November 15, 2018 · 00:03:59
Tehilim Perek 119: Letter Samech Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. Today’s Nach Daily we’ll discuss the letter Samech. Samech represents Semicha, getting up after a fall. Samech, which is shaped like a circle, also stands for Sovev, to surround. In a deeper sense it refers to the Somech HaGadol, the One on Whom the world is completely reliant, Hashem. In Ashrei we read that Hashem is “Somech le’kol hanoflim, Hashem picks up all the fallen people.” Each time that we have a Nefila, fall to a low place, we can rely on Hashem to pick us up. The previous letter, Nun, which denotes Nefilah, falling, is the only letter not mentioned in the Ashrei prayer. We skip it and go straight to the Samech because every descent is for the purpose of ascent, and Hashem is using it as a means to draw us closer. The first time that the Samech appears in the Torah in the beginning of a word is “Shem echad Pishon, hu haSovev es kol ha’aretz Hachavila – One name of a river flowing from Gan Eden [Garden of Eden] is Pishon , which surrounds the entire land of Chavila.” Kabbalistically, the round shape of the Samech reminds us that when Hashem created the world, He was “metzamtzem His Elokus, He constricted His Light” so that creation could take place. This Light was equally limited and refracted in all areas, represented by the circle which indicates that His Light was equally spread out in all directions. There was no one single area which receiv