Parshat Vayeitzei

U'S'FUNEI T'MUNEI CHOL

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

There's an old joke about a guy walking around with a placard which said "life is like a bowl of cherries". Someone confronted him and asked him, "how so?". "How should I know, I'm not a philosopher", he replied.

That's how it is sometimes with some of the G'matriya - matches I find. For example...

B'reishit 28:11 - "And he (Yaakov) encountered the place and slept there because the sun had set, and he took from the stones of the place and placed them about his head and he lied down in that place." Commentaries make various  comments about the rocks, We have a sense that they are important. When Yaakov awakes, the Torah speaks of a rock, singular.

Towards the end of the sedra, Yaakov and Lavan make some kind of deal that is "witnessed" by a mound of rocks. This pasuk totals 3745, as does Yehoshua 4:21 - "And he said to Bnei Yisrael thus, when your children will ask their parents tomorrow saying: What are these rocks?" The rocks that Yehoshua was talking about were the reminders of the miracle of the crossing of the Jordan River. What's the connection? I don't have one, but I feel that there is   something to point out.

Here's an interesting GM which contrasts the course of the lives of Rachel and Leah. B'reishit 29:35 tells us that Leah became pregnant yet another time (fourth) and gave birth to a boy, and said, this time I will thank G-d (especially, because it means that I already have more than the average share of Yaakov's sons -12 sons / 4 wives = 3 sons per wife); therefore she named him Yehuda; and she stopped having children. As we know, Leah has two more sons and a daughter. Meanwhile, her sister Rachel is having so much difficulty having children. Pasuk 35:16 tells us that they (Yaakov and family) traveled from Beit El and were in the Efrataarea when Rachel gave birth to Binyamin, but had complications from which she died. These two p'sukim have the same G'matriya (4314), but what different stories they tell us.

Here are two p'sukim in the same perek that match G'matriya and raise an eyebrow when looked at together. Rachel complains to Yaakov about her childlessness. In 30:2, Yaakov replies angrily that he is not G-d, not the one  who has prevented her from conceiving. These words might be true, but they are harsh to one who feels so downhearted. In 30:23 we read that Rachel became pregnant and gave birth to a boy, and said, "G-d has taken away my reproach".

Both p'sukim total 3076. Perhaps it can be said that Yaakov's words are more than G-d wanted Rachel to suffer, and she finally had a child.

Food for thought. That is sometimes what these GMs are.

Here's one more. End of the sedra, Yaakov goes on his way and encounters angels of G-d (sent to protect him). That's 32:2, with a G'matriya of 873. Bamidbar 10:34 tells us that G-d's Cloud was over the people all day when they traveled from the camp. That pasuk too, totals 873. G-d's protection for Yaakov Avinu, G-d's protection for Yaakov's children, Bnei Yisrael.

One TT reader is keeping me on my toes, by checking the G'matriyas of the p'sukim in this column. Last week's GM involved Bamidbar 3:42, which I indicated totaled 2878. The reader came up with 2884. A discrepancy of 6 screamed out: VAV. And sure enough, in checking the G'matriya of the pasuk in question, the Bible Scholar program of TES gave 2884 as the G'matriya result. The Bar Ilan CD spelled the word B'CHOR in the pasuk without a VAV. The Jerusalem Bible and a standard Chumash spell it with a VAV, This is not the first time I have found a difference of a VAV between the two computer programs. I have someone checking into the source Tanach of the Bar Ilan CDs, and I'll report on it IY"H when I find out what's what.

A word of caution about G'matriya, specifically the homemade variety that appear 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. They point to ideas to be explored. Try any of them without the G'matriya. They still "work".

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