Nach Daily

Tehilim Perek 119: Letter Pei

Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. In today’s Nach Daily we’ll be discussing the letter PEI.

The letter Pei represents Pesicha, opening, Pesach, an entrance way, and superficial externalities.

The mouth is called the Peh after the letter Pei because the mouth opens. Your mouth is what allows you to eat and nourish the body. Without it you wouldn’t be able to communicate your thoughts and desires. The Pei therefore represents the faculty of speech which comes through the mouth. The ability to bring your penimiyus to the chitzoniyus, inner self to the outer self,” is essentially self-actualization.

The first time that the Pei is used in the Torah is when it says “v’ruach Elokim mirachePhes al Pnai hamayim,” and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the water. Pei here is used to describe the surface, the outer part, of the water.

When contrasting the letter Pei to the letter Beis, we see that the Beis represents the penimiyus, internality, or inside of a house while the Pei represents the external, front of the house.

Look at the letter Pei written as in a Sefer Torah, and stare at the negative space within the letter itself. The letter Beis will emerge! It is actually contained in the negative space of the Pei because the Pei represents externality while the Beis represents internality.

To go a step deeper: We know that everything in this word can be used to serve Hashem. Anything physical, like a table or a car that is used for Mitzvos , becomes a vehicle to serve Him. As the whole point of chitzonyus is to reveal the penimyus, the whole point of all our physical possessions is to use them to serve God. The Pei points towards the letter Beis in the negative space to teach us not to get stuck on the physical trappings of this world, but to use them to reveal the Divine hidden behind them.

The Pei is shaped like a mouth with a tooth hanging down from it because the Pei is synonymous with the Peh, mouth.

The Pei is comprised of two letters, a Chuf and an upside down Yud. In previous classes we said that the Chuf represents bending in order to form something while Yud represents creating. The act of speaking is giving form to words by shaping and articulating sounds. This is represented by the Chuf-Yud combination which forms the Pei.

Numerically, Pei equals 80, which represents gevurah, strength. In Tehilim 90:10 we’re told that the days of our lives are seventy years, “v’im b’gevoros shmonim shanah, and if strong, 80 years. Pirkei Avos says “ben shmonim le’gevurah, an 80 year old has strength.” Obviously this isn’t referring to physical strength, but the ability to live to conquer our Yetzer Harah. This requires guarding our mouths, represented by the Pei.

There are two Pei’s, a regular Pei called Pei Kafufa, and a Pei Sofit, known as the Pei Pashuta. They ttell us that there’s a time for us to pay attention and not speak, as well as a time to open our mouths and speak what we know.

The Pei Sofit, the Pei Pashuta, also represents the times of Mashiach. When Mashiach will reveal himself to the world, the Yetzer Hara will be completely nullified. This will cause people to “straighten out” and guard their mouths, only speaking words of chochma, wisdom.

May we merit the times of the final redemption, when the world will be wide open to accepting God as the King of the cosmos.

In the next episode of Nachdaily, we’ll be moving on to the righteous Tzaddik.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.

Tehilim Perek 119: Letter AYIN

Hello everybody, in today’s Nach Daily we’ll be discussing the letter AYIN. I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time.

Let’s jump rite in;

The letter Ayin represents Amok depth, vision, sensing, and deeply thinking.

The Ayin eye, encompasses both physically seeing something and spiritually seeing something in your mind’s eye. Its also the ability to think intuitively, more deeply and penetrating a subject matter. Like when a person like when a person learns gemarah in depth its called b’iyun from the world Ayin to look into something.

After Adom and Chava sinned by eating from the Tree of Knowledge the passuk says “v’tipakachna Aney shneihem v’yado ki arumim hem – they opened up their eyes and saw they were naked.” Rashi explains Adom and Chava’s perspective had changed they were able to see things from a new angle.

In English we have the same expression. When you understand something you say “I see.” Or if someone wants to know if your understanding something they will say “do you see what im talking about?” It obviously doesn’t mean physical seeing. It means seeing in your minds eye. This type of seeing is represented by the Ayin.

A subtle but major point here is one’s eye is called Ayin. The organ is named after the letter not the other way around. The letters not named after the organ. This represents something more fundamental. If the world was created with only 21 letters and the Ayin was left out. No one would be able to see the world. The world would be completely lacking. The main faculty of experience would be gone. Therefore, in this context it can be said the Ayin is among the most fundamental of letters.

The Radvaz is his sefer on the letters called Magen Dovid explains the Ayin represents the Ayin Elyona, Hashems hashkacha exact Divine providence in this world. As the passuk says in refrence to Eretz Yisrael “tamid Aynei Hashem Elokecha ba, m’reshis hashanah v’ad achris hashanah – Hashem’s eyes are constantly watching and guarding it from the beginning until the end of the year.” It goes without saying, Hashem doesn’t have eyes. Once again, we see how the Ayin points towards God’s amazing care and protection over our nation. Hashem is constantly watching over us.

Parenthetically, the passuk we just quoted is about Eretz Yisrael. Because Eretz Yisrael is the place where a person can see God more clearly.

The letter Ayin is actually shaped like two eyes attached to a face. Non of the letters look like the organ it corresponds to. Once again, this points to the vital nature of the eyes.

Nurmically the Ayin is 70. Seventy is a number of inclusion and perfection. Examples of this are; there’s 70 nations, 70 languages,. At the beginning of the formation of Am Yisrael, Yaakov had 70 children that went down to Mitzraim. And there’s 70 punim letorah 70 ways to understand Torah. This all points towards perfection and inclusion.

Last but not least in the contemporary sefer Hatzaphon written by Rav Zamir Cohn. Explains the by Tefilin it shuold be placed “bein Aynecha” between your eyes. Why does it say between your eyes and not al aynecha on your eyes or next to your eyes?

Rav Zamit Cohn explains. The Tefilin rest on the part of your brain called the Lateral Geniculate Necleus (LGN). This part of your brain is responsible for vision. It’s the part of your brain that process and allows your eyes to see. Therefore, the Torah commanded us to place our Tefilin bein aynecha between our eyes exactly in the location where our brain see’s from.

Even further, in healing, the spot where we place or Tefilin in known as the Pineal gland. Which is known as the location for our minds eyes and ability to see spiritually.

Tehilim Perek 119: Letter Samech

Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. Today’s Nach Daily we’ll discuss the letter Samech.

Samech represents Semicha, getting up after a fall. Samech, which is shaped like a circle, also stands for Sovev, to surround. In a deeper sense it refers to the Somech HaGadol, the One on Whom the world is completely reliant, Hashem.

In Ashrei we read that Hashem is “Somech le’kol hanoflim, Hashem picks up all the fallen people.” Each time that we have a Nefila, fall to a low place, we can rely on Hashem to pick us up. The previous letter, Nun, which denotes Nefilah, falling, is the only letter not mentioned in the Ashrei prayer. We skip it and go straight to the Samech because every descent is for the purpose of ascent, and Hashem is using it as a means to draw us closer.

The first time that the Samech appears in the Torah in the beginning of a word is “Shem echad Pishon, hu haSovev es kol ha’aretz Hachavila – One name of a river flowing from Gan Eden [Garden of Eden] is Pishon , which surrounds the entire land of Chavila.”

Kabbalistically, the round shape of the Samech reminds us that when Hashem created the world, He was “metzamtzem His Elokus, He constricted His Light” so that creation could take place. This Light was equally limited and refracted in all areas, represented by the circle which indicates that His Light was equally spread out in all directions. There was no one single area which received more than the others.

This corresponds to Hashem’s name of HaMakom, the Place. The world was created within the chalal penuy, vacated space, which was made at the time of the original tzimtzum, constriction, of Hashem’s Presence. All this is represented by the shape of the Samech.

The circle shape also reminds us that Hashem’s Light is Sovev and malei kol ha’olamim, surrounds and fills all the worlds. Just as God has no beginning and end, so too the circle has no beginning and end. Ultimately, we can’t comprehend God’s ways, which are beyond anything that we can possibly fathom.

The circle is like a fence, closed on all sides for protection. So too Hashem is Somech Am Yisrael and is constantly being Sovev us, surrounding and protecting the Jewish nation as a fence protects a garden.

Hebrew words indicating enclosure and protection begin with a Samech. Examples of this are: Sagira, blocked off, Sagur, closed, Sod, secret, Sof, end, and Seser, hidden. The Yetzer Hara is called the Sam’al, because he wants to close us off and prevent us from achieving our missions in this world.

Samech has the numerical value of 60, which represents protection. It is said of King Shlomo that he had 60 armed men surrounding his bed at night. The Birkas Kohanim blessing, known as the Brocha of Protection, contains 60 words.

Last but not least, we mentioned in a previous class that the second set of letters all have lower letter counterparts. The counterpart of the Samech, whose numerical value is 60, is the Vav, the letter of connection, with the value of 6. The Vav has the “koach ham’echad, the ability to join things together and make them one.” This is precisely the power of the Samech, as an enclosure brings different things together.

In the next episode of Nach Daily we’ll be taking a look at the Ayin.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.

Tehilim Perek 119: Letter NUN

Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. In today’s Nach Daily we’ll be discussing perek 119, letter NUN.

The letter Nun represents Ne’emanut, loyalty, Namichut ruach, humility, Neshama, the soul, and Netzach, eternity.

The Medrash Osyios D’Rebbe Akiva explains that the Neshama was created with the letter Nun. Without the soul the body would be as inanimate as the dirt on the ground, unable to stand erect or move in any way.

The Medrash continues that this is represented by the two Nuns. The regular Nun is laying, while the Nun Sofit is standing. In the simple sense, the Medrash is speaking about the Neshama as it relates to its clothing, the body. However, in the deeper sense this means that when a person does mitzvos the Neshama is uplifted. When a person sins, however, the Neshama goes downwards as if it’s sleeping.

A Neshama by nature is completely pure, trustworthy, loyal and filled with sublime humility before God, but our physical desires are constantly preventing it from revealing its true identity. This is all represented by the letter Nun, as the soul is constantly expressing its dedication to Hashem.

The shape of a Nun is like a person sitting with their legs in front and the head tilted forward. This points towards the Neshama, which humbly subjugates itself to Hashem.

It should be noted that when a person is constantly like the Nun Kafuf, humbly sitting in front of God, in the end he will be like the Nun Pashuta, straightened out for Olam Habah.

Numerically, the Nun is 50. Fifty represents the “Chamishim Sha’arei Bina, 50 Gates of Understanding, the 50 gates of Kedusha, Holiness, and the 50 days to receiving the Torah. The only way to reach the highest level is though aNava, humility. Therefore, it was specifically Moshe who attained the fiftieth level which allowed him to receive the Torah because he was aNav mikol adom, the most humble man on earth. This is all represented by the letter Nun which is numerically fifty and corresponds to humility, loyalty, and subjugation.

The Nun is also a feminine letter as Nekieva, which starts with a Nun, means female. Women have an easier time humbling themselves to Hashem because they are more naturally connected, dedicated and loyal. This is why women make the bracha in the morning “asani kirtzono, Hashem created me according to His will. Generally speaking, women feel more connected to Hashem because they were created in tandem with God’s Ratzon, will.

Nun is also the letter for Nefila, falling. In life we tend to fall, but we always trust that “yerida tachlis ha’aliya, every descent is really an ascent.” Every fall is really Hashem drawing you closer to Him.

In this context it can be understood that every Nefilah, falling is really for the good. It’s specifically from that place of Nefilah that you can accrue credit for Netzach, eternity.

May we merit constantly humbling ourselves in front of Hashem, remembering that we are Nothing, which starts with a Nun, in the eyes of the Creator.

Stay tuned for our next episode in which we’ll be moving on to the letter Samech.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.

Tehilim Perek 119: Letter MEM

Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. Today we’ll discuss the letter Mem.

Mem represents the Makor, the source of something, and Ma’avar, moving beyond, exiting from a point of origin.

The Sefer Yetzira explains that Mem stands for Mayim, water. Water always flows from a source to a destination, its fluid quality allowing it to take the shape of its container. Water also has the ability to carry items or boats from place to place with its current, taking something from its Makor, source, and being Ma’avar, passing it along to a Makom, place.

Mayim is the only thing in nature which exists in 3 forms: ice, which is solid, water, which is liquid, and a cloud, which is like a gas. This is all represented by the Mem.

People who desire to grow in ruchniyos, spirituality, and from level to level, are also represented by the Mem because they aspire to return to their Source, the Creator.

The Mem, with a numerical value of 40, also represents Torah which was given in 40 days. We know that “Ain Mayim elah Torah, only Torah is water for the parched soul.” As water flows to the lowest place, Torah can only be attained by someone who is truly humble. The Tikkun Hanefesh, rectification of the soul, is also considered a movement represented by the Mem, as learning Torah repairs our Midos, character traits.

Mem is spelled: Mem Mem Sofit, similar to Vav , Vav Vav, and Hei, Hei Hei. The difference is that the Mem has a regular Mem followed by a Mem Sofit, representing giving birth.

It takes 40 days for the formation of an embryo. The continuing process of gestation is also represented by a Mem. As the baby develops in the umbilical liquid, its form changes. This too is represented by the Mem, the force of movement. It is spelled with a Mem Sofit because by the time of birth the baby in the womb’s fluid looks different.

The word for embryo is vlad, which has the numerical value of 40, as does a mother’s chalav, milk. Aim, the word for mother, spelled Aleph Mem, is 41. Both the embryo and the milk come from the Mother, who is one above 40.

The Mem is comprised of a Chuf and Vav. Vav is the letter of connection and unification, while Chuf is the letter of giving form to something. These letters both make up the Mem which signifies the joining or movement from one form and place to another.

Last but not least, all of the Sofit, final letters, represent the times of Mashiach. The Mem stuma, closed Mem, AKA Mem Sofit, is a sign that when Mashiach comes, “Mila ha’aretz day’ah es Hashem k’mayim l’yam mechasim, the world will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the earth.” The world will move to a new order, and all Maves, death, will end forever.

In the next episode of Nach Daily we’ll be utilizing the letter Mem to Move on to the letter NuN!

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.

Tehilim Perek 119: Letter LAMED

Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. Today we’ll discuss the letter LAMED.

The Lamed represents a desire to reach a destination, Limud, learning, and La’amod, teaching.

The Lamed is taller than all the other letters. Its height represents its ability to see far into the distance. Whether striving for a physical or spiritual destination, one needs to be able to see the goal in order to be able to reach or attain it.

On a physical level, if you’re traveling from point A to point B you must know the location of your destination. On a spiritual level, to attain wisdom you also need to have a goal in mind. Either way, our desires cause us to plan meticulously for our journey. This all comes from the power of the Lamed which means Lomed, learn. We need to learn and study to reach our destination.

A subtler point here Is that the Lamed represents our ability to think, plan and use our minds to figure things out.

When the Lamed is used as a prefix, it means “to.” El also means “to.” The Lamed represents the ability to travel from one place to another to reach a destination. The word “el, to” and Hashem’s name, “El,” are the same, because the ultimate purpose of this world is Olam Habah.

The first time the Lamed is used as the beginning of a word is, “v’lichoshech kora Lyla, and the darkness He called night.” Lyla, night, comes from the world yalila, which means moaning or wailing. Nighttime is when an aura of sadness fills the world, and one’s pain can be heard the loudest in those quiet hours.

A step deeper: We can either transcend the darkness of this world or chas v’shalom be brought down by it. Lyla, night, is spelled Lamed, Yud, Lamed, Hey. We can go either up to the Yud of Olam Habah, the World to Come of spirituality, or down to the Hey of Olam Hazeh, this physical world, as the Lamed represents the desire to reach a goal, purpose and destination.

The Lamed is higher than all of the other letters, as it points towards a person’s innate drive towards learning. Man’s ability to learn and understand is one of the things that separate us from animals and makes us on a higher level than all other creations.

The Lamed is comprised of a Vav on top of a Chuf, representing the true process of learning. The Vav represents the mind connecting to higher concepts and ideas. The Chuf on which it stands represents the retention and inculcation of the knowledge learned. As the Chuf represents holding, it retains the knowledge drawn down from the Vav.

The Vav resembles a person’s head, high in the clouds. The Vav and Chuf together form the mind-body connection. This is a reminder to practice what we preach.

The Medresh Osiyos D’Rebbe Akiva explains that the Lamed is the center letter of the Aleph-Beis. It is like a King sitting on his Kisey Hakavod, Throne of Glory, with his Malchus, Kingship, in front of him. The sequence of letters is Chuf, Lamed, Mem. Chuf stands for Hashem’s Kisey HaKavod, Throne of Glory, the Lamed is the King. Mem stands for Malchus, Kingship, towards which the Lamed is facing.

Kabalistically, the Lamed is rooted in the sefira of Bina, understanding, as true Limud, learning, necessitates understanding. The sifrei Kabbala call the Lamed a “large letter,” not only due to its height, but because understanding what you’ve learnt is considered the highest thing!

In the next episode of NachDaily, we’ll discuss the letter Mem.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.

Tehilim Perek 119: Letter LAMED

Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. Today we’ll discuss the letter LAMED.

The Lamed represents a desire to reach a destination, Limud, learning, and La’amod, teaching.

The Lamed is taller than all the other letters. Its height represents its ability to see far into the distance. Whether striving for a physical or spiritual destination, one needs to be able to see the goal in order to be able to reach or attain it.

On a physical level, if you’re traveling from point A to point B you must know the location of your destination. On a spiritual level, to attain wisdom you also need to have a goal in mind. Either way, our desires cause us to plan meticulously for our journey. This all comes from the power of the Lamed which means Lomed, learn. We need to learn and study to reach our destination.

A subtler point here Is that the Lamed represents our ability to think, plan and use our minds to figure things out.

When the Lamed is used as a prefix, it means “to.” El also means “to.” The Lamed represents the ability to travel from one place to another to reach a destination. The word “el, to” and Hashem’s name, “El,” are the same, because the ultimate purpose of this world is Olam Habah.

The first time the Lamed is used as the beginning of a word is, “v’lichoshech kora Lyla, and the darkness He called night.” Lyla, night, comes from the world yalila, which means moaning or wailing. Nighttime is when an aura of sadness fills the world, and one’s pain can be heard the loudest in those quiet hours.

A step deeper: We can either transcend the darkness of this world or chas v’shalom be brought down by it. Lyla, night, is spelled Lamed, Yud, Lamed, Hey. We can go either up to the Yud of Olam Habah, the World to Come of spirituality, or down to the Hey of Olam Hazeh, this physical world, as the Lamed represents the desire to reach a goal, purpose and destination.

The Lamed is higher than all of the other letters, as it points towards a person’s innate drive towards learning. Man’s ability to learn and understand is one of the things that separate us from animals and makes us on a higher level than all other creations.

The Lamed is comprised of a Vav on top of a Chuf, representing the true process of learning. The Vav represents the mind connecting to higher concepts and ideas. The Chuf on which it stands represents the retention and inculcation of the knowledge learned. As the Chuf represents holding, it retains the knowledge drawn down from the Vav.

The Vav resembles a person’s head, high in the clouds. The Vav and Chuf together form the mind-body connection. This is a reminder to practice what we preach.

The Medresh Osiyos D’Rebbe Akiva explains that the Lamed is the center letter of the Aleph-Beis. It is like a King sitting on his Kisey Hakavod, Throne of Glory, with his Malchus, Kingship, in front of him. The sequence of letters is Chuf, Lamed, Mem. Chuf stands for Hashem’s Kisey HaKavod, Throne of Glory, the Lamed is the King. Mem stands for Malchus, Kingship, towards which the Lamed is facing.

Kabalistically, the Lamed is rooted in the sefira of Bina, understanding, as true Limud, learning, necessitates understanding. The sifrei Kabbala call the Lamed a “large letter,” not only due to its height, but because understanding what you’ve learnt is considered the highest thing!

In the next episode of NachDaily, we’ll discuss the letter Mem.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.

Tehilim Perek 119: Letter YUD

Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. Today’s Nach Daily will discuss perek 119, letter YUD.

Yud is the peak and culmination of all the previous letters so far. It truly represents Olam Habah, the World to Come. After we pass all of our tests here, represented by the previous 9 letters, we shed the body to attain true life.

The passuk in Yeshaya says, “Ki b’Yah Hashem tzur olamim, with the letters Yud and hey of Hashems name God fashioned the world.” The Gemerah in Chagiga 10A explains that the Hey was used to create Olam Hazeh, this world, while the Yud was used to create Olam Habah, the next world. The Yud also represents the reward one will receive in the next world.

The first time that a Yud begins a word in the Torah is in reference to the creation, “ Y’hee ohr, let there be light. The Yud in Y’hee, there will be, is the force that allowed the very first formation of light to come into existence. Therefore, the Sefer Yetsira explains, this first spiritual mention of light represents both the beginning and the end at the same time. The beginning of creation in a spiritual form, and the end goal of Olam Habah, which is kulo ruchiyos, completely spiritual, are both contained in the power of the Yud.

All of the other letters contain a Yud because, essentially, a Yud is just a dot. Every letter begins with a dot. This fits with what we’ve just learned, because the Yud was used to begin creation. As all of the 22 letters were used in the creation of the world, each begins with a Yud.

The word Yud literally means Yad, a hand. In fact, the shape of the Yud can resemble a fist when your hand is closed. As mentioned in a previous class, Yad is the numerical value of 14 because you have 14 joints and knuckles in each hand. Adding your two hands together equals 28, which is the numerical value of the word koach, strength. The main strength of a person comes through the hands. This is all contained in the power of the Yud.

If the Yud contains all the spiritual worlds, why doesn’t it begin the aleph beis? There are many answers to this question. One answer given is because the only way to get to the next world is through this one. As the expression goes, “sof ma’aseh b’machashava techila, last in deed, but first in thought.” Hashem hinted to this in the beginning of the aleph beis by using the aleph. An aleph has a Yud above and a Yud below to teach us that although we start with an aleph, the end purpose is to reach the upper spiritual worlds and bask in the pleasure of God’s infinite Lght. The aleph teaches us that both this world and the next are one. They are all infused with God’s Divine holy and awesome Light, as nothing is separate from Him.

Yud has the numerical value of 10. Ten is considered a number of perfection because it includes all the prior numbers.

Going a step deeper, 10 represents all of the Sefiros, Divine Emanations: Bina, Daas, Chessed, Gevurah, Tiferes, Netsach, Hod, and Yesod. Each of these 10 Sefiros is reflected in every part and aspect of creation, therefore 10 represents the creation in its entirety.

A rich person is called an “ashear,” the root of which is eser, 10. True riches accrue when a person attains perfection and spiritual wealth. True spiritual wealth is obviously Olam Haba, so the word ashear also contains a Yud.

Chazal, our Sages, say that “b’asara ma’amaros nivreh ha’olam, the world was created with 10 utterances, again corresponding to the Yud, the main letter used in the formation of the world.

I hope that you enjoyed this class. Stay tuned for the next episode, the letter Chuf.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.

The letter Tes represents the Tov, good, that comes back to a person like a boomerang after one does the right thing. It also represents the force of Netzach, Eternity, which allows things to last forever. On the most basic physical level, there is ultimately no part of the physical world that can be destroyed forever.

Scientifically, Einstein’s law of conservation states that energy cannot be destroyed. There always was, is, and will be the same amount of energy in the world, pointing towards the fact that energy is nitzchi, eternal. The world has this power through the letter Tes, which allows for goodness and eternality. True goodness is eternal.

On a human level, Tes represents the fact that when a person acts with goodness, good is received in return.

On a spiritual level, when we do good deeds by performing mitzvos and learning Torah, we are rewarded in the next world for netzach netzachim, all of eternity.

To take it even a step further, the letter Tes also represents the process of Techiyas hamsayim, the resurrection of the dead, when the soul will once again be merged with the body. This will take place at the end of the final redemption, when mankind will bask in God’s Divine light for ever and ever. This is the ultimate Tov, good, that Hashem has in store for mankind.

The first time that the letter Tes is used in the Torah is when Hashem created the world. “Va’yar es ha’or ki Tov, Hashem saw the light was good.” We learn two things from this about the letter Tes.

1) The world is a good place. The Ramachal explains that because Hashem is good, He wanted to share His goodness with us by placing us this world.

2) Rashi explains on this passuk that Hashem took this good light known as the “Ohr Haganuz,” and hid it away for the Tzadikim in the future. This also points towards the letter Tes as the force of “Tov hanitzchi, eternal goodness.”

Since everything God does is for the good, when a person faces suffering, difficulty, and pain it’s also for the good. We say “Gam zu l’Tovah, This is also for the good,” because with every amount of pain that we experience and accept, we’re earning true goodness in the world to come. This all comes from the letter Tes, which allows for ultimate good to come back to us.

The shape of the letter Tes is like a container with an opening on top to teach us that no good ever gets lost, but is stored away forever.

The Tes also resembles a slithering snake. The purpose of the snake-like Yetzer Harah, the Evil Inclination,” is to give us the opportunity to choose Tov, good. We then fulfill our purpose in this world so that we can reap reward for all of eternity.

The numerical value of Tes is 9, which is a true number. Multiplying any whole number by 9 and adding the sum of the digits together gives us 9. For example 2x9=18, 1+ 8 = 9. 3x9=27, 2+7= 9. 9x9=81, 8+1=9. 9 is always true. Goodness and truth obviously go hand and hand.

Even more awesome is that the numerical value of Emes, Truth, is 441. 4+4+1 equal 9! Emes and Tov go hand and hand. The truth is that Hashem is good!

I hope that you enjoyed this class. In the next episode we’ll be moving on to Yud.

Ches represents the soul of life, Chayim and Chein, going beyond nature and beChira, free choice.

The first time that Ches is seen in the Torah is during creation. “v’Choshech al p’ney tahom,’ and darkness was on the face of the deep.” Because the world was created with Choshech, darkness, it’s very difficult to see Hashem. We need to use our free choice to see through or beyond the darkness. The power of free choice comes from the Ches contained in the word Choshech.

“Olam hazeh domeh l’layla, this word is compared to the night time.” The word for darkness also contains the letter Ches, which is the ability to transcend the darkness!

Because Ches represents many strong spiritual movements essential for life, it will be found beginning words that deal with strong activity and movement: Cham, heat; Chituch, cutting; Charitsut, diligence; Chozek, strength; Chod and Chanit, both meaning spear; Chetz, arrow, and Cherev, sword. The letter also represents strong movement.

Many strong human emotions also begin with Ches: Chas, compassion; Chessed, kindness; Chemlah, desire; Chanina, grace; Chibah, affection. It can be said that these feeling come from the heat and movement of the soul. Ches therefore also represents the neshama, soul, found within physicality.

It should be noted that there are many other feelings which contain a Ches in them, but don’t begin with it: simCha, happiness; s’Chok, laughter, and anaCha, sighing or groaning. Ches is the spiritual force for movement, and feelings are naturally always changing and moving.

This is a bit difficult to explain without a picture, but the letter Ches looks like two legs supporting the rest of a body. The reason for this is that people who are Chai, alive, can usually stand by themselves, in contrast to the dead.

The letter is actually formed with two Zayins connecting each other. We explained previously that the Zayin, shaped like a hammer, represents kli Zayin, weapons of war. The double Zayin in the Ches represents the two wars, physical and spiritual, that we battle throughout our lives. Our physical desires need to conquered and subjugated, and our minds need to be tilted towards truth and spirituality. Again, we see how the letter Ches points towards using our free choice to attain true Chaim, life.

Chet means sin. In modern Hebrew we say that an archer is maCh’tie, misses the target. One who sins is missing the point of this world.

On the other hand, Chet can mean Chituy, disinfection. We can use the power of free choice contained in the letter Ches to disinfect ourselves and become tahor, pure and clean.

Numerically, Ches is 8. 7 represents the spirituality found in nature, while 8 represents that which is found beyond nature and the limitations of this world. Many times, in the Torah, we find 8 pointing towards this. For example: the 8th day for a bris, 8 tzitzis, Shemini Ateres, the 8th day after 7 days of Sukkos, and eight days of Chanukah. They all represent the concepts of going beyond this world and are connected to the Ches, which points towards free choice and the spiritual dimension beyond this world.

The word chein, charm, is spelled Ches nun. Rebbe Nachman explains that it stands for Chochmas Nistar, hidden mystical wisdom. When we say that someone has chein, it means an inner Godly charm, spiritually infused with God’s grace.