Hebrew, Copy/Paste, DNA, and Sarah
THE ORIgIN Of HEBREW
veryone knows that Jews are Hebrews and Hebrews are Jews. They are almost interchangeable, almost synonymous. Yet, “Hebrew” is first mentioned in our Torah portion, long before “Jew” (יְהוּדִי, pronounced: Yehudi) which derives from Judah (יְהוּדָה). After the first global-scale conflict between the kings of Mesopotamia and the kings of the Jordan River Valley, which back then was known as the Valley of Sidim, Abram’s nephew Lot was taken captive and “the sole survivor came and told Abram, the Hebrew…”¹ (וַיָּבֹא הַפָּלִיט וַיַּגֵּד ).לְאַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי
Why was Abram called “the Hebrew” (הָעִבְרִי)? The word itself stems from the 3-letter root עבר,² which generally means “to cross over,”³ or to “move through.” What did Abram (Abraham) cross over that was so important it became part of his name? The Torah tells us that, he (together with his father and brothers⁴) crossed over the Euphrates River, a major geographical demarcation line between Mesopotamia (the land between the rivers—between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, or present-day Iraq⁵). But Abram did not just cross over the Euphrates. He continued, on God’s instruction, to travel south into the Land of Canaan, the land between the river (this time the Jordan River) and the Mediterranean Sea and once there, he carried on moving through the land (from north to south), “Abram moved through the land”⁶ ( וַיַּעֲבֹר אַבְרָם בָּאָרֶץ ). Moving through, as noted, uses the same verb as crossing over.
The same verb also means “the past” (עָבָר, pronounced avar), as well as sin (עֲבֵרָה), because a sin means crossing over a forbidden line. Because of this a delinquent or “sinner” is known as an avaryan (עֲבַרְיָן), which could also mean that someone who feels like a sinner is stuck to their past. Because God gave us the incredible remedy known as teshuvah, returning to Him, by confessing our sins (in the present) and taking upon ourselves to refrain from them in the future. Learn from Abram the Hebrew—the one who crosses over: If you find yourself stuck in your past, do teshuvah and cross over the river of time to the present and to the future. Do not live in a subconscious past.
Indeed, it takes faith to believe that God wants to forgive our sins. Abram’s faith was so unique that the Sages explain the word “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי) to mean that Abram not only crossed over a physical river, he also crossed over a cultural and religious barrier, moving beyond the boundaries of accepted thought by choosing to believe in one God who is everything.⁷
One more point about “Hebrew.” Abram was the 20 generation of humanity from Adam. His forefather was a man named Ever (עֵבֶר),⁸ whose two sons were Peleg and Yoktan.⁹ So being a Hebrew also indicates that one is a descendant of Ever. In fact, the value of “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי), 282 is the sum of the names Peleg (פֶּלֶג) and Yoktan (יָקְטָן)!
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THE fIRST COpy/pASTE IN HISTORy
ince the introduction of the graphic S desktop somewhere in the last quarter of the previous century, copying and pasting has become a staple of life. How do you say “copy/paste” in Modern Hebrew? We say ha’atek/hadbek (הַעְתֵּק הַדְבֵּק). The first word, ha’atek literally means “copy.” Its three-letter root is עתק, and its first mention in the Bible is in our parashah, “From there he [Abram] moved [copied his camp] to the mountains east of Bethel”¹⁰ ( וַיַּעְתֵּק מִשָּׁם הָהָרָה מִקֶּדֶם לְבֵית אֵל ). There is only one additional instance of this root used in the Pentateuch, this one regarding Isaac, “He moved from there and dug another well” ( וַיַּעְתֵּק מִשָּׁם וַיַּחְפֹּר בְּאֵר אַחֶרֶת ).
In these two verses, the root means “to move.” Later in the Tanach, it takes on other meanings, but before we look at these notice that whereas Abraham moves to ascend the mountain, Isaac moves to descend to a place where he can dig a new well. These are opposite directions. You can move/copy yourself up to a higher place, or you can move/copy yourself down to a lower place.
OUR gENETIC CODE
he same root, עתק, also means T “ancient,”¹¹ as in the verse, “And the records are ancient”¹² ( וְהַדְּבָרִים עַתִּיקִים ). It also means “intense” or “robust,” as in the verse, “Be silent those lying lips that speak intensely against the tzaddik with arrogance and disdain”¹³ (תֵּאָלַמְנָה שִׂפְתֵי שָׁקֶר הַדֹּבְרוֹת עַל צַדִּיק עָתָק בְּגַאֲוָה וָבוּז ). Sometimes it also means an “abundance” as in, “Riches and honor belong to me, an abundance of wealth and success”¹⁴ (עֹשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד אִתִּי הוֹן עָתֵק וּצְדָקָה ). There is even one source that implies “copying” a text(!), in the verse, “these too are the proverbs of Solomon that were copied by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah”¹⁵ ( גַּם אֵלֶּה מִשְׁלֵי שְׁלֹמֹה אֲשֶׁר הֶעְתִּיקוּ אַנְשֵׁי ).חִזְקִיָּה מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה
When we combine these meanings together, they suggest another modern connection to one of the greatest scientific discoveries: our genetic code, which is copied from parent to child in all forms of life. The genetic code (DNA) is the most robust part of all living organisms, and it is also the most abundant, replicated in every cell in the organism. There is no Hebrew word for DNA. In fact, “genetic code” is boringly translated as, tzofen geneti (צֹפֶן גֵּנֵטִי). But Torah speaks of a similar concept, which it calls “the Luz bone”¹⁶ and from which the entire body will be reconstructed during the Resurrection of the Dead, when God chooses to recreate those who merit life in the World to Come. Like the present theory regarding DNA, the Luz bone can be used to recreate the entire body. Incredibly, the value of “Luz bone” (עֶצֶם הַלּוּז) is 248, the number of organs in the (male) body and the value of “Abraham” (אַבְרָהָם), the first to copy/paste as above.
THE HIgHEST CROWN
here is one more meaning of עתק T that became the most important in Kabbalah. Its origin is in the verse, “and cover the Ancient One”¹⁷ ( וְלִמְכַסֶּה עָתִיק ).
Although most translators of Isaiah render these words as referring to “durable [or stately] clothing,” the Sages say¹⁸ that they refer to either “one who conceals [covers] what the Ancient of Days concealed” or to “one who reveals what the Ancient of Days concealed.” Without trying to reconcile the opposite interpretations, both agree that they refer to God, who is referred to in the Book of Daniel¹⁹ as the “Ancient of Days” (עַתִּיק יוֹמִין), pronounced Atik Yomin. Going back to our original explanation of this verb, עתק, as (re)move, this can also mean “He who is removed from days,” i.e., “He who is above time.” In either case, in Kabbalah, based on the Zohar’s many references to this term, Atik Yomin is considered the upper half of the sefirah of crown, the source of all types of spiritual pleasure.
Returning to the two opinions regarding “and cover the Ancient One”²⁰ (וְלִמְכַסֶּה עָתִיק). It turns out that both are represented in Kabbalah. In the description of Atik Yomin in the Zohar, part of it (the top) is revealed and part of it (the bottom) is concealed. Still, how did “cover the Ancient One” become revealing what the Ancient One concealed? One of the most important principles in Kabbalah is that to be revealed, one must be concealed. How is that, you ask? In our reality, to be seen, to be understood, to become public requires some sort of covering. To be seen, we put on clothing—the naked body cannot be tolerated. To understand a concept, we couch it in a metaphor or allegory—our minds grasp things more easily when they are presented in familiar terms. To become a public icon, one needs to have a “trademark”—we need some regular emblem or logo with which to associate a person or thing. Consider sunlight: to provide light and warmth, there must be a vessel into which sunlight enters, for example the Earth’s atmosphere. Otherwise, as energetic as sunlight is, the interplanetary space through which it travels (from the Sun to the Earth) remains cold and dark.
This is the Kabbalistic principle known as enclothement (הִתְלַבְּשׁוּת). The revealed, higher part of Atik Yomin identified in Chasidut with our faculty of faith has no vessel, it has no enclothement. Faith without “faith in…” something (like the 13 Principles of Faith written by Maimonides or the 9 Principles of Faith of the Torah’s inner dimension²¹) remains ephemeral and only a vague feeling inside us. But when enclothed within concrete principles, faith becomes the most potent force of life. At the same time, the lower part of Atik Yomin, identified with all manners of spiritual pleasure in Chasidut, is encased in a very tight vessel that usually prevents us from feeling the pleasure inherent in serving God.
The connection between Atik Yomin (specifically its higher part) and faith is beautifully illustrated in the first appearance of the three-letter root of the word faith (אֱמוּנָה) in the Torah, also in our parashah. Not surprisingly, Abraham is the first to believe and is therefore known as the head of all believers.²² At the age of 86, God promised him a son, and he believed God’s promise, despite the clear limitations of his age. Incredibly, the value of the entire verse, “And he had faith in Havayah and He considered it a kindness”²³ (וְהֶאֱמִן בַּי־הוה וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה) is the same as the value of Atik Yomin (עַתִּיק יוֹמִין)—both equal 696. In fact, though conjugated as a verb, “and he had faith,” the letters of the first appearance in the Torah of the root of “faith” (וְהֶאֱמִן) can be permuted to spell the noun “faith” (אֱמוּנָה).
SARAH SEES THE fUTURE
n the Torah, Sarah, Abraham’s wife and I partner in his spiritual mission, is also referred to as Yiscah.²⁴ Rashi affirms that Yiscah is in fact Sarah and that she was named Yiscah (יִסְכָּה), from the three-letter root שכה, which means “to gaze,” because she could see the future through Divine inspiration.²⁵ Notice that the left-sided shin, called sin is changed into a samech in Yiscah. This is common in Hebrew, since both letters are pronounced the same.²⁶
Sarah’s ability to see the future is particularly revealed when she sought to banish Hagar and Yishmael due to the negative influence she perceived they were exerting upon Isaac.²⁷ This brought great anguish to Abraham, whose greatest trait was loving-kindness. Yet in this case, his love blinded him to certain negative realities that only Sarah was able to see clearly. God in fact directly commands Abraham to listen to Sarah’s voice in this matter.²⁸ Sarah is considered by tradition to not only have been an equal to the spiritual stature of Abraham, but even to have superseded him in the realm of prophecy.²⁹
SARAH IS ROOTED IN “ISRAEL”
T he two-letter root or gate (sha’ar) of the word Israel is שר, which is also the two-letter root of “ruler,” or “sovereign.” Thus, her name Sarah, can be translated as “princess.”³⁰ The Jewish people are God’s emissaries to infuse the world with an awareness and appreciation of God and His Oneness.
It is significant that of all the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, it is Sarah who is the most intrinsically connected to the name “Israel.” According to Jewish law, Jewishness is determined through the mother. This is one allusion derived from the name of Sarah woven into the name Israel. At the very beginning of Jewish history, it was in fact Sarah who forced the issue that Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, would be the inheritor of the new path that Abraham and Sarah had forged in the world, as discussed above.
fROm SARAI TO SARAH
ne final insight about Sarah’s O name. When Moses sent the twelve spies, he added the letter yud to Hosea’s name ( הוֹשֵׁעַ ) to strengthen him, and thus it became Yehoshua ( יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ), or Joshua.³¹ The Sages trace the yud added to Hosea’s name to Sarah, whose name was initially Sarai. When God commanded Abraham to circumcise, he also told him that from now on, his wife Sarai (שָׂרַי) would be known as Sarah (שָׂרָה).³² The Sages explain that the letter yud has masculine energy which Joshua needed, but which was preventing Sarai from giving birth. The letter hei on the other hand represents feminine energy.³³ Once the change had been made, Sarah could give birth to Isaac and Joshua could become the conqueror of the Land of Canaan.
1. Genesis 14:13.
2. Incidentally, this is the first appearance of the word “Hebrew” and its three-letter root in the entire Bible.
3. It is easy to hear the phonetic similarity of over to עבר, pronounced avar. We will see many such phonetic resemblances in this series. They all apparently stem from ages past, when the Torah tells us that humanity spoke a single language—the one spoken since Adam and Eve: Hebrew.
4. Genesis 11:27. See also Joshua 24:2, “Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river [Euphrates]— Terach, father of Abraham and father of Nachor— and they served other Gods.”
5. If you ever hear someone say that Abraham—and by extension all Jews, his descendants—was Iraqi, this is the reason.
6. Genesis 12:6.
7. Bereishit Rabbah 42:13; The Inner Dimension, p. 36.
8. Genesis 11:16.
9. Peleg was so named because the Tower of Babylon was built in his generation and his descendants dispersed from there having lost the ability to communicate in one language; see note 3 above.
10. Genesis 12:8.
11. For the various meanings of three-letter roots in the Tanach, we normally consult Rabbi David Kimchi’s Sefer HaShorashim. Another important reference is Mandelkern’s Concordance of the Tanach.
12. 1 Chronicles 4:23.
13. Psalms 31:19 and elsewhere.
14. Proverbs 8:18.
15. Ibid. 25:1.
16. Vayikra Rabbah 18:1: The emperor Hadrian asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya: “From where will the Holy blessed One make man blossom in the future?” He replied: “From the Luz bone attached to the spine.” He said to him: “Can you prove this to me?” He brought one before him. He placed it in water, but it did not dissolve. He ground it in a mill, but it was not ground. He placed it in fire, but it did not burn. He placed it on an anvil and began striking it with a hammer. The anvil divided and the hammer split, but it was to no avail.
17. Isaiah 23:18.
18. Pesachim 119a.
19. Daniel 7:9, “As I looked on, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days sat, His garment like white snow.” Obviously, this is metaphoric language used to describe some aspect of Godliness that Daniel saw in his mind’s eye. See also the beautiful blessing that was given by the Sages including this aspect of “the Ancient of Days” in Berachot 17a.
20. Isaiah 23:18.
21. See our series on these two sets of principles of faith beginning with Wonders (issue 198) for parashat Shelach, 5786.
22. Based on Song of Songs 4:8, which refers to Abraham (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4:3).
23. Genesis 15:7.
24. Ibid. 11:29.
25. Megillah 14a.
26. In fact, because the samech is interchangeable with the sin, there are Torah scholars who discount it as an independent letter (together with the letter tet—ט); these are the only two letters that appear less than 2000 times in the Pentateuch.
27. Genesis 21:9–13; Bava Batra 58a.
28. Ibid. 21:12.
29. Shemot Rabbah 1:1; The Hebrew Letters, p.111.
30. Tosefta Berachot 1:14.
31. Numbers 13:16.
32. Bereishit Rabbah 47:1.
33. The differences in energy between the letters are clearly demonstrated in God’s essential Name, Havayah, where yud is the father principle (Abba) and the two letters hei are the mother principle (Imma) and the feminine counterpart (Nukva).
