Today, I want to talk about this line in Chizkuni's introduction to his Torah commentary. Now there is no translation on Sefaria, and I can't seem to find one elsewhere on the internet. So, while my own Hebrew isn't yet great as I am still in the process of learning, I will give a shot at translating:
"For by my father's righteousness he sent up in smoke his right hand to the God of the Hebrews, he gave strength and might to copy/transcribe a book to the right (hand?) of his son"
The word I am translating as "he sent up in smoke" is generally used in regards to sacrifices (i.e., burning a sacrifice on an altar and causing its smoke to go up to God), or burning incense.
It is not entirely clear what Chizkuni means by this. There is very little I could find on this in a cursory search, just this page from the Ktav Publishing house:
Rabbi Chizkiyahu ben Rabbi Manoach (13th century) known as the Chizkuni was a French rabbi and student. In memory of his father, who lost hi
Which states that: "[He wrote it] In memory of his father, who lost his right hand through his stead-fastness in the faith"
This seems like a good interpretation, but it still begs the question of how exactly his faith caused him to lose his hand. Unfortunately not much is known about Chizkuni in general, so this may remain a mystery. Some ideas are:
He got carpal tunnel/tendonitis from writing too much
He may have been harmed in some anti-Jewish Pogrom which caused him to lose his hand
Something else?
Regardless, it is quite a beautiful, if not unusual, way to describe his father's influence on his commentary
If anyone else has any thoughts on this feel free to share!
