The New Math

Psalm 119 contains 176 verses describing the beauty, grandeur, depth and joy of Torah. King David’s greatest love and passion was Torah study and conformance with its commandments. Every single one of the 176 verses is profound praise and gratitude to G-d for the gift of Torah.

The Longest Parsha

The single longest parsha is Naso. It contains 176 verses. It is no coincidence that the longest Psalm (119) also has 176 verses. It is also incredible that the longest volume of the Talmud has 176 pages.

That Naso is the longest parsha makes sense since by Divine Providence it is always read in close proximity to Shavuos the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The Midrashic material on this parsha is also the most extensive.

However, we must try to understand what is the significance of the number 176.

Psalm 119

The key to understanding the significance of this number and its relationship to the Holiday of Shavuos we must examine the 119th psalm, which, as mentioned also has 176 verses.

In this psalm there are eight verses that begin with the letter Aleph, followed by eight letters that begin with the letter Bais and so on. Since there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, it results in 176 verses.

However, now we have to understand the significance of having all the letters represented eight times. What is the significance of having verses that begin with all the letters of the alphabet and why eight times?

The Holy Tongue

When G-d created the world He did so with the letters of speech. The Hebrew alphabet is unlike any other language. According to Nachmanides the reason Hebrew is called the “holy tongue” is because it is the language of G-d. He used it to create the universe and He used it to communicate the Torah.

Each letter’s meaning, sound, shape and numerical value is consistent with the Divine energy contained within that letter and the words these letters form.

So when we have a psalm that features verses that begin with every letter of the alphabet it embodies all of the Divine instruments that channeled G-d’s creative energy into the world.

However, the content of Psalm 119 is the beauty, grandeur, depth and joy of Torah. King David’s greatest love and passion was Torah study and conformance with its commandments. Every single one of the 176 verses is profound praise and gratitude to G-d for the gift of Torah.

Two Approaches to Torah

But Torah can be viewed in two ways.

The first is to see Torah as a discipline and philosophy along with all the others. One can find parallels between Torah and other systems of logic and law. To be sure, even when viewing Torah from this vantage point, one can easily recognize the superiority of Torah as a G-d given system over all the other ideologies.

In fact, one can see how one iota of Torah has the power to energize the entire world.

The deficiency in this approach is that Torah is viewed in the context and yardstick of the world; only far more sophisticated and inspirational.

The second approach to Torah is that Torah is Divine wisdom. By definition, Torah is unfathomable and infinitely higher than anything that relates to the world.

The difference between these two approaches is reflected in the difference between the number 7 and the number 8. The number 7 represents the cycle of nature, whereas eight is the number that transcends nature.

Vanity of Vanties

King Solomon in the beginning of the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes speaks of seven vanities. Rashi applies them to the seven days of creation, referring to the seven days of creation. Our Sages also state that the Torah we learn today is vanity compared to the Torah of Moshiach.

Now, among the seven days of creation that are characterized as vanity is Shabbos. And yet it is considered to be vanity compared to the Torah of the future.

The difference is that the Torah that is associated with the world in the present is the dimension of Torah that fits into the frame of nature. The Torah of the future, however, will reflect Torah’s higher and purely Divine character.

This is what King David had in mind when he composed Psalm 119 with Divine inspiration. He took the 22 letters of the Alphabet, the Divine letters of Torah, that are responsible for the world of nature, but he repeats each letter eight times to point to the higher, Messianic Era level of Torah.

Post Shavuos Torah Message

We can now understand why the parsha we read right after Shavuos (and in some years the Shabbos before Shavuos) is not only the longest but, more specifically, contains 176 verses. The 176 verses, as stated, allude to the transcendent dimension of Torah; the 22 letters as they are revealed through the number eight.

It is intended to remind us that no matter how much of the Torah we have received on Shavuos; it is vanity compared to the higher level, which will be revealed in the Messianic Age.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Naso by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.