Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Divrei sofrim
דברי סופרים
The words of the Scribes (divrei sofrim)
The words of the Scribes: the Sages’ enactments and fences around the Torah, rooted in the “scribe” (sofer), above the “book” (sefer), the Written Torah; so they are “sweeter than the wine of Torah.”
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 4, ¶5The words of the Scribes are fences around the Torah, of a kind with the negative commandments, and like them are drawn from yud-hei (“Ayeh” = aleph with yud-hei). So they are above the Written Torah, the “book”, whose 248 positive commandments come from vav-hei and are clothed in vessels; therefore they could not be put in writing, only given by mouth.
לכך נקרא דברי סופרים ששרשם מבחי׳ סופר שהוא בחי׳ אי״ה סופר
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 6, ¶9On “sefer, sofer, sippur”: the scribe is above the book. Like the white light that surrounds a candle’s shining flame and is its source, the words of the Sages are the source and makif from which the “book”, the Torah of light, is drawn. So most rabbinic fences are in the negative commandments, which are of yud-hei, the hidden world.
וכך הם דברי חכמים נק׳ דברי סופרים שמהם נמשך להיות בחי׳ הספר
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 4, ¶1The whole Talmud is full of the Sages’ stringencies and fences; they come from G‑d’s great love (ahavah rabbah), as a father guards a beloved son more closely. While the Temple stood the Torah’s own law sufficed; as hearts weakened, the stringencies arouse great love, and being stringent beyond the Written Torah draws “G‑d will lift His face to you”.
כך מחמת גודל אהבתו ית׳ אלינו מחמיר ומדקדק עלינו בדקדוקי סופרים
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8, ¶53The seven rabbinic mitzvos (washing the hands, eruvin, the Chanukah light) also push away the external forces, as the negative commandments do; but in the Oral Torah this is done by positive action, which in the Written Torah could be done only by “do not”. This is “extra understanding was given to the woman”: the Oral Torah, Malchus.
וזה נעשה במצות דרבנן ע״י קום ועשה מה שבתשב״כ לא יוכל להיות בחי׳ זו רק על ידי לא
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 5, ¶3When the soul’s hidden natural love is roused, one fears to transgress even a light word of the Scribes, for they are graver than words of Torah. They are called “Scribes” because the scribe is the one who makes the book: the Written Torah is the book, the Oral Torah the scribe.
כי חמורים ד״ס יותר מד״ת שלכן נקראו סופרים
Stated differently
What the “scribe” (sofer), the root of the words of the Scribes, is, and where the Written Torah (“book”) stands
בחי׳ סופר שהוא חכמה ושם הוא שרש תורה שבעל פהThe scribe is Chochmah, the root of the Oral Torah; the book is the Written Torah, which is Binah.
הוא בחי׳ תורה שבכתב שמח״ע שהוא בחי׳ נר מצוה ותורה אורThe book is the Written Torah, which is from Chochmah Ila’ah; the scribe, above the book, is the Oral Torah, the source of the light and the makif.
ובחי׳ סופר שלמעלה מבחי׳ ספר הוא בחי׳ אי״ה שהוא א׳ י״הThe scribe is “Ayeh”: the aleph, the source and root of Chochmah of Atzilus (mazal notzer, or Chochmah Stima’ah), with yud-hei; the Written Torah comes from Chochmah of Atzilus, from Yesod Abba.
What “the wine of the Torah” is, than which the words of the Scribes are sweeter
כי המצות עצמן נק׳ יינה של תורהThe wine of the Torah is the mitzvos themselves; the words of the Scribes meant here are the blessings over the mitzvos, which are rabbinic and draw a makif (4:19).
פי׳ יינה של תורה הוא פנימית התורה וסודותיהThe wine of the Torah is the inner Torah and its secrets (“wine goes in, a secret comes out”); the words of the Scribes are the Sages’ stringencies, fences and teachings of conduct.
וניסוך המי׳ יותר מיינה של תורה והיא בחי׳ תשב״כ שנק׳ ספרThe wine of the Torah is the Written Torah, the “book”, Binah; the words of the Scribes are like the water libation, which is higher: Chochmah, the “scribe”. (The printed text in the next clause reads “the wine libation, which is Chochmah”; the passage’s own sense is the water libation.)
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Shemos 4, ¶1Torah Ohr, Shemos 4, ¶5Torah Ohr, Shemos 5, ¶8Torah Ohr, Shemos 5, ¶10Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 6, ¶9Likkutei Torah, Matos 4, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 2, ¶4Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8, ¶53
Where it appears
In 92 paragraphs of 72 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 6 ¶12 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 5 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 6 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 15 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 1 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 6 ¶9 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8 ¶25 ¶41 ¶52 ¶53
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 2 ¶1 ¶2 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 5 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 2 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2 ¶38
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 9 ¶7 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 9 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 37 ¶5 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 6 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 3 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4 ¶48
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 3 ¶16
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 5 ¶1 ¶8 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1 ¶20 ¶37
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 2 ¶30
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 6 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 5 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 6 ¶4 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 2 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 1 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 1 ¶10 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 29 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 7 ¶3 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 4 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 4 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 7 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 2 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 1 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 2 ¶28 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 6 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2 ¶14 ¶20 ¶40
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 9 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 10 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 40 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 1 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 1 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 9 ¶6 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 4 ¶1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 7 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 1 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 5 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 7 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 3 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 14 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 3 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 13 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 8 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha 1 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 3 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 21 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 2 ¶34
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 1 ¶50
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 5 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 4 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 10 ¶15
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 11 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 3 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Noach 3 ¶21
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 4 ¶30
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 6 ¶14
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.