By Marco Del Monte
“And behold, there were twins in her womb” (Gen 25:24).
The Parashah describes the birth of Jacob and Esau.
Rav Yona Metzger explains that in the verse, the word “twins” is written in an unusual way.
Indeed, the word for twins is written “Teomim”, with an aleph, yet in the text it is written “Tomim”, without the aleph.
In the subsequent parashot we will see that when Tamar becomes pregnant by Judah, she too gives birth to twins, but in her case the Torah uses the word *Teomim* with the letter Alef: "And behold, there were twins in her womb" (Gen 38:27). Rav Metzgher explains that the word "*teomim*-twins" shares the same root as "*matim*", meaning suitable, compatible, akin. The Chachamim explain that Tamar's children were both tzaddikim and therefore shared a character affinity, whereas Jacob and Esau were totally different. Rav Metzgher asks: why is specifically the letter Alef missing from the word for twins and not another letter? Why is the lack of compatibility expressed by the absence of this letter? The shape of the letter Alef א is composed of an upper yud, a diagonal vav, and a lower yud (י ו י). The Rav explains that the vav in this case is called "*vav ha-chibbur*", meaning the vav that unites. Grammatically, the vav translates as "and, also" and represents a letter that connects two subjects: "*Ve-elle ha-mishpatim*" ("And these are the ordinances…"). When there is a "*yud*" י, meaning a *Yehudi* who has a strong bond—represented by the *vav ha-chibbur* ו—with another "*yud*" י, meaning with another *Yehudi*, then they can be considered "*teomim*" (twins). Furthermore, as is well known, the letter yud has a numerical value of 10, while the letter vav has a numerical value of 6. By adding together the letters that make up the letter Alef (י ו י 10+6+10), we arrive at the numerical value of 26, which is the numerical value of the Tetragrammaton, the Name of Hashem, as if to say that what can truly unite two people with an indissoluble bond is precisely the Name of Hashem, His Will. Rav Metzgher explains that a similar dynamic is found in two other terms: "*golah*" (exile) and "*geulah*" (redemption). The difference between exile and redemption lies precisely in that letter Alef, which represents unity: if we do not connect with one another, we risk exile within ourselves and from the world. It is no coincidence that the word "*acher*" ("the other") can be read as "*achar*" ("after"), as if to say that if one is united with the "other-*acher*", one can move forward, one can hope for an "after-*achar*". Moreover, the secret of the Name of Hashem represented by the Alef, if we manage to make it present and constant within us, immediately transitions us, at any time, from a condition of "*golah*" (exile) into a dimension of "*geulah*" (redemption). It is no coincidence that if one were to write the letters of the Tetragrammaton vertically, we would find the exact same structure as a human being: the yud representing the head; the he representing the two arms; the vav representing the torso; and the final he representing the legs—man in the image of G-d.
Shabbat Shalom Umevorach
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.