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 received more than the others.
This corresponds to Hashem’s name of HaMakom, the Place. The world was created within the chalal penuy, vacated space, which was made at the time of the original tzimtzum, constriction, of Hashem’s Presence. All this is represented by the shape of the Samech.
The circle shape also reminds us that Hashem’s Light is Sovev and malei kol ha’olamim, surrounds and fills all the worlds. Just as God has no beginning and end, so too the circle has no beginning and end. Ultimately, we can’t comprehend God’s ways, which are beyond anything that we can possibly fathom.
The circle is like a fence, closed on all sides for protection. So too Hashem is Somech Am Yisrael and is constantly being Sovev us, surrounding and protecting the Jewish nation as a fence protects a garden.
Hebrew words indicating enclosure and protection begin with a Samech. Examples of this are: Sagira, blocked off, Sagur, closed, Sod, secret, Sof, end, and Seser, hidden. The Yetzer Hara is called the Sam’al, because he wants to close us off and prevent us from achieving our missions in this world.
Samech has the numerical value of 60, which represents protection. It is said of King Shlomo that he had 60 armed men surrounding his bed at night. The Birkas Kohanim blessing, known as the Brocha of Protection, contains 60 words.
Last but not least, we mentioned in a previous class that the second set of letters all have lower letter counterparts. The counterpart of the Samech, whose numerical value is 60, is the Vav, the letter of connection, with the value of 6. The Vav has the “koach ham’echad, the ability to join things together and make them one.” This is precisely the power of the Samech, as an enclosure brings different things together.
In the next episode of Nach Daily we’ll be taking a look at the Ayin.
Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.
