Tehilim Perek 119: Letter Suf/Tuf
Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. Today’s Nach Daily will discuss the letter SUF.
This is actually a mini-siyum, because with this we’ll have finished all 22 letters of the Aleph-Beis, the holy letters with which the world was created. As we’ve seen, the secrets of the letters contain the deepest mysteries of the Torah, but what we’ve learned is literally just the tip of the iceberg, to give you a taste of the sweetness of the letters so that your Neshama can feel drawn to God. This completion of the Aleph Beis is certainly a reason to be happy.
After this, Nach Daily will be going back to the regular scheduled Tehilim class, moving on to Tehilim, perek 120. Join us and sign up a friend, as over the last few years we’ve been moving our way through the entire TANACH, one perek at time.
Just a quick note to prevent confusion: depending on your
custom you’ll pronounce this letter as Taf with a hard consonant, or Suf like an “S” sound.
The letter Suf represents the Tachlis, final purpose of a person’s life and Torah. The connection here is simple: the Torah is what teaches and guides a person to the purpose of the world.
The first time that the letter Suf appears at the beginning of a word in the Torah is during the creation. “V’ha’aretz haysa Tohu vavohu, And the land was astonishingly empty.” [Artscroll] The word Tohu is a difficult word to translate. Rashi explains that a person is baffled and astounded about what its purpose is. One stares at it and wonders, “What’s the point and purpose of what I’m looking at?” This is all contained in the letter Suf, which signifies a person pondering the purpose and meaning of life.
Additionally, the Suf/Tuf in the word Tohu shows that specifically in the darkness one can come close to Hashem. When life looks bleak and you think there’s no hope left, Hashem is with you even in the Tohu. There’s a purpose and meaning to it all.
In the end there will be “Techiyas Hameisim, Revival of the Dead,” represented by the Suf which is Hashem’s Tachlis, ultimate purpose of creating this world. As it says in the famous prophecy of Yechezkel 37:12, “I will lift them up out of the graves and return them to Eretz Yisrael.”
The letter Tuf resembles the Ches, which represents Chai Olam Habah, life in the Next World. Therefore, the Tachlis, purpose of man, is to attain true life in the World to Come.
The letter Suf is spelled Suf vav, and not Suf Pei Sofit. The spelling of Suff vav means a sign, character, or a road marker, like arrows leading to a final destination. The true way to attain our mission in this world is to think about the purpose and meaning of life. Thinking about the end goal guides a person like a road sign to the ultimate destination. As the expression goes, “sof ma’aseh b’machshava techila, last in action but first in thought.”
The Gemarah in Shabbos 104A says the Suf is the letter of Emes, Truth. Why isn’t the Aleph the letter of truth? After all, the word Emes begins with an Aleph! We often only see the truth of something at the end of a process. During the initial stages we don’t necessarily see how it’s going to turn out, but in the end the truth will be obvious.
While we don’t see Hashem clearly in this world, may we merit witnessing the true Tachlis when “be’al l’maves netzach, when all death will end forever” with the revelation of Mashiach ben Dovid who will usher in a new world order. At that time, all will see the truth of Hashem, Am Yisrael and His Torah.
I hope that you enjoyed this mini-series of the Hebrew Aleph Beis. Stay tuned to our next episode of Nach Daily. We’ll be resuming Tehilim with Perek 120.
Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.
