Tav ~ ת
"The Seal of the King"
The last letter Tav is linked with Beit ~ click here
Meaning = Cross
Gematria = 400
Sound = T in the English language … always makes the same sound, never changes.
The connection with Phylacteries and Tefillah (prayer)
Why Tefillin? There are two … one on the arm pointing to the heart and one on the head … pointing us back to that symbol on our heads … why should we?
Interesting extras:
An interesting thought from the Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 104a (Sefaria.org)
Shin: Falsehood [sheker]. Tav: Truth [emet].
The Rabbi's ask, "Why are the letters of the word sheker adjacent to one another in the alphabet, while the letters of emet are distant from one another?"
The understanding is that is because while falsehood is easily found, truth is found only with great difficulty. "And why do the letters that comprise the word sheker all stand on one foot, and the letters that comprise the word emet stand on bases that are wide like bricks?" And the understanding is because the truth stands eternal and falsehood does not stand eternal.
The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph, also spells "peleh" which means "wonder" …
This reminds me of the Mi Chamocha we sing every Shabbat. “You are awesome in praise, doing wonders O L-RD …” Rabbi Yehuda said: The letter beit is [in the form of] two roofs and one [line in the form of the letter vav] joining them. What does it signify? One [roof, i.e. a horizontal line] is for heaven [as tiferet] and the other for earth [as malchut]. The Holy One, blessed be He [Zeir Anpin/ yesod] unites and receives them.
Gematria = 400
Sound = T in the English language … always makes the same sound, never changes.
- The last Hebrew letter in the alef-bet represents the “Seal” of the King, Rev 7:3
- It is also one of the names of G-D, Representing Truth (Emet)
- G-D does not let the Tav have the right in the creation of the world, He says: “You are not worthy to create the world because in the letter Tav, there will be great tribulation." So even though there are those who have the TAV on their forehead, they will still have to go through great tribulation. Even the faithful and righteous will suffer” according to the same article of the Zohar.
The connection with Phylacteries and Tefillah (prayer)
Why Tefillin? There are two … one on the arm pointing to the heart and one on the head … pointing us back to that symbol on our heads … why should we?
- When we put on the tefillin … it is an outward expression of The Sh’ma found in Deuteronomy 6:4 (read) “as frontlets before our eyes” …
- It is a rehearsal for the sign that will be written on our heads …
- "Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead"
Interesting extras:
An interesting thought from the Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 104a (Sefaria.org)
Shin: Falsehood [sheker]. Tav: Truth [emet].
The Rabbi's ask, "Why are the letters of the word sheker adjacent to one another in the alphabet, while the letters of emet are distant from one another?"
The understanding is that is because while falsehood is easily found, truth is found only with great difficulty. "And why do the letters that comprise the word sheker all stand on one foot, and the letters that comprise the word emet stand on bases that are wide like bricks?" And the understanding is because the truth stands eternal and falsehood does not stand eternal.
The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph, also spells "peleh" which means "wonder" …
This reminds me of the Mi Chamocha we sing every Shabbat. “You are awesome in praise, doing wonders O L-RD …” Rabbi Yehuda said: The letter beit is [in the form of] two roofs and one [line in the form of the letter vav] joining them. What does it signify? One [roof, i.e. a horizontal line] is for heaven [as tiferet] and the other for earth [as malchut]. The Holy One, blessed be He [Zeir Anpin/ yesod] unites and receives them.
