The only two pesukim in the entire Torah that begin with the letter samech are associated with the two gravest sins in national history
Motzaei Shabbos, Ashkenazim begin to say Selichos. The pizmon that we say on the first night of Selichos is written in the form of an acrostic like Ashrei, with one exception. The line that begins with the letter nun is followed by one that starts with ayin, skipping over samech. As we will see, this is just one of many anomalies associated with this enigmatic letter.
The Gemara (Kiddushin 30a) says that there are 5,888 pesukim in the Torah. If the first letter of each pasuk was randomly divided among the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, we would expect to find 268 pesukim that start with any given letter. We understand that they are not evenly divided and some letters will begin more pesukim and other letters fewer. Yet if we look for pesukim that start with samech, we find that there are only two.
Moreover, the two pesukim that begin with samech are hardly pareve and unremarkable. The first is found in parshas Ki Sisa, where Hashem informs Moshe Rabbeinu about the Cheit Ha’eigel (Shemos 32:8): “Saru maher min haderech asher tzivisim, asu lahem eigel maseichah — The Jewish People have quickly strayed from the path that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf.”
The second pasuk is in parshas Shelach, where Moshe implores Hashem to forgive Bnei Yisrael for the sin of the Meraglim (Bamidbar 14:19): “Selach na la’avon ha’am hazeh k’godel chasdecha — Forgive now the iniquity of this nation according to the greatness of Your kindness.” Thus, the only two pesukim in the entire Torah that begin with the letter samech are associated with the two gravest sins in national history.
Create a free account to keep reading.
