by Ephraim Silverberg
On November 23, 1985, Ephraim Silverberg of the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) posted a weekly Torah commentary to net.religion.jewish from a Shabbat Torah lesson given in his community of Nveh Sha'anan. His commentary on Parashat Vayetzeh (Genesis 28:10–32:3) discovers, through gematria — the numerical interpretation of Hebrew letters — that Jacob's Ladder is a perfect symbol for the three modes of divine service: repentance, prayer, and charity. It is one of the earliest gematria teachings ever shared over a computer network.
The Ladder
"[Jacob] dreamed and, behold a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of Elokim were ascending and descending upon it" (Breisheet 28:12).
Much symbolism has been attributed to that famous ladder of our Patriarch Yaakov. I should like to share a D'var Torah I heard from someone named Mr. Kliger, the individual who gives the Daf Yomi lesson in our community (Nveh Sha'anan).
Yisrael (Yaakov — denoting the Jewish people) is always bound with Aveenu Shebashamayim (our Father in heaven) in a manner that Klal Yisrael is physically "upon the earth," but spiritually always "reaching heavenward."
Our divine service to Hashem serves to connect us to Hashem and is our "ladder" to heaven. However, there are many ladders to Hashem, as there are several forms of divine service.
The three main categories of divine service are found in the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur prayers:
U'Teshuva U'Tfila U'Tzedakah...
These are roughly translated as Repentance, Prayer, and Charity.
It is significant to note, however, that above each of these words appears a word that is printed but not read as part of the prayers: Tzom (fast), Kol (voice), and Mamon (money) respectively.
What is astonishing is that all three of these words have the same gematria (numerical value):
- Tzom = Tzadi (90) + Vav (6) + Mem (40) = 136
- Kol = Kuf (100) + Vav (6) + Lamed (30) = 136
- Mamon = Mem (40) + Mem (40) + Vav (6) + Nun (50) = 136
This, in itself, is quite remarkable; however, what is truly amazing is that the gematria of "Sulam" (ladder) is also 136:
- Sulam = Samech (60) + Vav (6) + Lamed (30) + Mem (40) = 136
Therefore, we see that each of these modes of divine service acts as a "ladder" to heaven.
There are very few people who are complete in all three modes of divine service. At the most, the average individual performs one form of divine service in a truly complete manner. Hence, the average person either does one or none of these forms of service.
Concerning the individual who performs only one type of service, King David wrote (Psalms 92:7): "Ish Ba'ar Lo Yeda" — a man does not know "ba'ar." Ba'ar in gematria is 272 = 2 × 136:
- Ba'ar = Beit (2) + Ayin (70) + Reish (200) = 272
In other words, the average person concentrates on only one form of divine service, but of the other two forms "he does not know." However, since he still performs one form of service, he is referred to as "Ish" (a man).
Concerning those who do none of these forms of service, King David wrote in the second part of the same verse: "U'Ksil Lo Yavin Et Zot" — and a fool does not understand this. A person who does no form of divine service is called a "fool" since he does not understand "Zot" — which equals 408 = 136 × 3:
- Zot = Zayin (7) + Tav (400) + Aleph (1) = 408
May Hashem grant us the ability to serve Him fully in all three manners of service, and may we continue to ascend the rungs of the ladder heavenward.
Colophon
Written by Ephraim Silverberg, Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa. Posted to net.religion.jewish via BITNET and the UUCP network, November 23, 1985. The D'var Torah was based on a lesson from Mr. Kliger's Daf Yomi class in Nveh Sha'anan, Israel. Gematria — the numerical interpretation of Hebrew letters — is a traditional hermeneutic tool used in Kabbalistic and Talmudic scholarship.
Preserved from the UTZOO Usenet Archive (news035f1.tgz, batch b55) for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected].
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