Nekudot in the Sefer Torah
‘Why Is There a Dot Over the Vav?’
(Menachos 87b)
The Gemara on our daf questions the nikud – the dot in the Sefer Torah above the letter vav in the word “issaron.” Nekudot are found in ten places in the Torah and they are counted in Avos deRabbi Nasan (ch. 34) with their interpretations.
Avos deRabbi Nasan (ibid.; see Piskei Tosafos on our sugya, cited in the Taz, Y.D. 274, s.k. 7) says that the nekudot were added by Ezra. As for the halacha, Rambam (Hilchos Tefillin Umezuzah Vesefer Torah 7:8) and the Rema (Y.D. 275:6) rule that the nekudot should be heeded when writing a Sefer Torah as it is a mesorah – a tradition that has been handed down through the generations.
However, the Taz writes (274, ibid.) that if the scribe has not added the nekudot, the Sefer Torah is kosher as the additions were instituted by Ezra and the kashrus of a Sefer Torah does not depend on it.
The Rema of Pano (Responsa, 38) wrote that he feared the errors which could occur in Sifrei Torah because of the nekudot when, after a time, some might mistakenly think that these nekudot are possibly Yudin and will write a Yud instead of the nikud, thus disqualifying the Sefer Torah. Because of this fear, he declares, “praise the Sefardim, who refrain from adding the nekudot.” It seems from his statement that there are those who, as a first preference, refrain from adding the nekudot. (The matter needs research.)
How Was It Allowed to Add the Nekudot?
As we know that we must not add even the slightest mark to any letter in the Sefer Torah, whose format was given to Moshe Rabbeinu by Hashem, how do we understand how Ezra added the nekudot? The question becomes stronger from the words of the Piskei Tosafos (ibid.): “When Ezra wrote the Torah, he added nekudot and said [that] if Moshe Rabeinu would ask ‘Why did you add nekudot?’ I would respond ‘but I didn’t erase.’” What does “I didn’t erase” mean? Would that reply satisfy Moshe Rabbeinu?
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Responsa Iggros Moshe, Y.D., III, 117) explains that Ezra was worthy of having the Torah be given through him, if not for the fact that Moshe Rabbeinu preceded him (Sanhedrin 21a). Therefore, he was allowed to add nekudot in the Torah to hint at halachos passed down which, in his opinion, ought to be alluded to in the Torah. However, said Ezra, if Moshe Rabbeinu contends that he also could have added nikud but did not do so because the interpretations that you want to be determined from the nekudot should remain part of the Oral Torah and not be explicit, I (Ezra) will reply that I only added the nekudot on the condition that Moshe Rabbeinu agrees to it. If not, the nekudot should not be treated as something that limits the meaning of the words, but as insignificant, as they are not mixed in with the words but hang between the lines and are obviously not part of the written Sefer Torah.
Symbols Etched with a Metal Marker Between the Lines
Rabbi Feinstein uses this idea to decide between different opinions about certain Sifrei Torah of Yemenite communities. These Sifrei Torah had special signs marked with an iron nib – without ink, between the lines – to ease the reading and mark the ends of verses. Some poskim disqualified such Sifrei Torah, as the Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 274:7) rules: “A voweled Sefer Torah is disqualified, and the same applies to a Sefer divided into verses.” In other words, if the end of a verse is marked by ink, the Sefer is disqualified, as we must not change the form of the Sefer Torah as passed down to us by Moshe Rabbeinu (Beis Yosef in Ramban’s name).
Symbols with No Explanation Do Not Disqualify
However, Rabbi Feinstein contends that the marks in the Yemenite Sifrei Torah do not disqualify them, as they were not made with ink and only appeared between the lines. This is not the usual way to add nekudot to letters and should not be regarded as an addition to the writing. Without an exact explanation, no one would know their meaning. As mentioned with regard to Ezra, signs whose content is unclear without an oral explanation are not regarded as having independent content, and therefore they do not disqualify a Sefer Torah.