Treasures in the Sand
for Parshat Pinchas

Beachcombing the G'matriya Beach with the help of "Otzrot Yisrael", one of the CDs of the "Responsa Project" of Bar Ilan University.

Partial pasuk - Bamidbar 25:11 - the opening pasuk in this week's sedra -  Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen, G'matriya 956. Aside from G-d's "stamp of approval" for his actions - His giving Pinchas the kehuna, we can see a "nice" G'matriya-match to Vayikra 10:20 - And Moshe heard and it was good in his eyes. (Of course, that pasuk was not referring to what Pinchas did, but...)

A kohen is a kohen because he was born to a kohen. This statement is true of all kohanim except for 6 individuals. Bamidbar 3:2 names five of them - And these are the names of Aharon's sons: Nadav and Avihu, Elazar and Itamar. The G'matriya of that pasuk is 2391, same as Bamidbar 25:12, which refers to the sixth person, Pinchas — There fore say, I hereby give him my covenant of peace. 
Bamidbar 28:18 refers to the first day of Pesach when it says: On the first day it is MIKRA KODESH, all M'LECHET AVODA you shall not do.

[Side point: MIKRA KODESH means YOM TOV; MELECHET AVODA is not as inclusive as MELACHA – the latter refers to the whole list of the 39 categories of prohibited creative activities of Shabbat; the former includes most, but not all M'lachot, cooking and others being permitted on Yom Tov.]

According to Tradition, Yitzchak Avinu was born on the 15th of Nissan, the first day of (the future) Pesach. B'reishit 21:3 tells us: And Avraham named his son that was born to him, that Sara bore him, Yitzchak. 

These two p'sukim share the same G'matriya (2794). As does another pasuk that we can identify with Yitzchak Avinu. Sh'mot 30:2 gives us the dimensions of the Golden Mizbei'ach: "Its length is an ammah and its width is an ammah, square it shall be, and its height is two ammot, from  it come its raised corners." AVODA, service of G-d, is symbolized by the Mizbei'ach. Yitzchak Avinu also represents AVODA. He was bound to the Mizbei'ach during the Akeida.

[Two points that detract a bit from this G'matriya-match: (1) There are different traditions as to when Yitz chak was born; not everyone agrees that it was the first day of Pesach; (2) Bamidbar 28:18, from this week's sedra, is referring to the
first day of Pesach, but the identical pasuk appears in Vayikra 23:35 is talking about the first day of Sukkot. Oh well, I think it's a nice observation anyway.]

Also related to Korbanot, in reference to the two daily sacri fices, we have   Bamidbar 28:4 – The one lamb you shall do in the morning and the second lamb you shall do in the afternoon. The G'matriya of this pasuk is 4083. This matches the pasuk from Shmuel Alef (1:13) that describes Chana's (mother of Shmuel HaNavi) praying: And Chana is speaking from her heart, only her lips are moving and her voice is  not heard, and Eli thought she was drunk. Chana's method of praying became the guideline for our T'fila, specifically the Amida — prayer from the heart, lips moving, but silent (or near silent).

T'FILOT K'NEGED KORBANOT TIK NUM – our prayers  correspond to thesacrifices in the Beit HaMik dash. Here we have a G'matriya- match between a major pasuk about the daily korbanot and a major pasuk about prayer. It does not prove anything, but it's nice.

In my "beachcombing", I generally favor looking for whole p'sukim rather than   "phrases". The Bar Ilan program permits searching for either, but phrases present two problems. For one, there are often several hundred to over a thousand phrases to sift through – a formidable task. Also, most of the phrases are choppy, with extra words at the beginning or end, or key words missing. Sometimes a phrase is  properly "trimmed" and usable. Here is an example of a G'matriya-match between two partial p'sukim, but they point to something nice.

Bamidbar 29:1 contains the command to blow Shofar on Rosh HaShana — YOM T'RU'A YIH'YEH. It's G'matriya is857. This matches the phrase from Parshat HaAkeida (end of Vayeira, B'reishit 22:9): VAYE'EKOD ET YITZCHAK B'NO, and he (Avraham) bound his son Yitzchak. The connection is obvious. A major feature of Shofar is the reminder of Akeidat Yitzchak. The preference of a ram's horn for the Shofar is the obvious link between these two phrases.

[These searches often reveal other p'sukim or phrases that I don't know how to fit in. So I don't mention them. I do make a note of them, in case I get an idea as to how to connect them. E.g. 857 also found the phrase V'LO TIKACH SHOCHAD, and you shall not take a bribe. Do you have any ideas as to how to connect it to Shofar or theAkeida?]

Bamidbar 29:5 (re: Rosh HaShana) - "And one goat (as a) Chatat to atone for you."This, we can say is the SUR MEI'RA, shun evil. D'varim 6:5 (with the same G'matriya), gives us the VA'ASEI TOV - V'AHAV'TA...

A general word of caution when it comes to G'matriya, specifically, the homemade variety that will be appearing in this Treasures in the Sand column. Don't read too much into them. They are not meant to say something new. They are meant to be a nice "numerical confirmation" of existing ideas.

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