The Torah's Column Structure Traditions

(10) with its twenty posts and their twenty sockets of copper, the hooks and bands of the posts to be of silver. (11) Again a hundred cubits of hangings for its length along the north side—with its twenty posts and their twenty sockets of copper, the hooks and bands of the posts to be of silver.

(10) with their twenty posts and their twenty sockets of copper, the hooks and bands of the posts being silver. (11) On the north side, a hundred cubits—with their twenty posts and their twenty sockets of copper, the hooks and bands of the posts being silver. (12) On the west side, fifty cubits of hangings—with their ten posts and their ten sockets, the hooks and bands of the posts being silver.

(17) The sockets for the posts were of copper, the hooks and bands of the posts were of silver, the overlay of their tops was of silver; all the posts of the enclosure were banded with silver.—

(7) “The Tabernacle of Testimony” (Exodus 38:21): What is the testimony? This is the Torah in which [Israel] toils....

... The scribes already practice this tradition and it is absolutely correct and proper to continue it: this is a very important matter.

(5) ... Some have the custom to start each column with a vav – calling it vavei ha׳amudim; this should be discouraged, because the letters are so squashed and stretched to achieve it that it comes to be written incorrectly and spoiled. Even if one can do it without unduly squashing and stretching the letters, he should still refrain, because other people will think that they can do it too, even if they cannot space their writing properly, and they will squash and stretch letters just as they please (Benei Yonah).

(5) Sing to God, chant hymns to His name; extol Him who rides the clouds; the LORD is His name. Exult in His presence—

(5) Some scribes are careful always to start columns with one of the letters beis, yod, hey, shin, mem, and vav. That is, beis from Bereshis; yod from Yehudah ata (Gen 49:8); hey from habaim achareihem (Ex. 14:28); shin from shmar lekha (Ex. 34:11 [Ashkenaz]) – some say from shnei ha-se-irim goralot (Lev 16:8 [Western Sephardic]) and some say from Shmor ve-shama-ta (Deut 12:28 [Italian]); mem from mah tovu (Num 24:5 [Ashkenaz, Western Sephardic), and some say from motza sfateikha (Deut 23:24 [Italian]); and vav from v'aidah bam (Deut 31:28). Post facto, if one did not write it this way, it is not invalid.

(10) There are other rules mentioned in the Talmud which the scribes observe as a tradition handed down from one to another. They are as follows: The number of lines in each column shall not be less than forty-eight and not more than sixty; the blank spaces between one section and another shall be such that nine letters, e.g., aleph-shin-resh, aleph-shin-resh, aleph-shin-resh, can be written in it. The five lines preceding the Song at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:28, 29, 30, 30, 31) shall begin respectively with the words Habaim, Bayabashah, Hashem, Mes, Bemitzraim. The five lines after it shall begin respectively with the words Vatikach, Achareha, Sus, Vayetzëü, Vayavöü (Exodus 15:20, 20, 21, 22, 23). The six lines before the Song of Moses beginning Haazinu (Deuteronomy 32:1-43) shall respectively commence with the words Veaeedah, Acharé, Haderech, Beacharith, Lehacheeso, Kehal (Deuteronomy 31:28, 29, 29, 29, 29, 30); and the five lines after the Song of Moses shall begin with the words Vayabo, Ledabber, Asher, Hazoth, Asher (Deuteronomy 32:44, 45, 46, 46, 47). All these points of observance are to enable us to fulfill the duty in the best way. Variations in these particulars do not render the scroll unfit for use.

(1) שני השעירם גרלות: in Sephardic scrolls, the head of the column, and it is written in their margins [masora parva] that this is the Shin of the בי"ה שמ"ו ע"כ. And in the readings of Rome it is instead שמור ושמעת of Parashat Re'eh, and in other [Ashkenaz] scrolls שמר לך of Parashat Ki Tissa as it is written there.⁶

(1) הבאים אחריהם בים, “who were coming behind them in the sea.” The rule for writing a Sefer Torah stipulates that six words must be written at the beginning of a page. The easy way to remember these six words is by their respective first letters, בי'ה שמ'ו. The words in question are ב-ראשית, י-הודה (אתה יודוך)-באים (אחריהם) ש-מור ושמעת מ-וצא (שפתיך) ו-אעידה (בם) .ה- It is possible that the reason that just these six words need to be written at the beginning of a page is that they contain an allusion to a renewal of the whole process of creation which the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt represented. G’d was “riding in the highest heaven, בערבות.” The two words formed by the acrostic of the six words we mentioned are taken from Psalms 68,5: שירו לאלו-הים זמרו שמו סלו לרוכב בערבות ביה שמו ועלזו לפניו, “Sing to G’d, chant Hymns in His name; extol Him Who rides the clouds.” It is interesting to observe how the allusion in the letter ה of the acrostic בי''ה ties in with what Moses sang in his song עזי וזמרת יה. This is why he repeated the words מי כמוכה ה' twice. The letter ה in the word ביה in Psalms (68,5) and the extra letter ה at the end of the word כמוכ-ה (15,11) allude to the first and last letter ה in the tetragram respectively. The first one is at the same time the last one in the list of the ten emanations, a reference to the attribute of Justice, referred to in מי כמוכה באלם, i.e. a defective spelling of אלהים in 15,11. Moses referred to the מלאך האלו-הים who had taken up position behind the Israelites. We have discussed this in detail on 14,19. He is referred to here also as הבאים אחריהם בים, meaning that G’d’s salvation of the Israelites at the sea occurred by means of that attribute, that angel. According to our sages in Menachot 29 the word ב-הבראם in Genesis 2,4 is equivalent to the Torah having written ב-ה בראם, that G’d created the universe with the letter ה of the tetragrammaton. Another explanation is that the re-arrangement of the word בהבראם results in the word באברהם, meaning that the merit of Avraham (in the future) was responsible for G’d creating the world. [Just as the eventual existence of Yaakov was the reason G’d saved Avraham from Nimrod’s furnace (compare Isaiah 29,22) although Yaakov had not yet been born, so G’d found it worthwhile to create the world in order for a human being of Avraham’s caliber to come into existence. Ed.] You will find that in the previously mentioned six words of the Torah which must always be written at the beginning of a page, the second letter in each of the first five of these words when read as an acrostic forms the name אברהם. The sixth word, i.e. ואעידה is used to symbolize the 6 directions in the universe, i.e. north, south, east, west, up, and down. In other words: these six directions came into existence due to the merit of Avraham. The entire concept is a brilliant illustration of the words of the psalmist (Psalms 89,3) עולם חסד יבנה, that the whole universe was founded on the concept of חסד, i.e. Avraham’s outstanding virtue.

(1) מה טבו must be written at the top of the column in accordance with halakha since it is the mem of בי"ה שמ"ו, and thus did write the Baal haTurim....

(1) מוצא שפתיך תשמור, written in the margins of the Sefer Torah tikkun: מוצא שפתיך must be at the head of the column in the Sefer Torah, it is the mem of בי"ה שמ"ו; but such is [also] written in Parashat Balaak concerning Mah Tovu.

(10) ... The six lines before the Song of Moses beginning Haazinu (Deuteronomy 32:1-43) shall respectively commence with the words Veaeedah, Acharé, Haderech, Beacharith, Lehacheeso, Kehal (Deuteronomy 31:28, 29, 29, 29, 29, 30); and the five lines after the Song of Moses shall begin with the words Vayabo, Ledabber, Asher, Hazoth, Asher (Deuteronomy 32:44, 45, 46, 46, 47). All these points of observance are to enable us to fulfill the duty in the best way. Variations in these particulars do not render the scroll unfit for use.

(1) Inquire of Adonoy on my behalf. He saw written, "Adonoy will lead you and your king."

Inquire of Hashem. Ask the prophets about me and the people who are here and all of Judah, for the words of the book that is written in it at the beginning of the page, which seems to be a sign that the wrath of God is great, etc .: (b) to do. Who wants to do as written at the beginning of that page.