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Show Notes
Parshat Shemini, a parsha that holds an astonishing secret: the exact midpoint of the Torah — both in words and in letters — is found here. But it’s not just a cool
trivia fact. This secret reveals a deeper message about Torah, support for
Torah, and the spiritual roles we play.
The Torah's Midpoints — More Than Math In Vayikra 10:16, we find the phrase: 'ואת שעיר
החטאת דרש דרש משה והנה שרף' “Moshe inquired insistently about the goat
of the sin-offering, and behold, it had been burned.'
Now here’s
the gematria-level nugget: the word 'דרש' appears twice
— and this double appearance marks the midpoint of the words of the Torah.
Then in Vayikra 11:42, in the list of forbidden creeping creatures, we read: 'כל
הולך על גחון' “Anything that moves on its belly...' The letter 'vav'
in the word 'גחון' is the midpoint of the letters of the Torah — and it’s traditionally written larger than normal. The Gemara in Kiddushin 30a and Maseches Sofrim teach us that our sages were called 'sofrim' — counters — precisely because they counted every letter and word.
But why would Hashem arrange for these midpoints to land here?