In the Chumashim that we have, there is a note at the end of each parashah with the number of pesukim it contains. This was the work of the baalei hamesorah, who worked to precisely preserve the nusach of the Torah, and the other holy writings, and in counting their pesukim and letters.
This week’s parashah – Shemini – is unique in that it has 91 pesukim, which is numerically equivalent to amen. There are other parshiyos with almost the same number of pesukim – Pekudei has 92 and Tazria has 90 pesukim. But there is only one parashah in the Torah that has exactly 91 pesukim and that is Shemini.
I came across this number under remarkable circumstances. It was Erev Shabbos Parashas Shemini of 5774. On that day, I came to shul early before Shabbos, and I was zocheh to fulfill an aspiration I’d had for a long time – to finish shnayim mikra v’echad Targum by Erev Shabbos (as per the Magen Avraham 285 6).
After reading the final passuk in the parashah, I noticed the number of pesukim, and I was amazed to see that the number has the same value as amen, which is so close to my heart.
Later, a significant personal connection to this parashah and its number of pesukim emerged. In 5774, the year when this happened, Shabbos Parashas Shemini came out on 26 Nissan, which is the yahrtzeit of my grandfather, Rav Yaakov Dov Marmurstein, ztz”l, whose name and legacy I am zocheh to carry.
My grandfather’s adherence to answering amen was eternalized both by his age and the year he passed away – as he passed away at the age of 91 in the year א“תרצ. But now, it became clear to me that the day of his yahrtzeit is also connected to answering amen. Parashas Shemini, whose reading falls in regular years very close to his yahrtzeit, contains exactly 91 pesukim. The fact that I came across this after saying “shnayim mikra” adds more depth, because when reading “shnayim mikra” of Parashas Shemini, we read 182 pesukim, which is numerically equivalent to the name יעקב– which as we know has the value of twice amen.
I will just add that the name עבדיה– which is numerically equivalent to amen, and which the baalei hamesorah chose as the word to represent the number of pesukim in this parashah, teaches us that anyone who seeks to be an eved Hashem, truly and sincerely – has to be very strict to answer amen. And with that, I will dedicate this issue to the merit and aliyas neshamah of my grandfather, who was an eved Hashem all his life, Rav Yaakov Dov ben Reb Shmuel Mordechai Marmurstein ztz”l.
Good Shabbos
Yaakov Dov Marmurstein
