RABBI MOSHE CORDEVARO on Torah Codes

RABBI MOSHE CORDEVARO (1522-1570), also known as the Ramak, served in the illustrious position of Head of the Rabbinical Court ("Av Beit Din") in Tzfat, Israel, during the 16th century - a time when Tzfat stood as the worldwide center for Jewish scholarship. The following piece appears in Pardes Rimonim (68a), the Ramak's voluminous commentary on the classic kabbalistic work, The Zohar.

"The secrets of our holy Torah are revealed through knowledge of combinations, numerology (gematria), switching letters, first-and-last letters, shapes of letters, first- and last- verses, skipping of letters (dilug otiot) and letter combinations."

These matters are powerful, hidden and enormous secrets. Because of their great hidden-ness, we don't have the ability to fully comprehend them. Further, to see different angles through these methods is infinite and without limit. On this the Torah says, "its measure is longer than the world."