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Inverted Ayin and Bent Peh

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Inverted Ayin and Bent Peh INVERTED AYIN AND BENT PEH ZVI RON Regarding the rules of errors found in a Torah scroll, R. Moshe Isserles writes that “only a definitive error” necessitates taking out another Torah scroll (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 143:4). Commenting on this principle, the Mishna Berura (143:27) writes that variations on the traditional big and small letters in the Torah do not necessitate taking out a different scroll. An- other example he gives is an “inverted letter ayin” (aynin hafuchot) and a “bent letter peh” (pein keffufot).” These examples were taken from R. Yaa- kov of Lissa’s (1760-1832) work Derech Chaim, a very popular halachic work, often reprinted in larger prayer books from the 1800s and early 1900s.1 While many are familiar with the inverted letter nuns which delineate Num- bers 10:35–36, the inverted ayin is more obscure, as is the bent peh. In this article we will examine this ancient scribal practice, now mostly forgotten.2 THE ANCIENT TRADITION OF UNUSUAL LETTERS While occasional big and small letters are still found in Torah scrolls today, there is a very old tradition of a variety of unusual ways to depict certain let- ters in the Torah. These are occasionally mentioned by early authorities. For example, Rashi in this commentary to Genesis 11:32 talks about a reversed final nun. Unusual letters are listed alphabetically in Sefer Tagin (also called Tagi), an ancient work already mentioned in the writings of Rav Saadia Gaon, and pos- sibly dating from Talmudic times.3 The tagin are the crowns used to decorate the tops of certain letters in the Torah scroll, and along with letters written in an unusual fashion, Sefer Tagin lists letters that have additional crowns on them. A version of this work is included in Machzor Vitry, written by a stu- dent of Rashi.4 Another early work that mentions many unusually written letters is Sefer haRemazim, by the Tosafot era figure Rabbenu Yoel. He also provides midrashic explanations for why those letters are written in an unu- Zvi Ron received semikhah from the Israeli Rabbanut and his Ph.D. in Jewish Theology from Spertus University. He is an educator living in Neve Daniel, Israel, and the author of Sefer Katan ve-Gadol (Rossi Publications: 2006) about the large and small letters in Tanakh, and Sefer HaIkkar Haser (Mossad Harav Kook: 2017) about the variant spellings of words in Tanakh. He is the Editor of The Jewish Bible Quarterly. 166 ZVI RON sual manner.5 The most well known source for some of the unusual letters is the 13th century halachist R. Jacob ben Asher, Ba’al haTurim, who included references to and explanations for unusual letters in his commentary to the Torah. Although more modern halachic authorities generally cautioned against incorporating unusual forms of writing letters in Torah scrolls, mainly since the tradition regarding them is unclear and not universal,6 they have been preserved in many Yemenite Torah scrolls, and examples have been found among old Italian7 and Ashkenazic Torah scrolls,8 particularly from Bohe- mia.9 Yemenites also preserved the early Ashkenazic work Sefer haRemazim, since it deals with these matters extensively.10 INVERTED AYIN The first difficulty regarding the inverted ayin (aynin hafuchot) is under- standing what is meant by the inversion here. It could mean that it is upside down, or possibly reversed right to left.11 Examination of Torah scrolls which incorporate this unusual letter indicates that it is neither. Sefer haRemazim notes two places where there is a revered ayin, explicitly calling it inverted (hafucha), Genesis 28:15 and Leviticus 26:41. Sefer Tagin doesn’t use the term “inverted ayin,” rather an ayin with a “bent tail.”12 Torah scrolls following this tradition denote this by making the ayin with a small tail on the bottom, which is curled backwards, to the right. The ayin itself is written normally, the inversion relates to the small additional tail added to the letter which faces backwards, as in the examples below.13 This seems to be the same as the unusual ayin noted in Genesis 32:11, which Sefer Tagin describes as having “a bent tail,” while in Sefer haRemazim it is described as “returning backwards.”14 Why are these letters written this way? Sefer haRemazim gives homiletic reasons for each occurrence. In Genesis 28:15, Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you, the unusual letter appears in the word leave you [e’ezavcha], the ayin pointing backwards illus- JEWISH BIBLE QUARTERLY INVERTED AYIN AND BENT PEH 167 trates the idea of returning. Here it hints to the Jews returning to Israel from Babylon after an exile of seventy years (the numerical value of the letter ayin is seventy), and that the Jews will be ingathered from the seventy nations of the world.15 In Leviticus 26:41, When I, in turn, have been hostile to them and have removed them into the land of their enemies, then at last shall their un- circumcised heart humble itself, and they shall atone for their iniquity, the unusual ayin appears in the word uncircumcised [he-arel]. This indicates the seventy years of destruction between the First and Second Temples, when the Jewish people are being punished for their “uncircumcised heart.”16 In both cases where Sefer haRemazim explicitly uses the term “inverted letter ayin” (hafucha), the numerical value of the letter plays a role in the interpretation. In Genesis 32:11, I am unworthy of all the kindness that You have so stead- fastly shown Your servant: with my staff alone I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps, in the word Your servant [avdecha] the ayin point- ing backwards illustrates Jacob’s fear that he lost whatever merit he had, the backwards tail indicating a reversal.17 Sefer haRemazim calls this letter “re- turning backwards,” which according to Sefer Tagin is the functionally the same as inverted, although the interpretation this time is not associated with the numerical value of the letter. BENT PEH The “bent letter peh” (pein keffufot) is the only unusually written letter that Rambam specifically mentions in his Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Sefer Torah 7:8). He uses the common alternate term for the bent peh, leffufa. R. Men- achem ben Solomon Meiri (1249 - 1315) in his work on the orthography to be used when writing Torah scrolls, Kiryat Sefer, explains that leffufa means having “small circles within the letter…like something winding one over the other.”18 Examination of Torah scrolls which incorporate this unusual letter indicates that the peh itself isn’t curled, just the interior of the letter, making the interior part look something like the at sign @, as in the examples be- low.19 Sefer Tagin describes it as a peh with a “mouth is on the inside.”20 This is referred by Ba’al haTurim as a “double peh” (kefula), since it looks like a peh within a peh.21 Vol. 49, No. 3 2021 168 ZVI RON This is by far the most popular unusual letter in the To- rah, considered “much used in Yemenite manuscripts.”22 In the end of his work Tikkun haSofer vehaKore, a Masoretic text of the Torah by Seligman Baer, 210 places are listed where there is a tradition to write a peh leffufa and another seven instances where the final peh is written in this manner. By contrast, the maximum of any other unusual letter listed is 55, and he records only twelve places where there is a tradition to have an inverted ayin.23 He doesn’t record any explanations or interpreta- tions for these unusual letters. Sefer haRemazim doesn’t refer to either a peh keffufa or leffufa, although he does note an inverted peh (Geneses 46:28, Exodus 23:17) which has an extra tail on the bottom facing backwards, much like the inverted ayin. He does however note a “double peh” (kefula) in Genesis 41:45, Pharaoh then gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah…, where the words Zaphenath-paneah are understood to contain an “unusual, large and doubled” letter peh. There it is interpreted as indicating that there are many and multiple hidden things that are revealed to Joseph, the doubling (peh within a peh) indicating multi- plicity and something hidden within something else.24 Baal haTurim lists 13 places where there is a “double peh”, eleven of which are in Deuteronomy.25 He interprets them as referring to something being emphasized (doubled). For example; he explains that in Exodus 31:17, the verse describes Shabbat as it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and was refreshed [va-yinafash]. The last word, which has the same root as the word for soul, nefesh, has a “double peh” referring to the extra soul that a person gets on Shabbat accord- ing to TB Beitza 16a. In Deuteronomy 15:8, speaking about lending money to the needy, states that you must open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs. The command to open, patoah, has a “double peh” to indicate that beyond opening the hand, a person must say kind words as well. Here again the doubling of the letter adds an element, speaking in addition to giving, especially appropriate since the letter peh means ‘mouth’ in Hebrew.
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