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This question is intended only for those familiar with some basic Kabbalistic concepts.

As we know (from יהו"ה), that ו (Vav, number 6) stands for Z"A (masculine) and ה (He, number 5) stands for Malchus (feminine).

However, the Written Torah - that is Z"A - has 5 books, where the Oral Torah - that's Malchus - has 6 Sdarim.

How come?


Related: "why-is-the-torah-divided-into-five-books"

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  • And yud (10) is chochma and the first hei is binah
    – mroll
    Commented Mar 6, 2019 at 14:20
  • @Al Berko The written Torah is also divided into 7 books (meaning 6 pratim and the whole, 1, for a total of 7) according to one tradition. In the context of your question, it emphasizes for both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah (the six orders of the Mishnah correspond to the 5 Gevurot, which correspond to the 5 parts of the mouth as in Oral Torah, and the whole, 1, for a total of 6), That the proper perspective is in regard to concept that both the written and oral Torah are one. Commented Mar 6, 2019 at 14:26
  • @Al Berko And if the significance of the written Torah (the Ratzon HaElyon) being divided into 7 books (6 plus 1) isn't understood, this corresponds to the union of the two names related to masculine and feminine (יהוה אהיה אהיהוה). Commented Mar 6, 2019 at 14:30
  • @Al Berko And just to emphasize, this concept of Klal and Prat, Whole and Individual, is the concept emphasized in the parshiyot of VaYakhel and Pekudei. Commented Mar 6, 2019 at 14:35

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Perhaps it is a play on a midrash Devarim Rabba 3:12 that prior to being written on a parchment the Torah existed as black fire on white fire:

Reish Lakish said: When he wrote the Torah, Moses received the radiance of his face. How so? Reish Lakish said: The Torah that was given to Moses, its parchment was white fire, it was written with black fire, sealed with fire, and bound with fire. As he was writing, he wiped the quill in his hair, and it was from there that he received the radiance of his face.

I.e. the written law "black fire" is enveloped by the oral law i.e. "white fire". If you place 5 black fire columns on white fire, you will get 4 white fire spaces between them (maybe that's the origin of Arba'ah Turim) and two additional spaces on the sides. I.e. our 6 orders of mishnah are like the shin with 4 teeth on the tefilin shel rosh which envelops regular shin from the name Sha-ai.

Alternatively, it could be a way of completion of the name yud-hey-waw-hey as in the passuk Shemos 17:16:

וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כִּֽי־יָד֙ עַל־כֵּ֣ס יָ֔הּ מִלְחָמָ֥ה לַיהוָ֖ה בַּֽעֲמָלֵ֑ק מִדֹּ֖ר דֹּֽר׃

He said, “It means, ‘Hand upon the throne of יה, for Hashem will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation.

  1. yud - 10 commandments were enveloped by
  2. hey - 5 chumashim of the written Torah followed by
  3. waw - 6 sedarim of the Oral Law envelopping the
  4. hey - 5 chumashim of the written Torah
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  • +5 for creativity. I forgot what I intended to ask by this question 5 years ago. Anyway, do you agree that 6 Sdarim is Rebbe's invention or do you believe that they track back to Moses? And I would also love to hear your (non-Kabbalistic) stand on judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/97966/…
    – Al Berko
    Commented Sep 11 at 7:13
  • @AlBerko this can be a machlokes. There's a verse in Isaiah for 6 sedarim. I can give the anser here or you may ask separately. I will explain there.
    – Y DJ
    Commented Sep 11 at 13:14

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