This Torah portion contains one of the most bizarre anomalies to be found in a Torah scroll. This anomaly has generated a great deal of speculation over the centuries, and now you are invited to take part in the conversation. We also look into the strange and consistently mistranslated name of this portion. Oh, and how could Moses write that he himself was the most humble man on the face of the earth?!
Numbers 8:2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you light the lamps…’”
בהעלותך את הנרת = “when you raise yourself up with the lamps”
Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp and the Torah is light …
Numbers 8:2 “… When you raise yourself up to perform the commandments …”
Numbers 10:35-36 And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, Adonai, and let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.” And when it rested, he said, “Return, Adonai, to the myriad thousands of Israel.”
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נ = 50
Genesis 12:1 Now Adonai said to Abram, “Go for yourself from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”
לך לך (lech lecha)
לך = 50
Genesis 12:2 “And (a) I will make of you a great nation, and (b) I will bless you and (c) make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”
“Since traveling causes three things: (a) It diminishes being fruitful and multiplying, (b) it diminishes money, and (c) it diminishes reputation, therefore He was bound to these three blessings. He was promised about sons, about money and about reputation.” (Rashi on Genesis 12:2)
נ = נון = “fish”
Numbers 12:3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
והאישׁ משׁה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשׁר על־פני האדמה
= 1774 =
Psalm 113:7
מקימי מעפר דל מאשׁפת ירים אביון
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.
REFERENCES:
Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: … the signs are there because this portion is considered a book unto itself. … According to whose opinion is that which Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said that Rabbi Yonatan said, that with regard to the verse: “With wisdom she built her house, she carved its seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1) … It is according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, as by his count there are seven books of the Torah: [1] Genesis; [2] Exodus; [3] Leviticus; [4] Numbers until: “And when the Ark traveled”; [5] the portion: “And when the Ark traveled,” which is considered its own book; [6] the remainder of Numbers; and [7] Deuteronomy. (b. Shabbat 116a)
“The backwards nun reminds us of our ability to turn around – to do teshuvah – and ‘swim upstream.’” (By Divine Design, R’ Aaron L. Raskin, p.257)
The Verses BEFORE the Backward נ-נ:
Numbers 10:33-34 So they set out from the mount of Adonai three days’ journey. And the ark of the covenant of Adonai went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them. And the cloud of Adonai was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.
The Verses AFTER the Backward נ-נ
Numbers 11:1-2 And the people complained in the hearing of Adonai about their misfortunes, and when Adonai heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of Adonai burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to Adonai, and the fire died down.
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