Vav is the sixth letter and has the value six. Its shape is a simple vertical line. Its name is a word of the Torah: the vavim are the hooks of the Tabernacle pillars, "the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver." Placed before a word, it means "and," as in the first verse: "the heavens and the earth." Sefer Yetzirah places it among the letters of the lips, with Bet, Mem and Peh.
In Sefer Yetzirah, Vav is one of the twelve simples. G-d "made the letter Vav reign and bound a crown to it," and through it formed Shor, the Bull, in the world, the month of Iyar in the year and the left hand in the body. Above all, Vav is one of the three letters, Yod, Heh and Vav, that G-d chose to seal space: He sealed height with Yod Heh Vav, depth with Yod Vav Heh, and so on, in six permutations for the six directions.
In tractate Shabbat, the children read: "Heh Vav, this is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He." The Vav that joins words in a sentence becomes here one of the letters of the Name. One may bring this reading together with that of Sefer Yetzirah, where the same letters of the Name seal space.
Sefer HaBahir questions the master: "What is Vav?" He answers: "The world was sealed in six directions." The disciples object: "But Vav is a single letter!" He answers with a verse: "He wraps Himself in light as in a garment." The Bahir leaves the answer open. It affirms only that the single letter, whose value is six, carries the seal of the six directions, and points to the light in which G-d wraps Himself. The Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva likewise sees in Vav the seals of the Holy One, blessed be He, with which the Names upon the throne of glory are sealed.
Six, the line that joins. Vav is the hook that holds the curtains of the Tabernacle, the conjunction that holds words together, the letter of the Name that seals height, depth and the four sides. All these sources converge on one image: a simple, straight letter whose role is to connect.
