Shabbat 104a (קד.) — the Talmud in English

Specifically,

if he made an open letter closed

it is valid, because

he improves it,

as the closed form is more significant than the open form.

For Rav Ḥisda said: The final mem and samekh on the Tablets—

stood by means of a miracle,

and necessarily this refers to the final mem and samekh, in which there was a miracle, because the writing was engraved through and through on the Tablets. Consequently, there was empty space surrounding the final mem and the samekh, without their being connected to the Tablets.

Thus, there were closed letters on the Tablets, whereas open letters did not yet exist on them, since their writing had not yet been instituted, as the Gemara will explain.

But if he made a closed letter open,

the law is that it is disqualified, since

he diminishes its quality.

For Rabbi Yirmeya said, and some say Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: The letters menatzפך

which are the letters that have both open and closed forms

were stated by the seers,

the prophets of the generations instituted them; this refers to the open letters, since the closed letters were already on the Tablets.

But it still follows that Rav Ḥisda is difficult, since we do not find a tanna who says that if one made a closed letter open, it is valid?

And we answer:

Can you understand it

to mean that open letters were not stated at Sinai?!

But it is written: “These are the mitzvot

and the ordinances that the Lord commanded through Moses.” And we derive:

that a prophet is not permitted to introduce any new matter thereafter,

and this includes the form in which the letters are written in a Torah scroll, tefillin, and mezuzot.

Rather,

necessarily,

both existed

both forms were given at Sinai, but

we did not know which

of them was

for the middle of a word and which

of them was

for the end of a word.

And the seers came and instituted them,

so that the open forms would be used in the middle and the closed forms at the end.

And since both are of equal importance, one can say as at first: Since, according to Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira, if one made an open letter closed it is valid, if one made a closed letter open it is also valid. And Rav Ḥisda holds in accordance with this tanna.

But still

the difficulty remains: How could the seers have instituted the placement of the open and closed letters? Did we not say:

“These are the mitzvot,” meaning that a prophet is not permitted to introduce any new matter thereafter?

And we answer:

Rather,

from the outset the placement of the open and closed letters was also transmitted at Sinai. But

they forgot them, and the seers returned

the placement and

established it.

With regard to the fundamental matter: Rav Ḥisda said: The final mem and samekh on the Tablets—

stood by means of a miracle.

And Rav Ḥisda said: The writing on the Tablets could be read from within and from without.

From the other side, the letters appeared reversed, and the words were also reversed,

for example, “navuv”

was read from the outside as

“buvan.” “bahar”—

“rahav.” “saru,” “varas.”

These were not actual words on the Tablets; he cited them merely as examples. There is no further novelty here; it comes to teach us, as above, that the writing went through and through, and therefore there was a miracle with the final mem and samekh. [Rashi’s commentary on Exodus 32:15 appears to indicate that the miracle was that the letters could be read on the other side in their proper form. This requires examination. See the Maharsha’s Ḥiddushei Aggadot here.]

The Sages said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Children have come

the schoolchildren

today

now

to the study hall, and they have said matters such that even in the days of Joshua bin Nun nothing like them was said:

Alef bet

is an acrostic:

aleph binah,

learn Torah.

Gimel dalet—

bestow kindness upon the poor.

And the children explained them:

Why is the extended leg of the gimel directed toward the dalet?

Why does the leg of the gimel incline toward the dalet before it, rather than toward the bet after it?

Because that is the way of one who performs acts of kindness: to run after the poor.

And why is the extended leg of the dalet directed toward the gimel,

with the leg of the dalet inclining slightly backward?

So that he should make himself available to him,

for the poor person should make himself available to the giver, so as not to trouble him to run after him.

And why does the face of the dalet turn away from the gimel?

Why is the face of the dalet turned away from the gimel?

So that he should give to him discreetly, so that he not be embarrassed

so that the poor person not be embarrassed

by him.

He

is

and

—

this is one of the Names of the Holy One, blessed be He

[“He-and” is one of the Names of the Holy One, blessed be He, as explained in Sukka 45a: “I and He, please save.”]

Zayin

wine

het

grace

tet

goodness

yod

His hand

kaf

palm

lamed

teaching—

and if you do so, the Holy One, blessed be He, sustains you, grants you grace, benefits

you, gives you an inheritance, and binds a crown

for you in the World to Come.

An open mem, a closed mem—

an open statement, a closed statement.

There are matters that one is permitted to expound, and there are matters that one is commanded to keep concealed, such as the account of the Chariot.

A bent nun, a straight nun—

a trustworthy person is bent.

A worthy person must be bent and humble.

A trustworthy person is straight,

for ultimately he will be straight and upright in the World to Come.

Samekh

wine—

support the poor.

Alternatively—

make signs in the Torah and acquire it.

Make mnemonic signs concerning the order of the statements of the tannaim or amoraim, so that they will not be forgotten [as is brought in the Talmud in several places, where mnemonics precede consecutive statements on one subject].

Pe

open

a bent pe,

open

a straight—

an open mouth,

when the great scholars of the generation are not disseminating Torah, it is incumbent upon you to teach Torah to students.

A closed mouth

when the great scholars are disseminating Torah, hold fast to humility and do not assume authority to teach others.

A bent tsadi and a straight tsadi—

a righteous person is bent; a righteous person is straight.

And we inquire:

Is this not the same as “a trustworthy person is bent; a trustworthy person is straight,”

which was already mentioned above?

And we answer:

The verse added another bending to your bending!

From here it follows that the Torah was given with a bowed head,

with awe and extraordinary humility.

Kuf—

holy.

This refers to the Holy One, blessed be He.

Resh—

wicked.

Why does the face of the kuf turn away from the resh

with the face of the resh turned away from the kuf [the Gemara states it in reverse, out of respect in speaking of the Holy One, blessed be He]?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I cannot look at a wicked person!

And why does the tag of the kuf incline toward the resh?

Why does the crown atop the kuf incline toward the resh?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: If he repents—

I will bind a crown for him like mine.

That is, the crown [the tag atop the kuf] is intended for him if he repents.

And why is the leg of the kuf suspended?

Is the leg of the kuf suspended in the air and not attached to the roof of the kuf?

For if he repents

the wicked person, if he wishes to repent—

let him enter through this, and enter through it,

through this upper opening between the left leg of the kuf, and he will be accepted back; this opening was created for him.

And we challenge this: Why is an upper opening necessary? The kuf also has a lower opening, in the space between its right and left legs. If so,

let him enter,

let the wicked person who wishes to repent go around the kuf and enter

through this

lower opening, through which he emerged; why was a special opening created for him in order to repent?!

And we answer: The creation of this special opening for one who repents

supports the teaching of Reish Lakish.

For Reish Lakish said:

What is the meaning of that which is written

in the Book of Proverbs:

“If it concerns scorners—

He will scorn them,

but to the humble He gives grace”? This teaches you:

One who comes to defile himself,

he is allowed to proceed on his own,

and openings are made available to him

an opening through which he can emerge and enter into impurity; he is not prevented, but neither is he assisted.

But

one who comes to purify himself—

he is assisted,

as a special opening is prepared for him, as here: the left leg of the kuf was separated from its roof in order to create an immediate opening close to the wicked person [alluded to by the letter kuf] who repents, so that he need not go around and enter beneath the kuf; rather, as soon as he turns back, an opening is prepared for him through which to return.

This is the meaning of “but to the humble He gives grace”: If he inclines toward the good attribute, grace from Heaven will be given to him to assist him.

Shin—

falsehood.

Tav—

truth.

Why? The words of falsehood are close together,

as its three letters are close to one another in the alphabetical order, whereas

the words of truth are far apart,

as one is at the beginning of the alphabet, one in the middle, and one at the end?

Because

falsehood is common,

just as its letters are close to one another. Whereas

truth

is

not common,

just as its letters are far apart from one another in the alphabetical order.

And why does falsehood stand on one leg,

with each of its letters standing on only one leg,

whereas

truth

has a brick beneath its bricks,

like a brick beneath its letters, whose bases are stable: the alef and tav stand on two legs, and the mem has a broad base?

Because

truth stands,

truth stands and endures, whereas

falsehood does not stand.

Alef-tav, bet-shin

From this point onward, the letters of the alphabet are expounded according to the order of alef-tav, bet-shin: first the first letter of the alphabet and the last letter are expounded, then the second letter from the beginning and the second from the end, and so on.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said:

Alef-tav—

the wicked person despised Me;

and should I

desire him?

Bet-shin—

he did not desire Me;

and should

My Name rest upon him?

Gimel-resh—

he defiled his body;

and should

I have mercy on him?

Dalet-kuf—

he locked My doors;

and should

I not cut off his horns?

Until here

is

the conduct of the wicked.

But the conduct of the righteous—

Alef-tav, bet-shin—

if you are ashamed

to sin, you will merit

gimel-resh, dalet-kuf. If you act in this manner,

that you are ashamed to be a sinner—

dwell in purity,

your soul will be bound beneath My Throne and beneath the canopy of Heaven.

And you will likewise merit

he-tsadi, vav-pe—

a partition will exist between you and

wrath

and anger.

And likewise

zayin-ayin, het-samekh, tet-nun—

you will not tremble before Satan.

Yod-mem, kaf-lamed—

the minister of Gehinnom said before the Holy One, blessed be He: To the sea

of mine!

Gehinnom is called a sea because most people go to Gehinnom, and he says to the Holy One, blessed be He: Give the entire world to my sea.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Alef-het-samekh, bet-tet-ayin, gimel-yod-pe

the alphabetical order with seven letters between each one—

I have compassion on them

on Israel

because they refrained from sexual immorality

[the Aramaic word for sexual immorality].

Dalet-kaf-tsadi—

they are pure, they are sincere, they are righteous.

He-lamed-kuf—

woe to you,

Gehinnom,

for you have a portion in them.

And mem-resh-zayin, shin-tav—

and

Gehinnom said before Him: Master of the universe, my Master, feed me!

[the Master who feeds the world]:

Give me some of the descendants of Seth,

whether gentiles or Jews [for the entire world is descended from Seth].

He said to him,

the Holy One, blessed be He:

Alef-lamed, bet-mem, gimel-nun, dalet-samekh

the first, middle, and last letters of the alphabet.

Alef-lamed, bet-mem—do not have a portion of them, of Israel. Rather: gimel-nun, dalet-samekh—

where will He lead them?—

to the garden of myrtle,

the Garden of Eden.

He-ayin, vav-pe—

Gehinnom said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe! I am hungry

from starvation [he-ayin, vav-pe—“behold, I am hungry from starvation”].

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him:

zayin-tsadi, het-kuf—

these are the descendants of Isaac.

Tet-resh, yod-shin, kaf-tav—

wait.

Wait and bide your time, because

I have groups upon groups of idolaters—

that I will give you.