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Heh, the open door

The twenty-two letters · article 6 of 23

Value five. This world was created through Heh: open below for whoever wants to leave, with an opening above for whoever returns.

Heh is the fifth letter and has the value five. Sefer Yetzirah places it among the letters of the throat, with Alef, Chet and Ayin. The Talmud describes its shape precisely: it resembles an akhsadra, an open portico, and its foot is suspended, detached from the roof, leaving a small opening above. Careful scribes, says Rav Ashi, draw this suspended foot.

In Sefer Yetzirah, Heh is the first of the twelve simples. The book gives the simples twelve foundations, from sight to sleep. For Heh, it writes that G-d "made the letter Heh reign and bound a crown to it," and through it formed Taleh, the Ram, in the world, the month of Nisan in the year and the right hand in the body. The book also says that G-d chose three letters from among the simples, Yod, Heh and Vav, set them in His great Name and sealed with them the six directions of space.

In tractate Shabbat, after the lesson of Gimel and Dalet, the children read: "Heh Vav, this is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He." These two letters appear in the divine Name. Placed in the middle of the reading, between the duty to give to the poor and the promise that follows, they recall before Whom this duty is fulfilled.

Tractate Menachot reads the verse "these are the generations of heaven and earth, behibaram," when they were created, as be-heh bera'am: He created them through Heh. Why was this world created through Heh? "Because it resembles a portico: whoever wants to leave, leaves." And why is its foot suspended? "For if he returns in teshuvah, he is brought in" through the upper opening. Why not come back in the way he left? Because that would not suffice; Resh Lakish teaches that one who comes to purify himself is helped. The Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva takes up this reading: Heh is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, through which the whole world was created.

Five, the open door. Heh is both one of the three letters that seal space, in Sefer Yetzirah, and a letter of the Name, for the children of Shabbat 104a. The Talmud reads in its shape that of this world: the freedom to leave is real, and another door, higher up, remains open for returning.

Source text

ומפני מה נברא העולם הזה בה"י מפני שדומה לאכסדרה שכל הרוצה לצאת יצא ומ"ט תליא כרעיה דאי הדר בתשובה מעיילי ליה

And why was this world created through Heh? Because it resembles a portico: whoever wants to leave, leaves. And why is its foot suspended? For if he returns in teshuvah, he is brought in.

Menachot 29b:9-12, Wikisource Talmud Bavli, CC-BY-SA.

Key terms

HebrewTransliterationMeaning
הhéfive; letter of the Name
אכסדרהakhsadraopen portico
בהבראםbehibaramwhen they were created, read be-heh bera'am
תשובהtechouvareturn, repentance

Sources

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In the same section

The letters, stones of creationThree mothers, seven doubles, twelve simples. For Sefer Yetzirah, G-d formed the world by engraving and combining twenty-two letters.Alef, the first letterValue one, a breath. Alef complained that it did not open creation; G-d reserved for it the first word at Sinai.Bet, the houseValue two, the letter that opens the Torah. Closed on three sides, open to the front: a house, and a blessing.Gimel, the one who givesValue three. The foot of Gimel stretches toward Dalet, for the one who does good runs after the poor.Dalet, the poor oneValue four. Dalet makes itself available to Gimel, but turns its face away, so that the gift is given in secret.Heh, the open doorValue five. This world was created through Heh: open below for whoever wants to leave, with an opening above for whoever returns.Vav, the hook and six directionsValue six. A straight line that joins, the hook of the Tabernacle pillars, and the seal of the six directions of the world.Zayin, the crowned letterValue seven. Moses found G-d binding crowns to the letters, and Zayin is among those that carry three.Chet, life at the summitValue eight. Scribes draw a hump on the roof of Chet: He lives, at the height of the world.Tet, the letter of goodValue nine. The first Tet in the Torah is that of "it is good." Seeing a Tet in a dream is a good sign.Yod, the smallest letterValue ten. The world to come was created through Yod, for the righteous there are few, and their heads are bowed.Kaf, the palm and the crownValue twenty. Kaf is the palm and the pan of the scale; the children of the house of study read in it the crown promised in the world to come.Lamed, the heart that learnsThirty, the letter of Tishrei in Sefer Yetzirah. Rabbi Akiva reads its name as a heart that understands knowledge.Mem, water and the hidden wordForty, mother of water in Sefer Yetzirah. Open in the middle of a word, closed at the end: a revealed word, a hidden word.Nun, the faithful one bent, then uprightFifty. Bent in the middle of a word, straight at the end: the humble faithful one and the upright one. For Rabbi Akiva, the lamp of the soul.Samekh, support for those who fallSixty, a closed letter that stood by a miracle in the tablets. The children of the study hall read in it: support the poor.Ayin, the eye of the TorahSeventy, a letter of the throat. The children read in it the poor; Rabbi Akiva, the eye of the Torah, light of every light.Peh, the open and closed mouthEighty, bent in the middle of a word, straight at the end. The children of the study hall read in it: open mouth, closed mouth.Tzadi, the righteous one bent, then uprightNinety. The Talmud adds the bending of the righteous to that of the faithful: hence the Torah was given with bowed head.Kuf, holiness that waitsOne hundred. The Talmud reads in it the Holy One who turns His face from the wicked, yet turns His crown toward him and leaves him an open door.Reish, the head and the fallTwo hundred. Head of all things for Rabbi Akiva, the wicked for the children of the study hall: the same letter carries the beginning and the fall.Shin, the fire with three branchesThree hundred, mother of fire in Sefer Yetzirah. It opens the name Shaddai, but also the word sheker, and falsehood has no feet.Tav, the mark of truthFour hundred, the last letter. For the children of the study hall, truth on wide bases; for Rabbi Akiva, the first to come forward.

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