QUESTION: To Rabbi Klein, in your latest essay, you wrote:
Rabbi Moshe Shapiro (1935-2017) explains that all words derived from the SAMECH-PEH-REISH root are interrelated. He explains that sippur denotes joining together multiple details to form a singular, holistic unit—the “story”. This resembles a sefer (book), which includes all the details and contents recorded therein, and binds them together into one entity. Similarly, a sfar (border) confines everything within its boundary and makes them into one unit — whether it is the border of a country or the city limits. Finally, mispar (number) and sofer (counting) refer to the system of counting numbers that are all bound together in an organized and logical way.
If all such roots are related, how does להסתפר fit in?
ANSWER: Good question. I don’t remember if I thought of this myself or I heard it from Rav Moshe Shapiro zt’l (which is why I didn’t put it into the essay), but “shaving” is derived from “border” because by cutting the hairs short, you are giving them a boundary and saying “until here” in the same way that a border says “until here”. Again, I don’t remember if this is my own idea or I heard it from Rav Moshe.
Chag Kosher V’Sameach, Reuven Chaim Klein Beitar Illit, Israel