GATEWAY TO SELECTED TEACHINGS

Hebrew letter Mem on a green background

Mem: The Thirteenth Letter of the Hebrew Alphabet

Mem: The Thirteenth Letter of the Hebrew Alphabet

Raskin, Rabbi Aaron L.
November 14, 2021

“The word mem stands for mayim, which means water.

 

Torah, the most vital element in our spiritual lives, is referred to as water, as it states: ‘…There is no water but Torah.’

 

Just as a fish cannot survive without water, a Jew cannot survive without Torah…

 

The moment we leave our culture, the moment we leave the water—our con­nection to G-d and Torah—we are spiritually dead.

 

Torah is also compared to water because water travels unal­tered from the top of a mountain to its lower tiers and valleys. So did G-d bring down the same deep, intellectual Torah He had in heaven to the physical world.

 

The Zohar says that G-d looked into the Torah to create the world. The Torah serves as a blueprint for Creation. The wealth and strength of its water carves, and continues to carve out the foundation of the entire world.”