The Midpoint of the Torah It would be logical to say that the midpoint of the Torah contains an important message, perhaps the book's central theme. Yet, while many people could recite the first verse of the Bible, some would know the last verse as well, but how many people know the midpoint of the Torah? The Talmud relates that the early sages set out to discover the midpoint of the Torah: Therefore, because they devoted so much time to the Bible, the first Sages were called: Those who count [soferim], because they would count all the letters in the Torah, as they would say that the letter vav in the word “belly [gaḥon]” (Leviticus 11:42) is the midpoint of the letters in a Torah scroll. (Kidushin 30a) It turns out that the midpoint of the Torah is in the portion of Shmini, in the section that discusses kosher food. The Torah lists the prohibited reptiles and states that any creature which goes in its belly is forbidden. The letter vav of the word Gachon, belly, written in a larger font than the other letters, is the midpoint of the Torah. The word “Gachon” evokes the first and only other time the word is used, in the context of the snake in the garden of Eden, G-d tells the snake: "Because you have done this, cursed be you more than all the cattle and more than all the beasts of the field; you shall walk on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.” The Zohar explains that the serpent represents the evil inclination within every person, which causes a person to orient toward earth instead of toward heaven. The midpoint of the Torah, mentions the serpent because the ultimate purpose of the Torah is the transformation of the serpent. In the garden of Eden G-d told the serpent “And I shall place hatred between you and between the woman, and between your seed and between her seed”, yet the purpose of the Torah is the refinement of the serpent, which will create peace between the snake and the person. The midpoint letter of the Torah, the letter vav of Gachon, is written in a larger font, alluding to its spiritual energy and source. The serpent possesses an intensity of energy whose spiritual source is positive and holy. The task of the Jew is to reconnect the inner serpent to its source, to refine the self to the point that even the self-oriented animalistic side of the human being appreciates the pleasure and benefit of connecting to holiness. Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Lekutei Sichos 17 Shmini 4