Commentary for Kiddushin 59:12
בעי רב יוסף וא"ו דגחון מהאי גיסא או מהאי גיסא א"ל ניתי ס"ת ואימנינהו מי לא אמר רבה בר בר חנה לא זזו משם עד שהביאו ספר תורה ומנאום א"ל אינהו בקיאי בחסירות ויתרות אנן לא בקיאינן
But he, being full of compassion, forgiveth their iniquity,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. LXXVIII, 38.');"><sup>26</sup></span> half of the verses. R'Joseph propounded: Does the waw of gahon belong to the first half or the second? Said they [the scholars] to him, Let a Scroll of the Torah be brought and we will count them! Did not Rabbah B'Bar Hanah say,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On another occasion.');"><sup>27</sup></span>
Daf Shevui to Kiddushin
Interestingly, the students of R. Joseph wants to answer his question by really checking things out, to see where the middle of the Torah is. They act like empirical scientists not simply trusting tradition. He even cites another case where they actually counted the letters of the Torah (we do not know the context of this case).
But alas, R. Joseph seems to acknowledge that we do not know if our Torahs are written according to this count of letters. In Hebrew the vowels for “oo” and “oh” can either be written with the letter vav (full spelling) or without (defective). There are other words that can be written in either defective or full spellings. So we do not really know where the middle of the Torah is in terms of letters.
But alas, R. Joseph seems to acknowledge that we do not know if our Torahs are written according to this count of letters. In Hebrew the vowels for “oo” and “oh” can either be written with the letter vav (full spelling) or without (defective). There are other words that can be written in either defective or full spellings. So we do not really know where the middle of the Torah is in terms of letters.
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