Thursday 22 May 2008

All the sevens ...

The second visual midrash in B'chukotai occurs twice and revolves around the number seven and the letter zayin, the seventh letter of the Alphabet. Throughout the section on the curses, we are informed that Hashem will punish us 'seven ways for our sins' (26:18, 21, 25, 28) and the duration of the punishment revolves around 'appeasing the land' for each of 'the sabbaticals it missed it did not rest'. Again a concentration on the number seven.

This is reflected in two words, ezarah (I will scatter) in Vayikra 26:33
and te'azev (will be bereft) in 26:43 both words describing the Israelites absense from the land and exile. In both there is a zayin described as akuma - bent or by the Meiri (in Kiryat Sefer) as m'ugelet - rounded.

However there is some disagreement over what this form looks like and there are a number of versions. Torah Sh'lema notes two versions but there are more.
On the first the Ba'al Haturim explains that 'it indicates to you that [God said], "I gave you the land of the seven [Canaanite] nations, that you should there fulfil Torah" [of which it is written] she carved out her seven pillars (Proverbs 9:1). But you had seven abominations in your hearts, therefore And you I will scatter [among the nations].'

The seven abominations correspond to the seven sins and is a paraphrase of Proverbs 26:25 concerning the decietful person 'though his voice is ingratiating do not trust him for there are seven abominations in his heart'. The seven pillars of wisdom are the seven books of the Torah - counting the section encased by the nun hafuchot (Numbers 10:35-36) as a separate book breaking Bamidbar into three books making seven in all (Shabbat 116a).

The second use on te'azev (bereft), 'indicates that for a period of seven years [the curse of] sulphur and salt outlined in Deuteronomy 29:22 was fulfiled in the Land [of Israel]'.

So all the sevens are reflected in the letter that represents the number 7.

But why is this letter described as bent?

Perhaps this visual midrash is the compliment and opposite to the one described in the previous blog? There, the kuf of the word kom'miyut (erect) gained extra taggin to demonstrate the growth in our spiritual nature, that we would have the upright stature of Adam Rishon (some two hundred cubits). Should we follow Hashem's laws. Here however we are far from upright - instead we are bent over, humble and contrite, through our abandonment of those same laws and hence the letter reflects this diminishing of our self.

Our wrong choice leads us to the bent nature of the zayin of zarah (strangeness/idolatry) instead of the upright kuf of kodesh (holiness and separation).

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