[Avodah] Virtual Glyph Theory

[Jay F Shachter]

Toward the end of this week's parasha, the name Avram is changed to
Avraham, by acquiring the Hebrew letter "hé", and the name Sarai is
changed to Sarah, by replacing the Hebrew letter "yod" with the Hebrew
letter "hé".  Our Sages have taught us (Palestinian Talmud, Tractate
Sanhedrin, Chapter 9, Halakha 6) that this paired change illustrates the
law of conservation of gematria, which asserts that in a closed system
gematria can be neither created nor destroyed.  The change in Avraham's
name, which involved a +5 change in gematria value, is offset by the
change in Sarah's name, which involved a -5 change in gematria value.

One would expect, however, that this paired change would proceed in the
following manner: The yod in "Sarai" decays into two hés, one of which
remains bound to the other two letters while the other is emitted.  The
emitted hé is then captured by Avram. who absorbs it and becomes
Avraham.  The point is that, in all frames of reference, the change in
Sarai's name must precede the change in Avram's name, as the hé capture
which results in the formation of Avraham is made possible only by the
prior yod decay involved in the formation of Sarah.  Empirical evidence,
though, contradicts this theory.  Avram became Avraham sometime after
Genesis 17:5, but no later than Genesis 17:9, whereas six verses later,
at the beginning of Genesis 17:15, Sarai was still Sarai, and she did
not become Sarah until the end of the verse.  Thus, in at least one
frame of reference, the hé capture preceded the yod decay, which is a
violation of the conservation law.

Apparently, the law of conservation of gematria can be violated for
small numbers of verses.  The hé that Avraham absorbed was not emitted
by Sarah.  Rather, it was a virtual glyph.  Virtual glyphs can exist
for a small number of verses, but then they must disappear; the
product of the gematria of the glyph, and the number of verses, must
be less than or equal to Shachter's Constant.  Virtual glyphs can
become real only if the increase in gematria is made up elsewhere
through the annihilation of a glyph, or glyphs, of equal gematria.

I am currently exploring the idea that the attraction between Avraham
and Sarah may be caused by the constant exchange of virtual glyphs,
which cannot otherwise be detected.  I cannot predict yet where the
equations will lead but I expect that the results will be cause for
laughter in certain quarters.


			Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
			6424 N Whipple St
			Chicago IL  60645-4111
				(1-773)7613784
				jay at m5.chicago.il.us
				http://m5.chicago.il.us

			"Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur"