Shabbat 104: The Aleph-Bet Represents Words and Concepts

Some of the points from today's daf:

• the letters mem and samech in the tablets were chiseled all the way through but stood miraculously
• If an open letter is closed, its status goes up
• If a closed letter is open, its status is diminished
• the closed letters are mem, nun, tzadi, peh and kaf and they date back to the Ten Commandments
• Nothing can be changed in the Torah, but the Ten Commandments could be read from both sides of the tablet
• The rabbis consider ways that the shapes of letter represent words and concepts
• Alef beit means elaf bin, learn the wisdom of the Torah
• Gimmel dalet means gemol dalim, give to the poor
• The leg of the gimmel reaches toward the dalet like one who wants to reach out to help
• the dalet faces away from the gimmel to show us that we give discreetly so that we don't embarrass the person who needs help
• Samech ayin means semoch aniyyim, support the poor
• the bent peh and the straight peh remind us that sometimes we need an open mouth and sometimes a closed mouth
• Kuf mean kadosh, holiness, referring to G-d
• Reish means rasha, a wicked person
• The kuf and reish face away from each other in a way that G-d is unable to look at a wicked person as the wicked person does not wish to look toward G-d
• The crown of the letter kuf is turned toward the reish because one will be crowned if one turns back to G-d
• Shin means sheker, falsehood; all of the letters stand on one foot
• Tav means emet, truth; all of the letters stand on wide bases like bricks, eternal

A new Mishna teaches that if we write two letters on Shabbat during one lapse of awareness we are liable.  As long as the substance that we write with leaves a mark, we are liable to bring a sin-offering.  If we write with something that will disappear, we are exempt.  If we write in an unusual way, we are also exempt.

The Gemara explains some of the different substances that are listed as leaving permanent marks and others that are listed as washable.  The rabbis also note that even very small changes to a letter on Shabbat will be liable.