“All those counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted by the directive of the Lord, by their families, all males from one month old and above, were twenty-two thousand” (Numbers 3:39). “All those counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron [ve’aharon] counted” – the vav in ve’aharon is dotted because Aaron was not part of the census.34He was not counted, nor did he participate with Moses in the census.
Similarly, “may the Lord judge between me and you [uveinekha]” (Genesis 16:5) – as she said it only regarding Hagar alone.35There is a dot over the yod in uveinekha, indicating that Sarah did not demand that God punish Abraham. Some say, it was regarding those who introduce discord between him and her.36While this interpretation also maintains that Sarah was referring to Hagar, it is not based on the dot over the yod, but rather on understanding “between me and you” as referring to one who introduces discord between them.
Similarly, “They said to him [elav]: Where is Sarah?” (Genesis 18:9) – the alef in elav is dotted, as they knew where she was but made inquiries about her. Similarly, “He did not know when she lay down and when she arose [uvkuma]” (Genesis 19:33) – the vav in the middle of uvkuma regarding the elder daughter is dotted; he did not know when she lay down, but he knew when she arose. Similarly, “he kissed him [vayishakehu] (Genesis 33:4)37Esau kissed Jacob. – it is dotted, because he did not kiss him with all his heart.
Similarly, “his brothers went to herd et” (Genesis 37:12) – why is it dotted over et? It teaches that they did not go to herd, but rather to eat, drink, and be seduced. Similarly, “or on a distant [reḥoka] journey” (Numbers 9:10) – the ḥet of reḥoka is dotted.38While the midrash here states that there is a dot on the ḥet, the Mishna (Pesaḥim 93b) and other sources state that the dot is on the heh.
In our Torah scrolls the dot is on the heh. It teaches that even if it was not a distant journey, but just outside the threshold of the courtyard of the Temple. Some say, even if it was a near journey, but it39The path which he has to take to reach the Temple (Etz Yosef). is impure, he would not perform the rite of the paschal offering with them. Similarly, “we laid waste until Nofaḥ that [asher]” (Numbers 21:30) – the reish in asher is dotted, as it was so even beyond there.
Some say: It teaches that they did not destroy the entire country, but rather the large cities. Similarly, “You shall offer one-tenth [isaron isaron] for each” (Numbers 29:15) – the first isaron of the first day of the festival is dotted. It teaches that there was only one one-tenth alone.40Namely, there was only a one-tenth measure, and for sacrifices which require two-tenths or three-tenths, each tenth would be measured separately.
Similarly, “The concealed are for the Lord our God, but the revealed are for us and for our children [lanu ulvaneinu] forever [ad olam]” (Deuteronomy 29:28) – why is it dotted over lanu ulvaneinu and the ayin of ad? He said to them: ‘If you perform the revealed, I will inform you of the concealed.’ Some say: Why is it dotted? Rather, this is what Ezra said: If Elijah will come and say: Why did you write them?41I.e., you should not have written them. I will say to him: I dotted above them. If he will say: You wrote them well, I will erase the dots from above them.