Our mission is to turn thought and speech into something tangible
“ ‘Eileh toldos haShamayim v’ha’Aretz b’hibar’am, these are the accounts of the Heavens and Earth when they were created’ (Bereishis 2:4). B’hibar’am can be read as ‘b’hei bar’am — with a hei they were created’ ” (Bereishis Rabbah 12:10). This means that Hashem used aspects of the letter hei to create the world.
Kabbalistically, the horizontal and vertical lines of the hei represent thought and speech. The little yud represents action, which often gets disregarded, and our grand thoughts and words stay in the realm of the abstract. How many times a day do we say we are going to do something, or have an idea to accomplish a particular goal — but do nothing about it? Turning thought and speech into something tangible — that’s the goal of this world.
Five is the number of action. There are five fingers on each hand, which act guided by the five books of the Torah. Visually, the hei is made up of a daled and a yud, which spells yad (hand), with the daled representing the four main fingers, and the yud, the thumb.
Hashem added a hei to Avraham and Sarah’s names for their actions were going to produce a nation. Chavah, the very first woman and mother, was given her name (a derivative of Chayah) because she was the “eim kol chai, mother of all life.” The hei transforms the word’s meaning from “life” to “Chavah, giver of life” (Rashi on Bereishis 3:20).
Create a free account to keep reading.
