A Sincere Sin or a Hypocritical Mitzvah? - Letters and Numbers of Torah—Vayeira

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A Sincere Sin or a Hypocritical Mitzvah?: Letters and Numbers of Torah—Vayeira

When Avimelech kidnaps Sarah, G‑d tells him (Genesis 20:6), “I have withheld you from sin.” Why is the Hebrew word for sinning (chet) missing an aleph in this verse?

Handouts:	Vayeira 2
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Topics:	Parshah, Vayeira

Aaron L. Raskin

Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin is the official Chabad emissary to downtown Brooklyn, rabbi of Congregation B’nai Avraham in Brooklyn Heights, New York and Dean of Brooklyn Heights Jewish Academy. He is the author of the books, “Thank You God for Making Me a Woman", "Letters of Light", "By Divine Design", and "Guardian of Israel", and the co-author of "The Rabbi & The CEO".

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Marty Denver October 24, 2013

Nuts! There is another way of looking at nuts suggesting that not only should we eat them on Rosh Hashannah but that it should be a staple of our diet. The Hebrew word nut is spelled aleph gimel vav zion. Reverse the last 3 letters to zion vav gimel and it spells zoog, the word for a married couple. And when a word begins with aleph it has a G-dly connotation such as the word for one, echod, One G-d. Given the word for nut is comprised of G-dliness and the sanctity of marriage and that it was G-d's original intent that we be vegetarian as stated in Gen 1:29, we can add greater holiness to Rosh Hashanna, Shabbat and all holidays by eating nuts. Of course, it's better for our health too. The meat industry is cruel to animals, devastating to our planet and bad for our health. Let's celebrate G-d and the holidays by being good stewards of the earth. And one way to do that is to eat more nuts and less meat. Thank you. Reply