Translation by Soferet Jen Taylor Friedman, www.hasoferet.com
1:1 It is taught in a baraita (Eruvin 13a): Rabbi Meir said, when I came to Rabbi Ishmael, he said to me “My son, what is your trade?” I said to him “I am a scribe.” He said to me “My son, be meticulous in your work, for it is the work of heaven, and if you should omit a single letter or add a single letter, you destroy the entire world.” From this we may see that a scribe must be in extreme awe of God, for if he makes one error or fails to make one necessary correction, his soul will perish, because he steals from the masses and causes them to sin. ...
2:2 The skins must be processed lishmah; that is, when one places them in the lime at the start of the process, he says “I am processing these skins for the sake of a sefer Torah [or for mezuzah, or for tefillin], and so I am putting these skins in lime,” and then immediately places the skins into the lime. Since the start of the process was performed lishmah, all the other parts of the processing, like the splitting and the scraping, follow after it. Even so, it is best to repeat at each stage of the process, that he is doing it lishmah (Benei Yonah)...
2:3 Some say that he must actually verbalize his intent to process the skins lishmah... because one cannot impart sanctity merely by thinking about it; he must speak, since speaking makes a greater impression (Birkei Yosef in the name of the Radba”z). After the fact, ... thought alone is sufficient.
2:4 Sifrei Torah, tefillin and mezuzot have different levels of sanctity. The sanctity of a sefer Torah is greatest, then tefillin, then mezuzot. Lishmah for something of lesser sanctity is not sufficient for something of greater sanctity – that is, if one processed parchment for the sake of tefillin, he may not then write a sefer Torah upon it. If he wanted to write a mezuzah upon it, which has less sanctity, some say that this is quite all right ... but some differ and say that perhaps everything must be done for its own specific purpose. ... In pressing circumstances, if this is not possible, he may rely on those who say that it’s sufficient to say, when starting the processing, “for the sake of sifrei Torah, tefillin, mezuzot, and tefillin housings.” ...
3:6 One should take care to have a nice-looking pen, even if it doesn’t make the writing itself look any different. Some say that one should write with a reed pen and not a feather, but this is not the custom; we can write with feathers and even with metal.
6:1 If one cannot tell whether a letter has the correct proportions, or is unsure whether it has its correct form, and thinks it may be pasul [invalid], he shows it to a child who is neither particularly smart nor particularly backward, and if the child reads it correctly, it is valid. ...
עשר נקודות בתורה אלו הן
[...]
כך אמר עזרא אם יבא אליהו ויאמר לי מפני מה כתבת כך אומר אני לו כבר נקדתי עליהן ואם אומר לי יפה כתבת אעביר נקודה מעליהן.
There are 10 places in the Torah with dots, and they are:
Genesis 16:5 - וביניך
Genesis 18:9 - אליו
Genesis 19:33 - ובקומה
Genesis 33:4 - וישקהו
Genesis 37:12 - את
Numbers 3:39 - ואהרן
Numbers 9:10 - רחוקה
Numbers 21:30 - אשר
Numbers 29:15 - ועשרון
Deuteronomy 29:28 - לנו ולבנינו עד
Ezra the Scribe said: if Eliyahu comes and says, 'Why did you write it like that,' I will say to him, I've already written the dots upon them. And if he says, 'Nicely written!' I will take the dots away.
וַיָּרָץ עֵשָׂו לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיִּשָּׁקֵהוּ (בראשית לג, ד), נָקוּד עָלָיו, אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר ... מְלַמֵּד שֶׁנִּכְמְרוּ רַחֲמָיו בְּאוֹתָהּ הַשָּׁעָה וּנְשָׁקוֹ בְּכָל לִבּוֹ. אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יַנַּאי אִם כֵּן לָמָּה נָקוּד עָלָיו, אֶלָּא מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹא בָּא לְנַשְּׁקוֹ אֶלָּא לְנָשְּׁכוֹ
And Esav run towards him and kissed him (Genesis 33:4), there are dots on it. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said...this teaches that his compassion was roused in this moment, and he kissed him with all of his heart. Rabbi Yanai said to him: if that's so, why are there dots? Rather, [the dots] tell us that he did not come to kiss him (לנשקו) but to bite him (לנשכו).
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב בשעה שעלה משה למרום מצאו להקב"ה שיושב וקושר כתרים לאותיות אמר לפניו רבש"ע מי מעכב על ידך אמר לו אדם אחד יש שעתיד להיות בסוף כמה דורות ועקיבא בן יוסף שמו שעתיד לדרוש על כל קוץ וקוץ תילין תילין של הלכות
אמר לפניו רבש"ע הראהו לי אמר לו חזור לאחורך הלך וישב בסוף שמונה שורות ולא היה יודע מה הן אומרים תשש כחו כיון שהגיע לדבר אחד אמרו לו תלמידיו רבי מנין לך אמר להן הלכה למשה מסיני נתיישבה דעתו
Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: When Moses ascended on High, he found the Holy One, Blessed be He, sitting and tying crowns on the letters of the Torah. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, who is preventing You from giving the Torah without these additions? God said to him: There is a man who is destined to be born after several generations, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name; he is destined to derive from each and every thorn of these crowns mounds upon mounds of halakhot. It is for his sake that the crowns must be added to the letters of the Torah.
Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, show him to me. God said to him: Return behind you. Moses went and sat at the end of the eighth row in Rabbi Akiva’s study hall and did not understand what they were saying. Moses’ strength waned, as he thought his Torah knowledge was deficient. When Rabbi Akiva arrived at the discussion of one matter, his students said to him: My teacher, from where do you derive this? Rabbi Akiva said to them: It is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. When Moses heard this, his mind was put at ease, as this too was part of the Torah that he was to receive.
The Sages said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Young students came today to the study hall and said things the likes of which were not said even in the days of Joshua bin Nun. These children who only knew the Hebrew alphabet interpreted the letters homiletically.
Alef beit means learn [elaf] the wisdom [bina] of the Torah.
Gimmel dalet means give to the poor [gemol dalim]. Why is the leg of the gimmel extended toward the dalet? Because it is the manner of one who bestows loving-kindness to pursue the poor. And why is the leg of the dalet extended toward the gimmel? It is so that a poor person will make himself available to him who wants to give him charity. And why does the dalet face away from the gimmel? It is to teach that one should give charity discreetly so that the poor person will not be embarrassed by him.
They further taught:
Shin: Falsehood [sheker]. Tav: Truth [emet].
Why are the letters of the word sheker adjacent to one another in the alphabet, while the letters of emet are distant from one another? That is because while falsehood is easily found, truth is found only with great difficulty. And why do the letters that comprise the word sheker all stand on one foot, and the letters that comprise the word emet stand on bases that are wide like bricks? Because the truth stands eternal and falsehood does not stand eternal.
Perfectionism is NOT the same thing as striving to be your best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment, and shame. It's a shield. Perfectionism is a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it's the thing that's really preventing us from taking flight.
Perfectionism is NOT self-improvement. Perfectionism is, at its core, about trying to earn approval and acceptance. Most perfectionists were raised being praised for achievement and performance (grades, manners, rule-following, people-pleasing, appearance, sports). Somewhere along the way, we adopt this dangerous and debilitating belief system: I am what I accomplish and how well I accomplish it. ...Healthy striving is self-focused -- How can I improve? Perfectionism is other-focused -- What will they think?
Perfectionism is self-destructive simply because there is no such thing as perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal. Additionally, perfectionism is more about perception -- we want to be perceived as perfect. Again, this is unattainable -- there is no way to control perception, regardless of how much time and energy we spend trying.
Perfectionism is addictive becasue when we invariably do experience shame, judgment, and blame, we often believe it's because we weren't perfect enough. ... Feeling shamed, judged, and blamed (and the fear of these feelings) are realities of the human experience. Perfectionism actually increases the odds that we'll experience these painful emotions and often leads to self-blame: It's my fault. I'm feeling this way because "I'm not good enough."
Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it's often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life-paralysis. Life-paralysis is all of the opportunities we miss because we're too afraid to put anything out in the world that could be imperfect. It's also all of the dreams that we don't follow because of our deep fear of failing, making mistakes, and disappointing others. It's terrifying to risk when you're a perfectionist; your self-worth is on the line.
When we become more loving and compassionate with ourselves and we begin to practice shame resilience, we can embrace our imperfections. It is in the process of embracing our imperfections that we find our truest gifts: courage, compassion, and connection. I think perfectionism exists on a continuum. We all have some perfectionistic tendencies.
- Dr. Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection, p. 56-57