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Yod, the smallest letter

The twenty-two letters · article 11 of 23

Value ten. The world to come was created through Yod, for the righteous there are few, and their heads are bowed.

Yod is the tenth letter and has the value ten. In size, it is the smallest of the letters, and the Talmud speaks of its bent head. Sefer Yetzirah places it in the group Gimel, Yod, Kaf, Kof, according to the place in the mouth that pronounces them. It is also the first letter of the divine Name, and the Talmud makes it, with Heh, one of the two letters through which the two worlds were created.

In Sefer Yetzirah, Yod is one of the twelve simples. G-d "made the letter Yod reign and bound a crown to it," and through it formed Betulah, the Virgin, in the world, the month of Elul in the year and the left kidney in the body. Yod is also the first of the three letters, Yod, Heh and Vav, with which G-d sealed the six directions of space.

In tractate Shabbat, the children's sentence nears its end: "if you do so, the Holy One, blessed be He, feeds you, is gracious to you, does good to you and gives you an inheritance." Yod gives yerushah, inheritance. What is given to the poor is not lost: it returns as a good that is passed on.

Tractate Menachot starts from a verse of Isaiah: "Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is the rock of the worlds." Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai teaches that these are the two worlds G-d created, one through Heh, the other through Yod, and that the world to come was created through Yod. "Why was the world to come created through Yod? Because the righteous in it are few. And why is its head bent? Because the righteous in it have their heads bent, for their deeds are not like one another." The Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva reads Yod as yad, the "portion and name," yad vashem, that G-d will give the righteous in the world to come.

Ten, the small and the great. The smallest letter carries the world to come, and the Talmud reads its bent head as that of the righteous, each aware that his deeds are not like another's. Sefer Yetzirah makes it the first of the letters that seal space; the children of Shabbat 104a read in it inheritance. The smallest of the letters opens the Name and carries the world to come.

Source text

מפני מה נברא העולם הבא ביו"ד מפני שצדיקים שבו מועטים ומפני מה כפוף ראשו מפני שצדיקים שבו כפוף ראשיהם מפני מעשיהן שאינן דומין זה לזה

Why was the world to come created through Yod? Because the righteous in it are few. And why is its head bent? Because the righteous in it have their heads bent, for their deeds are not alike.

Menachot 29b:13, Wikisource Talmud Bavli, CC-BY-SA.

Key terms

HebrewTransliterationMeaning
יyoudten; the smallest letter
עולם הבאolam habathe world to come
ירושהyerouchahinheritance
צדיקיםtsadikimthe righteous

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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