Posted March 16, 2005 by Rabbi Judy Abrams. Please refer to Maqom's home page for information about previous passages.
Dear Friends,
Since the topic of Bibliomancy has generated so much discussion I thought we might continue looking at the topic from the perspective of midrashim on the letters of the alphabet. You may need to take out a Hebrew text and actually look at the shape of the letters for this Talmud passage to make sense.
Alef Bet [means] 'learn wisdom [alef Binah];
Gimmel Dalet. Show kindness to the Poor [Gemol Dallim].
Why is the foot of the Gimmel stretched toward the Dalet? Because it is fitting for the benevolent to run after [seek out] the poor. And why is the roof of the Dalet stretched out toward the Gimmel? Because he [the poor] must make himself available to him. And why is the face of the Dalet turned away from the Gimmel? Because he must give him [help] in secret, lest he be ashamed of him.
Hey, Vav, that is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He;
Zayyin, Chet, Tet, Yud, Kaf, Lamed: [this sequence teaches,] and if you do thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, will sustain [Zan] you, be gracious [Chen] unto you, show goodness [meiTiv] to you, give you a heritage [Yerushah], and bind a crown [Keter] on you in the world to come.
The open Mem and the closed Mem [denote] open teaching [Ma'amar] and closed [esoteric] teaching [Satum].
The bent Nun and the straight Nun: the faithful [Ne'eman] if bent [humble], [will ultimately be] the faithful, straightened.
Samek, 'ayyin: support [Semak] the poor ['aniyyim]....
The bent pey and the straight pey [intimate] an open mouth [peh], a closed mouth.
A bent tsaddi and a straight tsaddi: the righteous [tsaddik] is bent [in this world]; the righteous is straightened [in the next world]....Kuf [stands for] Kadosh [holy];
Resh [for] Rasha' [wicked]: why is the face of the Kuf averted from, the Resh? The Holy (haKadosh) One, blessed be He, said: I cannot look at the wicked. And why is the crown of the Kuf turned toward the Resh? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: If he repents, I will bind a crown on him like Mine. And why is the foot of the Kuf suspended? [To show] that if he repents, he can enter and be brought in [to God's favor] through this [opening]....
SHin [stands for] SHeker [falsehood]; Taf [for] emet [truth]: why are the letters of Sheker close together, while those of emet are far apart? Falsehood is frequent, truth is rare. And why does falsehood [stand] on one foot, whilst truth has a brick-like foundation? Truth can stand, falsehood cannot stand. (B. Shabbat 104a)
Discussion Questions: