In this segment, Mrs. Schapiro circles the school schmoozing with different teachers about the subject they teach and how it relates to the weekly Torah portion.
Mrs. Schapiro:
So, you teach math. What do numbers say to you? What is Numbers [Bamidbar] all about for you?
Mr. Innes:
Well, if you watch programs on T.V. that relate to science, if you watch old movies that relate to science, you’ll find out that the entire world is merely associated with numbers in some form. If you watch one of the best movies ever made by Disney, it’s called Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land, and its a 35 minute film on how everything in the world that really looks pretty, that you think is just there, is all associated to some level of mathematics and numbers and some of it is even complicated. All of the great architects, Michelangelo, these people, all knew of the golden rectangle and things like this and all of their art is based on that. So, when Numbers was written in the Bible, there was a reason for it.
Mrs. Schapiro:
In the Hebrew alphabet, every letter is equal to a number. And so when we study the bible, we don’t just study it from a literal point of view, we also study it from a number, a numerical point of view, that has some sort of significance. I’ll give you an example, the word Torah. Torah is the hebrew word for bible. The spelling of Torah which is tuf, vuv, reish, hey is 400, 6, 200, 5. Each letter has a numerical value. When you add it up together it’s 611. What does that tell you? That we know that we have 613 commandments, and the word Torah which comprises all of bible and commandments, come out to 611. But where’s the other two? Because we are talking about 613, the expression is, “Moses gave us Torah- Torah tziva lanu Moshe.” So, Moses gave us the 611, but the other two God said which is “I am God, your God that took you out of Egypt,” and “thou shall have no other gods before me”. Those were the first two, because Moses could never have said that, he couldn’t say “I am God your God,” only God could say that. So it’s interesting that the word Torah has that numerical value of 611 and the other two which would make it a total of 613 which is what God said. Everything that is in Torah also has a numerical message, like you were saying that everything that is in the world or everything that is a part of creation in the world.
Mr. Innes:
From the transition or whatever you might say it is, from Christianity to Judaism, what happened to the other ones? Cause only in the Bible or the Christian Bible, there’s 10 commandments. What the heck happened to all the rest of ’em?
Mrs. Schapiro:
No. There are 10 commandments, but in our Torah it says that God said the first two and that the Jews couldn’t handle listening to the rest from God’s voice, it was too awesome, too great. So Moses interpreted the last 8 to them, so that’s why when you look at the numerical value it is hinting at the fact that yes Moshe came down and taught you the other 8, but the first two they came from God because nobody else can say the first two other than God Himself.
Mr. Innes:
Yes, but you’re saying that the Torah and the value of the letters gives you 611 and there’s actually 613. And all that anybody else hears about is 10, what happened to the others?
Mrs. Schapiro:
The overall structure of all the commandments are comprised into 10, and then within the 10 there are so many, many, many, details that are broken down. For instance, it says you have to celebrate the Sabbath, that you can’t work on Sabbath. Well there are numerous, numerous, numerous, laws pertaining to how you need to commemorate Sabbath and how you are not allowed to desecrate Sabbath. So those would be the detailed laws within the 613.
Mr. Innes:
So they are like amendments to the Constitution.
Mrs. Schapiro:
Yes that’s right, that’s exactly what. But it’s really very interesting, that it says that the seal of God is truth. The word for truth is Emet. If you take the numerical value of Emet, it is 441 which equals 9 and we know that 9 is to a certain extent the perfect number because every multiple of 9 when you add up the digits equal 9 right: 18, 27, 36, 45. And when you do them in any form of multiples of 9, it always equals 9. So it’s interesting that the word that describes God’s truthfulness which is Emet, also equals in its numeric value 9. It’s interesting that there is a numeric plane to the Bible just like you said.
Mr. Innes:
It’s not interesting, it just proves that what I do is the most important thing that exists in this school because everything is based on numbers so I can sit there and brag.
Mrs. Schapiro:
Okay. Thank you, thank you.