The Golden Sceptre

ו' באדר תשס"ז

As mentioned in the previous post, the Torah source of my chotimah is found in parashat Tetzaveh (Shemot 28:36), in the phrase pituchei chotam פתוחי חתם.

Pituchei chotam has a total gematria of 952, a digit sum of 16, and a final digit sum of 7. Seven is the value of the letter zayin, where zayin represents both the woman of valor and the King's sceptre of selection.

As Purim is soon upon us, the phrase for "golden sceptre" in Esther 8:4 is שרבט הזהב.

From the root שרב, the spelling שרבט for sceptre as found in Esther implies "dry heat" [1]. Normatively however, sceptre is spelled with a letter yod in it - שרביט. The letter yod is the kabbalistic source of chochmah, and associated with water. Thus, the addition of the letter yod to the word שרבט removes the dryness associated with feminine fire and adds to it the "core" element of water, mayim מים. Consequently, the "extension of the sceptre" to Esther, is in fact, the giving of this yod to fire. It is not the extension of the yod of mayim into a vav, creating a blemish, mum מום. Neither is the extension of the sceptre the creation of a sword (zayin) of war. To reiterate, the extension of the King's sceptre to Esther is the giving over of the core masculine element of water to the feminine element of fire.

Normally translated as golden, הזהב from the root זהב, can also mean well-lit and pure [1].

Here's the form of my chotimah which has graced my profile and/or various websites for years. It's easy to see all the letters yod in this well-lit version of it.



Footnote:

[1] Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, R' Matityahu Clark











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