How
Many Letters in the Torah?
Q: I have heard that there are references to the Torah
containing 600,000 letters. However, we know that the Torah actually has a bit more than
300,000 letters.
Do you know of an accurate system of
correlating this to come up with the 600,000 number?
A: Your question is very well known. There are several
answers.
A very logical explanation appears
in Likutei Torah. There it is explained that the letters include the
"characters" of the letters, which are the vowels and the cantillation signs,
which are not part of the text. In general, every word possesses twice as many characters
when the vowels and cantillation signs are included. That brings the total number to
600,000 as opposed to the almost 300,000.
Sometimes the letters are divided
into components, such as an Alef being one Vav and two Yuds.
This explanation does not appear in Likutei Torah.
Every letter has its full name.
There are different systems for filling in the letters -- either with two other letters,
or one other letter. If it is filled in with just one other letter, that also brings the
total from 300,000 to 600,000. This explanation also does not appear in Likutei Torah.
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