This is a time of counting.
We are fast winding down (or is it up?) to the magic number 50. On Shavuot, our journey towards liberation - physical and spiritual - which began on Pesach, will come to a close. Have we made any significant strides? Have we risen higher, even just a tiny bit, on life's ladder?
Parshat Bamidbar also deals with counting, as Moshe conducts a census of Bnei Yisrael. Since, in Parshat Pinchas, yet another census will occur, the entire Sefer is known as Sefer HaPikudim, the Book of Numbers.
The message: Everyone counts!
How many letters are there in the Torah? The Zohar says there are 600,000 letters, corresponding to the 600,000 people tallied in the census. This is symbolized by an acronym using the first letters of "Yisrael" - Yesh Shishim Ribo Otiot L'Torah - there are 600,000 letters in the Torah.
Yet a true count of the letters yields just 304,805 letters. How do we resolve this discrepancy?
One approach is found in the statement by the Ramban that the Torah was created as "black fire upon white fire." The letters are, of course, the black fire. The white fire consists of the spaces between the words or the chapters. Like a "pregnant pause," these spaces, too, have meaning. When you total it all up, it equals 600,000.
Another approach is to see certain letters of the Torah as composites of several letters: An Alef, for example, is made up of a Vav and two Yuds; a Heh is a Raysh and a Yud, and so on. Put them all together and you reach 600,000.
These two ideas have a deep message. First, not all people are alike. Some are outspoken, defined, visible, prominent, like the black fire. Others are quiet, reserved, modest, like the white fire. We need all of them to make a People, to make a Torah.
Further, not every letter stands alone; some need "help" from a fellow letter to be complete. The Heh needs the tall Vav and the small Yud. Likewise, we need each other to make a People, to make a Torah
If even one letter is missing - if even one Jew is missing or incomplete - the Torah/Israel is in need of tikkun (repair). Let us remember that at the Tikkun Leil Shavuot: Every one counts!
We are fast winding down (or is it up?) to the magic number 50. On Shavuot, our journey towards liberation - physical and spiritual - which began on Pesach, will come to a close. Have we made any significant strides? Have we risen higher, even just a tiny bit, on life's ladder?
Parshat Bamidbar also deals with counting, as Moshe conducts a census of Bnei Yisrael. Since, in Parshat Pinchas, yet another census will occur, the entire Sefer is known as Sefer HaPikudim, the Book of Numbers.
The message: Everyone counts!
How many letters are there in the Torah? The Zohar says there are 600,000 letters, corresponding to the 600,000 people tallied in the census. This is symbolized by an acronym using the first letters of "Yisrael" - Yesh Shishim Ribo Otiot L'Torah - there are 600,000 letters in the Torah.
Yet a true count of the letters yields just 304,805 letters. How do we resolve this discrepancy?
One approach is found in the statement by the Ramban that the Torah was created as "black fire upon white fire." The letters are, of course, the black fire. The white fire consists of the spaces between the words or the chapters. Like a "pregnant pause," these spaces, too, have meaning. When you total it all up, it equals 600,000.
Another approach is to see certain letters of the Torah as composites of several letters: An Alef, for example, is made up of a Vav and two Yuds; a Heh is a Raysh and a Yud, and so on. Put them all together and you reach 600,000.
These two ideas have a deep message. First, not all people are alike. Some are outspoken, defined, visible, prominent, like the black fire. Others are quiet, reserved, modest, like the white fire. We need all of them to make a People, to make a Torah.
Further, not every letter stands alone; some need "help" from a fellow letter to be complete. The Heh needs the tall Vav and the small Yud. Likewise, we need each other to make a People, to make a Torah
If even one letter is missing - if even one Jew is missing or incomplete - the Torah/Israel is in need of tikkun (repair). Let us remember that at the Tikkun Leil Shavuot: Every one counts!