In the middle – Sh’mini
A strange feature of this sidra is the word gachon (Leviticus 11:42) which is written with a large vav. The rabbinic note to this word says, vav rabbati v’hi chatzi haTorah b’oti’ot, “the vav is large because this is the middle letter of the Torah”.
So how many letters does the Torah contain? The answer is 600,805. The nearest round number being 600,000, this is the same number as there were Israelites at the exodus from Egypt.
Each Israelite therefore had a personal letter in the Torah. If one Israelite, therefore, decided to be the wicked son of the Haggadah and opt out of the community, the Torah would not be complete.
Yes, you might argue that to lose one person is infinitesimal and surely makes no perceptible difference. But once heard a rabbi offering the analogy of a huge chandelier (shades of “Phantom of the Opera”). The chandelier is fastened to the ceiling by many screws. But who knows which screw is the really crucial one? Perhaps the one that becomes loose will cause the whole chandelier to come crashing down.
And so it is with Jews. Who knows which apparently insignificant person is the crucial one whose absence will make the whole community disintegrate?
