 Parshat Acharei-K'doshim This feature is back after a long break. Here's what it is. Bible Scholar is an old (relatively so) DOS program by TES (Torah Education Software) that works with the Tanach. One of it's features is G'MATRIYA. One of the things that can be done is to pull up and block a piece of text - word, phrase, pasuk, etc. - and at a click find its G'matriya (several types at thesame time). I browse the parsha and choose p'sukim or parts thereof that I want to work with. I then open Otzrot Yisrael, one of the Bar Ilan project CDs. It has a feature, among many, of taking a number and giving all p'sukim or parts thereof that have that number as a g'matriya. Once in a while, a G'matriya-match (GM)is found that lends itself to making a point. As follows... Vayikra 18:3 (Achrei) contains G-d's warning against our doing any of the idolatrous practices of Mitzrayim, from where we had just come, nor of Canaan, to where we would be going, and not to follow in their ways. The fulfillment of this command comes in the form of our doing away with Avoda Zara that would be a temptationfor the people. One of the passages in Tanach that can be considered a fulfillment of the command is found in and around M'lachim Bet 23:19, which tells us that Yoshiyahu the king removed the houses of worship and the high places in the cities of the Shomron that the kings of Israel had spitefully placed there... Bothof these p'sukim have the same G'matriya, 7381. 6+300+80+6+50+10 + 9+40+6+50+10 + 8+6+30 Vayikra 19:11 (K'doshim) contains the prohibitions of stealing, fraud, and lying. All in the realm of interpersonal mitzvot. D'varim 29:16 (Nitzavim) deals with the abomination of idolarty - a classic "between person and G-d" area of mitzva. Both p'sukim have the same G'matriya, 3145, pointing to the theme of equating thetwo categories of mitzva. The idea of the previous GM ican be seen even more beautifully in the following three-way GM. Vayikra 20:7 (K'doshim) is the summary of the mitzva of K'doshim t'h'yu and all the mitzvot that help one attain K'dusha. Sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I Am your G-d. A Jew strives for K'dusha by immersing himself in mitzvot- of both types: Person to G-d, as typified by D'varim 6:14: Do not go after other gods from among the gods of the nations around you. Interpersonal, as typified by T'hilim 34:14 - Hold your tongue from evil and your lips from deceit. All three p'sukim mentioned here have the same numeric value, 2403. 6+300+80+6+50+10 + 9+40+6+50+10 + 8+6+30 Yeshayahu 11:2, in describing the character of Mashiach ben David, the pasuk says that G-d's spirit will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and fear of G-d. These are qualities which we ask of G-d for ourselves (after the 13 Midot on Yom Tov Torahtaking-out). K'doshim provides a GM to the pasuk in Yeshayahu with a "surprising" suggestion as to how to attain the qualities mentioned. Surprising, because the focus is pure BEIN ADAM L'CHAVEIRO, interpersonal. One might have thought of an intensifying of Jew to G-d mitzvot. Vayikra 19:18 - Do not take revenge nor beara grudge, love thy fellow as thyself, I Am HaShem. 6+300+80+6+50+10 + 9+40+6+50+10 + 8+6+30 Remember, G'matriyas, especially of the homemade type that show up in this column, are not meant to prove something new. Mostly, they are a numeric pointer to ideas and concepts that exist quite independently from the G'matriya. Speaking of G'matriya - here's a G-fact that someone told me (I don't remember who) in the name of a Rishon (I don't remember who). HaShem, s'fatai... the opening pasuk of the Amida, and V'orva LaShem Minchat Yehuda... the concluding pasuk, have the same G'matriya. 2721. Prove anything? I don't think so. But it's nice.Meaningful. Appealing to one's sense of balance. [The Acharei-K'doshim Homepage] |