Hebrewletters SL Art Collections

Pey

PEY is the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 80, makes a sound either like the P in Peace or the F in Food, means MOUTH and is constructed of a Caf with a Yud situated at the top and rotated inward. If one looks carefully at the Pey one can see that there is a Beit inside, which makes up the empty space within it. The Beit is the first letter of the word Bereshit, IN A BEGINNING, which is the first word of Torah. God opened up God’s MOUTH and out came the Beit, BEGINNING, CREATION. Pey is one of 5 letters: [Caf Mem Nun Pey Tsade] that have 2 forms - the regular [bent] form used in the beginning and middle of a word and the FINAL FORM,- SOFIT, used as the last letter of a word (Shabbat 4a). The bent Pey and the straight Pey [intimate] an open mouth Pey, a closed mouth. The medial (bent) Pey is almost closed (Shabbat 104a). “A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7). [The writing of the letters] must be ‘kethibah tammah’ [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the… Tet as a Pey or the Pey as a Tet Shabbat 103b). I [Pey] signify redemption and deliverance (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:2b).