An American tourist got too close and mistakenly broke off a finger from a 14th century priceless statue on display at the Florence's Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.
What Does Judaism Say About Fingers & Hands
Why are human fingers spiked?
Every wondered why human fingers are tapered like spikes and not webbed together? The Talmud (Ketubos 5b) explains that the fingers are shaped in such a manner so that if a person will hear something that is not proper, he will be able to place his fingers in his ears to block out the sound.
Shake hands with all fingers
There is an amazing insight in the interchange of letter and numbers relating to the word ‘yad’ hand, that’s made of ten fingers. The Hebrew word for hand ‘yad’, has a numeric value of 14, (yud=10; dalet = 4). This coincides with the 14 bones (phalanges) in the fingers of each hand. Thus, in the two hands there are twenty-eight (2x14) such bones, so that when people shake hands they create a bond of 28, which is to say that they fortify each other, 28 being the numeric value of Hebrew word koach, power!
The ring on the Bride’s Forefinger
The index finger on which the bride receives her wedding ring is pointed upwards to receive the ring, symbolically pledging to uphold the G‑d-given Torah and its Divine revelation in the couples newly founded home.
On Saturday Night the PINKY Finger Wine Dip!
It is customary is to extinguish the havdalah candle by dipping it in the leftover wine that accumulates in the cup's saucer. This demonstrates that the candle was lit for the sole purpose of performing the Havdalah ceremony and since the ceremony is now over the candle is extinguished.
Many have the custom to dip their PINKY fingers into the spilled wine and rub them above their eyelids. This demonstrates how mitzvot are so precious to us. King David writes "The command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes."
There are also those who have the custom of placing their wine-dipped fingers in their pockets, as a segulah (spiritually propitious act) to become wealth.
We also look at our finger-nails during the havdalah service because:
a. In order to make the blessing on the candle, it must be close and bright enough to be able to distinguish different currencies by its light. If we can distinguish between our nails and flesh we know that we're okay.
b. Nails are a siman brocho (sign of blessing) because they are constantly growing. So we start off our week by gazing at a siman brocho.
c. Another midrash says that on the first Motzoei Shabbos, when the world became dark for the first time, Adam said "woe is to me, for because of my sin the world has become dark." G‑d then gave Adam the wisdom to rub two flint-stones together, and when fire sprang forth Adam made the blessing (Borey Meoray Ha'aish), and realized that he was completely naked – aside from his nails.
Fingers Testify
At the time of his passing, Rebbe (the codifier of the Mishnah) raised his ten fingers towards heaven and said, “Master of the Universe, You know full well that I have toiled in the study of the Torah with my ten fingers and that I did not enjoy any worldly benefits, even with my little finger. (Talmud Ketubot 104a)
Let’s Remembers G‑ds Powerful Metaphoric Finger
Each of the 10 plagues that G‑d brought upon the Egyptians was separately classified as the “finger of G‑d”
Does anybody know why we specifically dip our PINKY finger into the wine?
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