasing or effacement of the letters which are dotted (which I'll explain in a separate article). All Very Bad. Instead, a letter Nun was placed on either end, at the beginning and at the end of the journey of the Holy Ark, but written irregularly, to reflect the irregularity of the dots, the placement, or otherwise, and to ensure that they were never inadvertently entered into the text permanently, over time.

Kabbalah
The gematrial value of the letter Nun is 50.

There are fifty Gates of Understanding or Wisdom in our tradition. The same gates which we pass through as we count the omer between the second day of Pesach and Shavu’ot, invoking the presence of each S’firah as we walk the Tree of Life. Each Gate refers to the nature of each of the fifty references to our Exodus in the Sefer Torah, and to the fifty queries into the nature of Creation which G@d poses Job. These verses are gated off from the rest of the Torah.

Why Fifty?
One way of solving mysteries in Judaism is of course to turn to numbers. Words which share the same numerological value are considered to be connected in a very deep way, a way that is not so apparent on the surface. So what can I do with this number? A word which also has a value of 50 is spelled Alef-Tet-Mem Sofit (אָטַם): atam meaning "seal" or "shut" or even "water-tight". These two verses are sealed off from the rest of the Torah.

בַּסּוֹף
The word נֶאֱמָן ne'eman, "faithful", begins and ends with a Nun just as these verses do. This could be an indicator that we can rely on the information communicated in these verses. That as long as we keep ourselves under the protective wings of the Shekhinah, G@d's Holy Sheltering Presence, by keeping our commandments and staying true to our covenant, that we have nothing to fear. For G@d is One, there is nothing else, so all that denies this One Universal Truth will surely נָס, disappear.



Sources:
Talmud Bavli Masekhet Shabbat 115b; 116a
Talmud Bavli Masekhet Sofrim (the scribe's tractate) 6, 2
"The Burnt Book: Reading the Talmud", by Rabbi Marc-Alain Ouaknin
RaMBaM, "Mishneh Torah, Book Fourteen: Sefer Shofetim, Laws of Rebels" 2:9
Sofer.co.uk
Rashi's commentary on Rosh Hashannah 17b as related by Rabbi Solomon Luria in his Responsum #63
Nehama Leibowitz, "Studies in Bamidbar"

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Cross-posted on Facebook

S/He Ain't Heavy, S/He's my G@d - Enlarged Letters Nun and Reysh in Parshat Ki Tisa

בס''ד


In this week's Torah portion - Sh'mot parshat Ki Tisa – there are two letters which must be written very large in proportion to the rest, otherwise that particular Sefer Torah is considered pasul – unfit for public use - according to most authorities. Rabbi Chayim Dovid Halevy z"l, the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, writes that each case of an enlarged letter anywhere in TaNa"Kh (the Hebrew Bible) indicates to us an instance of G@d making an extra effort of chesed – kindness - for the sake of the universe.

There is a third enlarged letter appearing in this Parshah only to be found in scrolls written by Jewish Mystics schooled in traditional Kabbalah. As this letter is not universally accepted, I'll write more about it later.

The first is the very large letter Nun found in Sh'mot/Exodus 34:7, and is part of the liturgy we chant during the Yamim Nora'im, the Days of Awe and one of the 13 attributes of G@d: "Notzeyr chesed la'alafim nosey avon vafesha v'chata'ah v'naqeyh y'naqeh poqeyd avon avot al-banim v'al-b'ney vanim al-shileyshim v'al-ribey'im:"

נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים, נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וָפֶשַׁע וְחַטָּאָה; וְנַקֵּה, לֹא יְנַקֶּה--פֹּקֵד עֲוֹן אָבוֹת עַל-בָּנִים וְעַל-בְּנֵי בָנִים, עַל-שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל-רִבֵּעִים.

"Maintaining mercy to the thousandth (generation), forgiving iniquity, rebellion & sin, yet not clearing, clearing (the guilty), calling-to-account the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon children's children, to the third and fourth (generation)!:"

The enlarged Nun at the beginning of the word natzar/maintaining (נָצַר) - is to remind us that the letter Nun also begins another word, "ne'eman" (נֶאֱמָן), which means "faithful". This is to assure us that we can rely on G@D's chesed/kindnesses.

Ne'eman,"faithful", is spelled with a Nun Kefuf, bent (נ), at the beginning and a Nun Sofit, straight (ן), at the end. The bent Nun denotes reliability while the straight Nun stands for continuity. Sometimes our souls, our neshamahs, are withdrawn and resigned, in a state of contraction like the resting Nun, while at other times it is active and exuberant like the erect Nun. When someone is inactive and immobile, his/her soul lies fallow, but when this person feels vibrant and motivated, his/her neshamah draws itself up to its full height.

The letter Nun has a gematrial value of 50. There are fifty Gates of Binah (בִּינָה - understanding, sense or wisdom) in our tradition. The same gates which we pass through as we count the Omer between the second day of Pesach and Shavu'ot, invoking the presence of each S'firah as we walk the Tree of Life. Each Gate refers to the nature of each of the fifty references to our Exodus in the Sefer Torah, fifty queries into the nature of Creation which G@d poses Iyov (Job), the cycle of fifty years culminating in the Yovel - Jubilee year, and to the Fifty thousand Jubilees of the World to Come.

Traditionally, Moshiach has four names: Menachem, Shiloh, Yenon and Chaninah. The initials of these four names spells the word "Moshiach" (מָשִׁיחַ). Our Sages teach us that one of these names, Yenon (which means "shall rule"), is associated with the letter Nun. The Messiah is "nistar" – a hidden secret revealed to us by this large letter in its bowed position, the humbled vessel of true insight.

Among many other things, the letter Nun symbolizes downfall with simultaneous salvation, fruitfulness, and faithfulness leading to Moshiach.

This represents the selflessness inherent in "Previous World consciousness", the rectified state of the World to Come & The Shekhinah, G@D's sheltering, Divine Feminine Presence.

...

The second standard enlarged letter in Parshat Ki Tisa is the letter Reysh (ר) ending the word "acheyR" in "Ki lo tishtachaveh l'eyl acheyR ki Y-H-V-H qana sh'mo QEyl qana hu."

כִּי לֹא תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה, לְאֵל אַחֵר: כִּי יְהוָה קַנָּא שְׁמוֹ, אֵל קַנָּא הוּא.

"For: you will not bow down to any other god! For Ha-Shem, Jealous-One is His name, a jealous G@D is He!"

Since if a scribe is not careful in his/her work, the letters Dalet & Reysh could be confused, this enlargement is to distinguish "echad" (אֶחָד - "one") from "acheyr" (אַחֵר - "another") in order that by error one should not utter the blasphemy "lo tishtachaveh le-qeyl echad" - "you are not to bow down to the One G@D". Hence one reason for the enlarged Dalet in the Sh'ma. But that's for another article.

The letter Reysh's gematrial value is 200, which also stands for the word "qadmon" (קַדְמוֹן) – primeval archetype. Reysh symbolizes this super-conscious state of mind.

We are the archetypal Reysh, seeking to do teshuvah, return to G@D, the Quf (ק). In its place in the Alefbet, the returning Reysh faces away from but leans towards G@d. This letter represents process - the "art of clarification". This art is the "beginning of the end", ie the three last letters of the Alefbet – Reysh, Shin (שׁ) and Tav (ת) - are the beginning of the end, middle of the end, and end of the end.

Just as the Tzadi (צ) connects to the Quf in its full spelling of tzadiq (צַדִּיק) or tzodeqet (upright man or woman), so the Reysh guides us to the Shin and on to the Tav.

All the ascending levels of revealed wisdom leading us back to their Divine Source in the ShalhevetYah, the holy flame of non-consuming love of G@d for the people Israel.

Ameyn Selah!


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Based on article originally posted on March 16th, 2006 by Soferet Avielah Barclay at Radical Torah
Copyright A. Barclay

MEGILAT ESTHER (2004) - מגילת אסתר

BS"D


Studying Mishneh Brurah Tav-Reysh-Tzadi-Alef with R' Ross Singer, my rabbi at Sha'arey Tefilah.

We've been studying the laws of writing and reading a Megilat Esther, partially for his own learning - he knows all about the reading part, just not the sofrut part - and partially for mine - as I know the sofrut part and not the laws pertaining to public kria.

We're going to have a public leyning of the brand new Megilat Esther I've written, by the men for the community the evening Purim comes in, then the next morning another public reading by the men for everybody, followed by the women reading for everybody! It's all very exciting for us to be practising our chanting for the first time! I've been honoured with reading Chapter 10, plus the after-blessing, B"H.

It's been both fun and fascinating. The speed and vocabulary of my Hebrew and Aramaic are both improving. One of the things we learned this week was that the Rama states, "It is our minhag (custom) to crown the letters (put tagin on them)". So there's a reliable Ashkenazi source supporting my crowning of letters, even though I'd already learned to do that from my Sofer and that if all the crowns in a Megilat Esther are omitted, it's still kosher. Also, the cheleq or piece of qlaf at the beginning & end of the Megilah, there's a maklokhet (difference of opinions) on that - "...but not to leave the cheleq basofah" - we're (Ashkenazim) careful to leave only the cheleq at the beginning, not at the end. Then in goes on to say that, "...the GRA (Vilna Ga'on) kvetches about this..." in other words, he disagrees and rules that a cheleq, or extra parchment not to be written on, must be left at both the beginning and the end of the Megilah. The Megilah qlaf I (ok - my Sofer) purchased has both, so that's good.

We also learned about the large Vav in "Va-yezata", the last of Haman's (BOO!) executed sons to be named in the amud (column). The Vav must be written "longer" says Mishneh Brurah, not "larger" as I have stated. Also, when the Megilah is leyned (chanted) on Purim, Mishneh Brurah states that one must lengthen the *sound* of that Vav as well - pronouncing it like "VVVVVVVVVVVayezata".
But it doesn't tell us why...

I *love* learning Torah!!!


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Based on article originally published January 2004 at Netivat Sofrut
Copyright A. Barclay

WOMEN TO EMULATE

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

SOFERET S"M - סופרת ס''ם

BS"D
To read my blog about life, Torah, safrut & feminism, check Netivat Sofrut.
To learn more about Jewish scribal arts for women, please go to Sofrut Nation.
Blessings!