לזכות רפואה שלימה אחינו כל בית ישראל הנתונים בצרה ובשביה
Towards the end of this week’s Parshah, the Pesukim describe the various animals that are permitted and prohibited for consumption; the Possuk states [Vayikra, 11’ 42’]:
“You shall not eat, among all things that swarm upon the earth, anything that crawls on its abdomen, or anything that walks on fours, or anything that has many legs; for they are an abomination.”
The Hebrew word for “abdomen” used by the Torah here is “Gachon”; one reading the Torah will notice that the third of the four Hebrew letters that make up the word “gachon” is a Va’’v, which in this case is written larger than the other letters. The Gemara in Kiddushin 30A comments:
“...Therefore, because they devoted so much time to the Bible, the first Sages were called: Those who count [soferim], because they would count all the letters in the Torah, as they would say that the letter vav in the word “belly [gaḥon]” (Leviticus 11:42) is the midpoint of the letters in a Torah scroll…”
Hence, it seems, that the Halachah requires this letter to be written in a noticeable fashion in order to inspire the awareness that this is the midletter of the entire Torah. What is the significance of this?
The great Rabbinic commentator, R’ Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai [Chid”a] writes in the name of the mystical Rishon R’ Ephraim [in his work, “Nachal Kedumim”], that the letter Va’’v, which in the system of Gematriya has the value of 6, is alluding to the fact that the Torah was given on the 6th day of Sivan [the Holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah, will fall out on the 6th day of Sivan], as well as the 6 words of the Possuk, “Shema Yisrael, Ad-onai Elo-henu Ad-onai Echad”. Hence, at the halfway point of the Torah, the Torah mystically points to the fact that the central theme of Judaism is the declaration in the belief of G-d’s oneness.
The above allusion seems straightforward enough; however, the puzzling question [not addressed by the Chid’’a] that arises is quite simply, what does this lesson have to do with the basic meaning of the Possuk prohibiting the eating of anything that crawls on its belly? Mystically, the commentaries [see the Nachal Kedumim ad. loc.] connect the Possuk here, which has the word “Gachon’’, with the Possuk in Bereishit that states, after the snake is found guilty of conspiring to have Eve [Chavah] sin, [Berishit 3’ 14’]:
“...Then Hashem said to the serpent, Because you did this, More cursed shall you be Than all cattle And all the wild beasts. On your belly [Gachoncha] shall you crawl, And dirt shall you eat All the days of your life.”
Ergo, the Torah’s prohibition of eating animals that crawl on their belly represents the deeper idea of avoiding the confusing designs of the Yetzer Hara, as manifested by the snake in the story of Adam and Chava [Eve]. Thus, we can suggest that the foundation of the entire Torah rests on the declaration of pure and simple faith that we proclaim twice a day—“Shema Yisrael, Ad-onai Elo-henu Ad-onai Echad”, which, when done properly, empowers the Jewish people to defeat the machinations of the Yetzer Hara.
Dedicated in memory of all those who have perished and sacrificed for Am Yisrael.
Have a Great Shabbas.