You're probably familiar with the famous Bible codes. The basic idea is to analyze the Torah text as a series of letters, arrange them like a matrix in different ways, and extract "secret messages" hidden within the divine text. There are even books written using these "messages" and names like Kennedy, Clinton, etc.

I honestly don't believe in this. Not because the Torah doesn't contain everything that was, is, and will be (since it is the blueprint of all Creation), but because there's a small problem: what if, by combining the letters in a certain way, I found a message telling me I should transgress a precept of the Torah itself?.

From a deeper perspective, there is Gematria, which states that each letter of the Hebrew alphabet corresponds to a number. Thus, each word (formed by letters) has a number (the sum of its letters). Two words (or phrases) with the same sum of letters have a relationship to each other.

All these systems are like windows to wonder. It's like peeking through a keyhole and waking up to what's happening on the other side. There is incredible perfection in God's Creation.

However, this week's Torah portion presents something much simpler, without resorting to any of the methods described. Regarding land animals suitable for kosher consumption, the signs are: chewing the cud and cloven-hoofed. The Torah then describes four animals that possess only one of these signs: the camel, the hare, and the rabbit (they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves), and the pig (it has cloven hooves but does not chew the cud). What a marvel! To this day, no other animals on earth, besides those mentioned, have been found to possess only one of the signs of kosher land animals.

As the Psalmist says (119:18): "Open my eyes and I will see wonders of Your Torah""

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