When the Torah Whispers

The Torah speaks to us in many ways.

Sometimes the Torah shouts. It raises its voice when laying down laws that are never to be broken—then, now, or ever. They are considered statutes that are chukim l’olam¹, —-for all time.

Or sometimes the Torah blares truths that we might not want to hear, like when we read about painful or cringeworthy moments in our shared history.

But there are also moments when the Torah whispers. Not in any audible way, but with a quiet nudge—a voice I feel more in my gut than in my ears. A whisper that reminds me the Torah, in all its glory (and, yes, often gory), is a work that stretches beyond the bounds of my imagination.

Let me leave you with just one small example—a teeny, tiny detail that might speak volumes. Maybe you already know this. I didn’t until recently, and while I might be late in coming to this knowledge, on the off chance that you haven’t come across this either, I’ll share.

So, our name, ISRAEL in Hebrew ישראל yud-shin-resh-aleph-lamed, contains all the initials of all our matriarchs and patriarchs.

Sarah (shin)

Rivka (resh),

Rachel (resh),

Leah (lamed)

Avraham (aleph)

Yitzkhak (yud), and Jacob (yud).

Here’s where it gets even more amazing.

Count the letters in each matriarch’s name in Hebrew. Sarah (שרה) has 3, Rivka (רבקה) has 4, Rachel (רחל) has 3, Leah (לאה) has 3. Total: 13 letters.

Do the same for the patriarchs: Avraham (אברהם) has 5, Yitzhak (יצחק) has 4, and Yaakov (יעקב) has 4. Again: 13 letters.

Just to bold this: they have the same number of letters. And the initials spell ISRAEL.

The number 13 is a significant number in Judaism (obviously, we don’t subscribe to the superstitions surrounding this number), and one reason is that Hashem is described with 13 attributes in the Torah². Also, Jacob (Israel) had 13 children. But there’s a bit more.

The Name for Hashem in the Torah [the Tetragrammaton] that we are not to pronounce, nor do we know how, has a numerical equivalent of Gematria of 26, 13 x 2.

Make of all this what you will. Maybe it’s a whisper. Maybe it’s a shout. But it’s undeniable for sure.

Let me know if you already knew this (I promise not to be too envious of your education), and whether you’d like to read more pieces like this.

1. English translations for olam offer ‘world’, which is not accurate. The root word for ayin-vov-lamed-mem refers to properties both in the physical and temporal realms. This root word means all that exists, and also that which is timeless. But this also relates to the same root word for that which is hidden. So put them all together….and like I said, it’s a whisper that just might shout.

2. Exodus / Shemot 34:6-7