Ask The Rabbi...
October 29, 1994 Issue #40
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This edition contains:
1.  Persistent Pentateuch Pinkie Pointing People.
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Mr. Irv Oxlander from America-On-Line wrote:

>What is the source for and the meaning of the custom to point the pinkie
>at the Torah during  hagbah?

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Dear Mr. Oxlander,

Your question is interesting because it relates to a widespread custom 
whose source is rather obscure.   

Nachmanides remarks that the verse "accursed is the one who will not uphold 
the words of this Torah...," is the source for the obligation to show the 
written text of the Torah to the whole congregation.

The Shulchan Aruch states:  It is a mitzva for all men and women to see the 
written text of the Torah, to bow, and to say, "This is the Torah that 
Moshe placed before the Children of Israel.  Halachic authorities explain 
that this verse is to be said only upon seeing the actual text of the Sefer 
Torah.

It is told about  the Arizal  that when the Torah was held up for all the 
congregation to see,  it was his custom to look closely at the text so that 
he could read the letters. The Arizal was quoted to say "that by gazing at 
the Torah closely so as to be able to clearly read its letters, a person is 
infused by a great [spiritual] light."

While the Shulchan Oruch obligates reciting the verse: This is the 
Torah..., it is also a minhag (custom) to append part of a second verse 
"according to the word of Hashem through Moshe."   In his comprehensive 
anthology Me'am Lo'ez, Rav Yaakov Kuli expounds on this custom saying: "the 
combination of these two verses, though from different sections of the 
Torah, alludes to the dual nature of Torah -- a Written and an Oral Law 
both stemming from a single Source."
 
Also, The Me'am Lo'ez is the only source that mentions the custom of 
pointing  the pinkie finger towards the text, adding that it is customary 
to kiss the pinkie after pointing. However, this is not a universal custom, 
and is not mentioned in other halachic sources. 

In reply to our inquiry as to the source of this custom, Rabbi Chaim 
Pinchas Scheinberg, shlita, gave the following  explanation:  The Torah 
lists the ten generations from Noah until Abraham, including Yoktan, who 
established the largest number of families.  Rashi notes that Yoktan 
merited establishing so many families due to his great humility as his name 
indicates (from the root katan-little).  Rabbi Scheinberg went on to 
explain that when pointing at the Torah we take this lesson to heart and we 
point with our smallest finger -- the pinkie -- to indicate that we should 
reach out to try to gain understanding of the Torah with the utmost 
humility and thus merit to succeed in this aspiration.

Rabbi Chaim Falagie expounds on a second variation of the custom in which 
the index finger is used for pointing towards the Torah rather than the 
pinkie. He bases this custom on six consecutive statements in Tehilim  the 
first of which is, "The Torah of Hashem is perfect  reviving the soul...". 
Each one of these statements is composed of five words corresponding to the 
number of fingers of one hand. The second word of each statement is Hashem 
corresponding to the second, namely the index finger. In pointing towards 
the Torah with the index finger we are indicating that every word of the 
Torah is a Name of Hashem. For that same reason, Rabbi Falagie points out, 
during the wedding ceremony the ring is placed on the index finger to 
signify that Hashem is the unifying force binding husband and wife.

The significance and the symbolism that our Sages attach to every finger 
and to each part of our body is most instructive. Rabbeinu Bechaye 
discusses the utility of each organ and in particular the fingers,  each of 
which serves to facilitate one of the five senses. The pinkie finger is 
associated with the sense of hearing and  we may conjecture that this is 
related to the custom of pointing towards the Torah with the pinkie.  

Sources:
o Nachmanides--Ramban on the Torah -- Devarim (27:26).
o Tractate Sofrim (14:14).
o Shulchan Aruch -- Orach Chaim (134:2); and Ba'er He'tev(6).
o Devarim (4:44).
o Sha'ar Hakavanos (Sefer Torah -- Drush 1)
o Bamidbar (9:23).
o Me'am Lo'ez -- Devarim (27:26).
o Bereishis (10:26-29).
o Lev Chaim (Responsa) -- Orach Chaim (167:6).
o Tehilim (19:8-10).
o Rabbeinu Bechaye -- Vayikra (8:23).
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