Parashat Shemini has the distinction of marking the halfway point of the Humash. It contains the middle letter of the Torah, and the middle two words of the Torah.
In the section listing those creatures which are allowed to be eaten and those that are forbidden, the Torah writes that כל הולך על גחון – creatures that walk about on their belly, meaning, serpents – are forbidden for consumption (11:42). The letter ו in the word גחון is enlarged in the Sefer Torah, indicating that this is the middle letter in the Torah. It is precisely in between the first half of the Torah and the second half.
What is the special significance of this pasuk, for which it was chosen to be the halfway mark of the Torah?
The snake is the symbol of the yetzer ha’ra (evil inclination). It was the snake that, back in Gan Eden, caused the first sin, by luring Havah to eat the forbidden fruit. Originally, the snake had legs, but as a punishment for luring Havah, G-d took away its legs, causing it to have to move about on its belly.
The phrase כל הולך על גחון teaches us how we defeat the “snake,” the yetzer ha’ra, the way to take away its “legs” so it is lowly and powerless. The large ו – which in gematria equals 6 – alludes to the ששה סדרי משנה, the six orders of the Mishnah, which is the foundation of our תורה שבעל פה, the oral law. This is how we defeat the yetzer ha’ra.
The Gemara in Masechet Kiddushin teaches that Hashem has told the Jewish People: בראתי יצר הרע, בראתי תורה תבלין – “I have created the evil inclination, and I have created Torah as the antidote.” The way we resist and overcome the yetzer ha’ra is through Torah learning, by engrossing ourselves in the wisdom and holiness of the Torah. And so right in the middle of the Humash, we are told, כל הולך על גחון – that we subdue the “snake,” the evil inclination, through the ו, representing Torah study.
As mentioned, this parasha also marks the halfway point in terms of words. In the pasuk, ואת שעיר החטאת דרש דרש משה והנה שורף (literally, “Moshe demanded the goat that was brought as a sin-offering, but it had been burned” – 10:16), the repetitious phrase דרש דרש is the middle point of the Torah – the first דרש is the last word of the first half of the Torah, and the second דרש is the first word of the second half.
The word שעיר means “goat,” but is also the name of the nation of Edom, which embodies the forces of evil in the world. The way we “burn” the negative tendencies within us is through דרש דרש – by studying, and then studying more. We overpower the yetzer ha’ra by devoting time and energy to the study of Torah.
The spiritual challenges of our generation are unprecedented. Technology consumes so much precious time for so many people, and exposes them to many different kinds of sinful lures and temptations. The values of the surrounding society continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate, as things which were taboo just several years ago are now celebrated. It is probably no exaggeration to say that the yetzer ha’ra has never enjoyed such an advantage as it does in our day and age.
However, as the Gemara teaches, בראתי יצר הרע, בראתי תורה תבלין. Hashem has presented us with enormous challenges, but He also provided us with the solution.
Just as the yetzer ha’ra has been given unprecedented strength in our generation, so have we been given unprecedented opportunities for Torah learning. Never before in world history have there been so many yeshivot and kollelim, and so many possibilities for ordinary people to devote time to learning. Technology lures us to waste our time and to involve ourselves in things we shouldn’t be getting involved in, but it also gives us endless opportunities to learn, to delve into Torah, to grow, to get inspired.
It is no coincidence that the generation that finds itself subject to the greatest temptations also finds itself blessed with the greatest opportunities for Torah learning. Hashem sends us the challenges, but also sends us the תבלין, the secret for overcoming them.
Now more than ever, we need to commit ourselves to serious Torah learning. To meet our generation’s unprecedented challenges, we need to seize our generation’s unprecedented opportunities. In order to fight the lures and temptations that surround us, let us use our time for serious Torah learning, and immerse ourselves in the kedushah of Torah as a way of defeating the yetzer ha’ra so we can live the way Hashem wants us to live.