Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Talmudic Acronyms: Shabata 105a

After a (mostly chag-induced) month long break, the Nailed Shoe is back!

In the Talmud, acronyms are called 'notricons.'  There are three different traditions about the notricon interpretation of the word 'Anoci' (aleph nun cuf yud) at the beginning of the Ten Commandments.  Rebbe Yochanan teaches that it means 'Ana nafshi cativat yahevit', or 'I myself wrote and gave.'  The sages teach, 'Amira Ne'mana Cativa Yahiva' or 'A pleasant utterance I wrote and gave.'  Others reverse the order of the letters and teach, 'Y'heva cativa ne'emanim ameria' or 'It was  given written, it's sayings are faithful.'  (the translations were tricky so I'm using those at www.dafyomi.co.il)

These are fun but strange.  I like the first one - it emphasizes the personal (as it were) nature of G-d's gift of the Torah.  

There is a famous statement on 104b.  Why are the letters for 'truth' (Aleph-Mem-Tav) spread very far apart - the first, middle, and last letter of the aleph-bet, while the letters for falsehood (Shin-Kuf-Resh) are all next to each other?  It is because truth is rare while falsehood is common.   When I read it, my mind went to recent reflections on how easy it is for perceptions to jump to falsehood, while perceiving the truth can take a lot of work and discipline.