Thursday, January 12, 2012

לך לשלום

Exodus 4:18:
וַיֵּ֨לֶךְ מֹשֶׁ֜ה וַיָּ֣שָׁב ׀ אֶל־יֶ֣תֶר חֹֽתְנ֗וֹ וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ אֵ֣לְכָה נָּ֗א וְאָשׁ֨וּבָה֙ אֶל־אַחַ֣י אֲשֶׁר־בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם וְאֶרְאֶ֖ה הַֽעוֹדָ֣ם חַיִּ֑ים וַיֹּ֧אמֶר יִתְר֛וֹ לְמֹשֶׁ֖ה לֵ֥ךְ לְשָׁלֽוֹם׃

And Moſes went and returned to Iether his father in law, and ſaid vnto him, Let me goe, I pray thee, and returne vnto my brethren, which are in Egypt, and ſee whether they bee yet aliue. And Iethro ſaid to Moſes, Goe in peace.
Our scholar comments:

לך לשלום. ך' בתגין. לשלום. למדין כפופין
לך. תגין רמז שזכות אברהם תעמד לך: ועוד רמז על ך. סימן שמלמעלה נאמר לו לך לשלום
וכן למדין כפופין מלמעלה למטה כאילו מלמעלה מן השמים נאמר לו לך לשלום. לכך הלמדין כפופין
ותדע לך שכך הוא שהרי כתיב לך לשלום וסמך לו ויאמר יי אל משה: שנתן לו שלום
Or, in English:
Lekh. There are tagin* [tittles, crownlets] on the kaf. Leshalom. The lameds are bent [or: stooped over].
Lekh. The tagin teach us that the merit of Abraham** will be upheld for you [=Moses]. And there is a further hint on the kaf*** – that it is a sign that "Go in peace" has been said to him from Above, and thus there are lameds stooped down from above to below, as if "Go in peace" were being said to him from above, from Heaven. Therefore, the lameds are stooped over. And know that this is so, from immediately after the words "Go in peace" come the words And the Lord said to Moses [in the subsequent verse, 4:19]. Thus, [the juxtaposition means that God said not only the following words, but also the preceding words] -- that He gave him peace [or: gave him the get-go, the permissive signal, to go in peace back to Egypt].
*In the MS, there are three tagin on the head of the kaf.
**What's this about? I think it's the fact that Abraham was the twentieth generation, counting from Adam, and the numerical value of the letter kaf is twenty. I think I've seen something like that elsewhere in this manuscript.
***What's the connection between the letter kaf and the idea that something has been said from Above, from Heaven? I don't really know. Maybe the hint is not in the kaf, but in the presence of tagin, which serve to point out something unusual or supernatural.

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