ה from מריבה, then י from ביני, then ך from וביניך, then ן from ובין | Torah only | The question that hangs over this v. is, Where will Lot choose to go and where is Abram's opposite direction? The next v. reads: "9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left.’" היכן produces also a unique Acronym, in Br 44:15.

א from אנשי, then ס from סדם, then ר from רעים | Torah only | morphological tokenization | The word אסר ['Åsar] appears in Biblical Hebrew, notably in contexts related to binding or imprisonment. | Without knowing, Lot's free choice (cf. Br 13:11) led him to the sinners of Sodom, to those who would need to be imprisoned. In the story of Lot, a closed door—like in prison—is described, cf. Br 19:6, 9ff. And—similar to the number of 120'000 in Nineveh, cf. Yon 4:11—there is also God's obligation involved towards the number of righteous ones in Sodom, cf. Br 18:26ff.

א from ממרא, then ר from אשר, then ן from בחברון, then ן from ויבן | Torah only | An altar is place of worship and praise, a place to sing and a place to rejoice. "And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel", cf. 2 Divr Hay 29:27.

כ from כל, then ש from שדה, then ה from העמלקי, then ו from וגם, then א from את | Torah only | While both prefixes and of course the pronoun itself were known in Biblical Hebrew, the word כשהוא as such is missing in the Tanakh. It can be translated as 'when he is' or 'that he is' in English, reflecting a conditional or temporal clause. | This v. is about Chedorlaomer and the accompanying kings. When he came back to En-Mishpat resp. Kadesh, they subdued all the territory of the Amalekites as well as that of the Amorites, who dwelt in Ḥazazon-Tamar.

מ from מלך, then ש from שנער, then ו from ואריוך, then מ from מלך | Torah only | In Modern Hebrew, משום means 'because' or 'due to'. It is used to explain reasons or causative relations. | The v. with the Acronym משום talks ‘from appointing’ 4 kings against 5. The following v. (v. 10) expresses, Because the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell there during their flight. Both ‘from garlic’ and from the smell of the bitumen pits of Yam haMelaḥ can be said, that they are volatile organic sulfur compounds, sending out a similar odour; that at the Dead Sea tending a bit more to the smell of rotten eggs.

ם from אברם, then ו from וילכו, then א from והוא, then ב from ישב | Torah only | The word מואב refers to Moab, an ancient kingdom located east of the Dead Sea, and appears in various contexts in the Hebrew Bible. | The children of Lot were Ammon—born as Ben-ammi—and Moab, cf. Br 19:37f.

ך from בידך, then ן from ויתן, then ו from לו, then ר from מעשר, | Torah only | The Levites are so to say defined by the 10th, cf. Bam 18:24, Dew 14:27ff. That was their living. And Yehuda haLevi wrote about the Levites, that they had nothing to do but music, cf. haKuzari 2:64. And here the כנור ‘violin’ is given "into your hand, and he gave him a 10th". · The word כנור could be extended here to ככנור ‘like a violin’. Then the abbreviated sequence would read, "Your foes into your hand; and he gave him a 10th".

ן from ובן, then ק from משק, then י from ביתי | Torah only | The word נקי [Naki] appears in Biblical Hebrew, specifically in contexts referring to being clean, pure or innocent, cf. Iyov 4:7. | Abram was an innocent man and—at this stage in his life—free of children. The abbreviated sequence though is about the "son of the farm of [Abram's] household": Eliezer. That the letters of the word משק ‘farm’ are found again in דמשק ‘Damscus’, reads like a quality mark. Historically, Eliezer is indeed hailed as the model of a righteous servant: integer, loyal and innocent, cf. Br 24:12ff, 33. It is for a good reason that he was tasked with finding a wife for Isaac, cf. Br 24:2ff.

מ from מאור, then כ from כשדים, then ל from לתת, then ל from לך | Torah only | In Modern Hebrew, מכלל [miKlal] means 'from all of’, ‘from the general' or 'generally’, while in Biblical Hebrew, it appears in the phrase מִכְלַל־יֹפִי [miKlal Yofi] ‘perfect in beauty’, cf. Teh 50:2, denoting Zion as the divine source of the whole Earth. | While Psalm 50:2 talks of the divine movement out of Zion, the v. with the Acronym מכלל talks of the human movement towards Zion, striving for completeness. The name ירושלם ‘Jerusalem’ contains the root ש-ל-מ ‘to complete, be whole’.

ש from שמש, then ב from באה, then ו from ו, then ע from עלטה, then ה from היה | Torah only | morphological tokenization | The word שבועה [Shvu'ah] means oath, vow or promise. | The v. with the Acr. W/Prefix שבועה is situated amidst a ch. of God's promises to Abraham: at first the promise of an own child, cf. Br 15:4, then the promise of descendants as countless as the stars of the heaven, cf. Br 15:5, then the promise to inherit that land, cf. Br 15; 7, 18, and also the promise of an exilation of 400 years, cf. Br 15:13. Keep in mind that God's promises are more certain than a human oath or vow.

ל from ואקל, then ה from בעיניה, then ט from ישפט | Torah only | The word להט appears in Biblical Hebrew with the meaning ‘flame’, or ‘to burn, blaze’. The root ל-ה-ט coincides by meaning ‘to burn, glow, set on fire etc.’ | The v. with the bacronyM להט shows a fuming Sarai, telling Abram impassioned: "God shall judge between you and me!"

ה from המון, then ג from גוים, then נ from נתתיך | Torah only | In Biblical Hebrew, the word גן [Gan] translates to 'garden.' The root ה-ג-נ amounts to ‘being worthy, suitable, appropriate’ and ’to protect’. | Here, in the v. with the Acronym הגן, Abram is deemed worthy of an additional letter in his name, the letter ה, for he shall become a father of a multitude of nations. A father is a defender and protector, for God Himself is a Shield to Abraham, cf. Br 15:1. Moreover, the Promised Land is the closest to Gan Eden, from where man has been driven out. Of Machpelah in particular, the cave of the patriarchs that Abraham bought and initiated, it is said, that it is the entrance to Gan Eden.

ש from שרי, then א from אשתך, then ל from לא, then ת from תקרא | The base form of the sequence 'שאלת' is 'שאלה' (she'elah), meaning 'question' in Biblical Hebrew. The original sequence 'שאלת' can be broken down further into its roots: 'שאל' (to ask) with the suffix 'ת' indicating second-person feminine singular past tense ('you asked'). In Biblical Hebrew, this structure does not convey a standalone word but is meaningful in a context as a verb form. | In the v. with the Acronym שאלת the name שָׂרָי ‘Sarai’ became שָׂרָה ‘Sarah’. In our written oral Torah, this letter transformation is explicitly framed as an act of Sha'al" ‘borrowing’. The letter י [Yod] that was taken away from Sarai cried out before the heavenly throne for generations until it was eventually borrowed back out to be placed into the name of Joshua, making it Yehoshua, cf. Bam 13:16. Furthermore, the letter ה [Hey] represents the very breath of God. God literally "lent" a piece of His own divine name to Sarah so that her closed womb could be broken open to cultivate nations. 2 vv. later, Abraham has a few fundamental questions regarding this transformative naming: "17 Shall a child be born unto him that is 100 years old? And shall Sarah, that is 90 years old, bear?" · [ᴀɪ kənˈtrɪbjuːtɪd]

ע from עשות, then צ from צדקה, then ו from ו, then מ from משפט | Torah only | morphological tokenization | The word עצום appears in the Biblical Hebrew text, specifically in contexts relating to something being mighty or powerful. | What is the promise the v. with the Acr. W/Prefix עצום is talking about? - That "Abraham is to become a great וְעָצוּם ‘and populous’ nation and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him", which is written in the previous v, cf. Br 18:18. And what is the highlighted sequence? – "To do righteousness and justice."

ע from עם, then ר from רשע, then ו from ו, then ה from היה | Torah only | morphological tokenization | The word ערוה ['Ervåh] appears in Biblical Hebrew, particularly in contexts related to nakedness or indecency, cf. Vay 18:6. | The abbreviated sequence reads, "With the wicked, so it was". Since the paradise, evil is defined by nakedness, cf. Br 3:11. And the acts of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah involved nakedness, cf. Br 19:5, Yeḥ 16:49. The word sodomy is derived from Sodom.

ס from סדם, then ו from וירא, then ל from לוט, then ו from ויקם | Torah only | The story of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah ends with him as the sole survivor in a cave with his daughters, who went as far as "saving the continuation of human existence on earth", cf. Br 19:29ff.

י from אדני, then ו from סורו, then א from נא, then ל from אל | Torah only | The name יואל ‘Joel’ appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name of a minor prophet and the title of his book. | The book of Joel has an apocalyptic feel, as has ch. 19 of Genesis. In v. 24 of this ch. we read: "24 Then the Lord rained upon Sedom and upon ῾Amora brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven", while in the 2nd ch. of Joel is written: "3 A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns; the land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness...". These are relatively sudden events that fit to Joel's warning of the Yom Hashem ‘Day of the Lord’, cf. Yoel 1:15, also cf. Yesh 13:6, Yeḥ 30:2, Ov 1:15, Zeph 1:14f.

ם from אלהם, then ט from לוט, then ה from הפתחה | Torah only | The word מטה [Mateh] appears in Biblical Hebrew, commonly translated as 'staff' or 'rod', often used in the context of shepherding or authority. The root מ-ט-ה means ‘to lie in a bed; to cause to fall down’. | When the 2 angels with their walking staff, arrived at their designated headquarters, Lot inclined himself towards them. Since Lot means ‘covering’, it is an apt name for a host. Regarding the meaning of the root מ-ט-ה, the beginning of the ch. names 2 instances of "falling down", either as bowing down, cf. Br 19:1, or as laying down, cf. Br 19:5.

ך from לך, then ם from מהם, then ו from ויפצרו, then ש from באיש | Torah only | The word כמוש refers to an idol associated with the Moabites, often translated as 'Kemosh' in English. | The v. with the bacronyM כמוש describes the people of Sodom trying to subdue the guest of Lot and Lot himself, who will be the father of Moab. · Rabbi Yéhouda ajoute : chaque fois que la Torah évoque l’immoralité sexuelle, elle mentionne également une disposition qui détourne de Dieu — à savoir, le culte de divinités étrangères. Cela apparaît clairement dans l’épisode du Veau d’or, dans celui de Baal-Peor, et même dans le cas de Salomon durant ses vieux jours. La tentation charnelle, qu’elle soit liée à des femmes étrangères ou à des pratiques cultuelles, constitue une porte d’entrée vers la trahison spirituelle — et inversement. La Torah emploie, pour désigner ces deux types d’actes, une seule et même racine hébraïque : ז-נ-ה [Z-N-H], qui renvoie à la « prostitution » ou au fait de « se livrer à la débauche »; on retrouve ainsi l’expression « se prostituer après d’autres dieux », voir Sh 34:15. Le Lévitique 18 définit les limites éthiques et sexuelles fondamentales pour la communauté israélite, en les opposant explicitement aux pratiques en vigueur en Égypte et en Canaan, voir Vay 18:3. Au cœur même de ce chapitre figure l’interdiction de sacrifier des enfants à la divinité païenne Moloch, voir Vay 18:21.

ג from גדול, then ו from וילאו, then ל from למצא, then ה from הפתח | Torah only | In Biblical Hebrew, גולה [Golah] refers to a state of exile, particularly the exile of the Israelites from their homeland. In Biblical Aramaic, it appears similarly in the contexts of exile, particularly in the books of Daniel and Ezra. | Now, why is the word גולה ‘exile’ meet blindness and the inability to find the entrance (back home)? When someone strays from the right path (or place), their heart and their perception undergo a change—to their own detriment. This is comparable to someone who artificially alters their outward appearance; in tandem with these interventions, they lose the ability to appreciate natural beauty. Finding one’s way back from exile begins in the mind, through reading and prayer. That opens the eyes. גַּל־עֵינַי [Gal 'Einei] ‘Open my eyes’! Cf. Teh 119:18. Any relation is mutual. Also the one to God. Know Him In All Your Ways, and He shall straighten your path, cf. Mishl 3:6. · R' Yéhouda ajoute: Si — Dieu nous en préserve — cela ne devait pas se faire par Sa Parole, alors l’Oblast autonome juif de Birobidjan, ou des lieux semblables, seraient certainement plus appropriés que la Terre sainte.