And this is the offering which you shall take from them; gold, and silver, and copper.
At the start of this week's parsha, we're told that that people brought offerings of zahav (gold), kesef (silver) and nechoshes (copper.) The following is attributed to the Vilna Gaon:
Z- Zayin=7, the seventh day of the week
H-Hay=5, the fifth day of the week
V-Bays=2, the second day of the week
K-Kuf= Kippurim, Yom Kipper
S-Samach=Sucos
F-Pay=Pesach
N-Nun,=Ner ie: Chanuka (yeah, this one is a shlep)
CH-Ches= Chodesh ie: Rosh Chodesh
SH-Shin= Shavuos and Shana, ie: Rosh Hashana
T=Tof=Taanis (fast days)
As you may have noticed, the acrostic formed by the words Zahav, Kesef and Nechoshes are all the days during the year when the Torah is read. Concludes the Vilna Gaon, "We see from this, that in our day reading the Torah constitutes an offering equal to the gold, silver, and copper our ancestors brought."
Leave aside the tacked-on moral. What do skeptics like Godol Hador, who deny TMS, do with this acrostic? Do they say that it's a lucky coincidence? Or what?
[What does a skeptic like DovBear say? That there was a revelation at Sinai, but men, being men, screwed things up (especially during bayis rishon when idolatry was rampant). Nonethless, a lot of the ideas and words that remained (including this acrostic(maybe)) can be traced to Sinai. If this sounds familiar, btw, there's a good reason for that.]
