The Meaning Of The Number Nine (Tet (2024)

In this study I would like to study the significance and meaning of the number nine.

The ninth letter in the Hebrew alefbet istet - ט. The letter tet- ט has the numerical valueof nine. The least common letter in the Torah is a Tet. Tet ט, represents the 9th sefirah, yesod -יסוד (meaning foundation).

The first tet - ט that appears in the Torah is in the word tovof Genesis 1:4, normally translated as good, but a better meaningis beneficial. When it appears in the Torah for thefirst time, the first letter tet of tovhas a very unusual feature. The letter tet, likemany other letters in a Torahscroll have tiny crowns (tagin) extending from them (which kabbalists teach is a hidden language of its own). What is unusualabout this letter here is that it has four crowns instead of the usual three.

According to the Kabbalist, the B’nei Yissachar, when the four is multiplied by the numbernine (the value of the “tet” itself), the total is thirty-six.The word in the Torah used to describe the Hidden or Primordial Light is tov meaning beneficialor good. This demonstrates that the letter nine and the tet - ט represent beneficence. Tov is like the pain of child birth. No one believes that itis good. But everyone believes that it was beneficial because through that painwe receive a new life.

The tet – ט - nine represents hidden, inverted beneficence.[1]

The secret of the tet (numericallyequivalent to nine (9), thenine months of pregnancy) is the power of the mother to carry her inner, concealedgood – the fetus – throughout the period of pregnancy.

The Talmud teachesthat one who sees the letter tet- ט in a dream, it isa beneficial sign:

Baba Kama 55a R. Joshuasaid: He who sees [the letter] teth in a dream [may regard it as] a good omen for himself. Why so?If because it is the initial letter of [the word] ‘Tob’[‘good’] written in Scripture, why not say [on the contrary that it is also theinitial letter of the verb ‘ta'atea’ commencing the Scripturalverse] And I will sweep it with the besom of destruction?[2] — We arespeaking [here of where he saw in a dream only] one teth [whereas ta'ateacontains two such letters]. Butstill why not say [that it might have referred to the word ‘tum'ah’ as in the verse]Her filthiness is in her skirts?[3]— We are speaking of [where he saw in a dream the letters] ‘teth’ and‘beth’. But again why not say [that it might have referred to the verb tabe'u asin the verse], Her gates were sunk in to the ground?[4] — The realreason is that Scripture used this letter on the veryfirst occasion to express something good, for from the beginningof Genesis up to [the verse] And God saw the light[5] no tethoccurs.[6]R. Joshua b. Levi similarly said: He who sees [the word] hesped[7] in a dream [may take it as a sign that]mercy has been exercised towards him in Heaven, and thathe will be released [from trouble].[8]provided, however, [he saw it] in script.

The first use of the Hebrew word for nine - תשע, tesha, is found in:

Beresh*t (Genesis) 5:5And all the days that Adam lived were nine (תשע)hundred and thirty years: and he died.

Tisha - תשע isdefined by Strong’s as:

08672 תשע tesha` tay'- shah or (masc.) תשעה tish`ah tish-aw'

perhaps from 08159 through the ideaof a turn to the next or full number ten; TWOT-2550; n m/f

AV-nine 45, ninth6, nineteenth + 06240 4, nineteen + 06240 3; 58

1) nine, nonad

1a) nine (as cardinal number)

1b) ninth (as ordinal number)

1c) in combination with other numbers

The fact that we see the number nineassociated with the creation of Adam(man) suggests more than just a passing relationship.

Mispar katan[9]is a form of gematria that pursues the "root" of an idea by reducing agematria to a number less than ten.This form of gematria is called small values; with all tens and hundredsreduced to 1 - 9 by summing the digits.

Consider that the summing the digits of the numbers represented by the Hebrew letters of the name “Adam” (אדם), results in the numbernine. Nine is called the mispar katan (literally, "small number") of Adam, which alludes to theessential quality of man:

א = 1

ד = 4

ם = 40

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According to the Talmud, Truth isthe "seal of HaShem". For it contains the first, middle, and last letter ofthe Hebrew alphabet (of the 27 Hebrew letters, Mem is the exact midpoint). So too, HaShem "was, is, and always will be" (R.Moshe Shapiro).

The Talmud also brings that eachletter stands on a firm base like bricks unlike the wordfalsehood whose letters all stand on one leg (Shab.104a).

Merkaba (3-Dimensionalstar of David)

Why did the Torah start with a Beit instead of Aleph? Certainly,there are many other reasons but here is an amazing answer. On 3 things the world stands (Pirkei Avot 1:2) - if we take the first 3 letters of the Hebrew alphabet whereby the Torah started with aleph:

aleph, beit, gimmel (אבג) = 1 + 2 + 3 = 6

dalet, hei, vav (דהו)= 4 + 5 + 6 = 15 = 6 in gematria katana.

zayin, chet, tet (זחט)= 7 + 8 + 9 = 24 = 6

yud, kuf, lamed (יכל)= 10 + 20 +30 = 60 = 6

Thus until the end of the alphabet. Every 3 letters = 6 = sheker (falsehood).

Now, if you take the letters Beit-Gimel-Daletand you do an At-bash reversal, which means, you take the lettersof Aleph-Beit-Gimel and you look at the corresponding lettersat the other end of the Alef Bet, the letters that youget, are Shin-Kuf-Reish=Sheker= Falsehood. When you don't look at the world from the perspective of Alef, Alufo Shel Olam, whenyou do not see the world as a Beged, as a "garment" concealing HaShem,you are living a world of Sheker (falsehood). When youlook at Nature as an independent thing in and of itself (like most scientists),independent of Alef, you are seeing Sheker.

But as is known, the Torah startswith the letter Beit. Let us examine now the 3 letter groups:

beit, gimmel, dalet (בגד)= 2 + 3 + 4 = 9.

[Beit-Gimel-Dalet=Beged. The lettersthat spell the word "garment" in Hebrew. The reason why HaShem wantedthe Aleph-Beit in this order was because it serves to teachus that HaShem, Master of the World,is always hiding behind a garment in the world. Everything we see, everything we experience, is just HaShem'sgarment. HaShem is hiding everywhere,behind everything. Every noun, every verb that you can come up with in the AlephBet, every person, place or thing, every action, every lawof physics, is just HaShem hiding behind a garment. The garment of HaShem, the world we see, is theway HaShem portrays Himself to the World.]

hei, vav, zayin (הוז)= 5 + 6 + 7 = 18 = 9 in gematria katana.

Thus it is until the end of the alphabet. When we start withBeit (ב) we always get 9.

The Torah is truth!

In chapter 17 of the Book of Genesis we are given the story ofthe circumcism of Abraham. Firstoff, we are told that he was 99 years old, but the Torah prefers to reverse thenumbers and say he was 90 and 9….Why? Furthermore, isit really important whether or not he was 99 or 98?

Abram was 99 when HaShem changed his name to Abraham. At that moment, HaShemalso gave him the covenant of circumcision, and predicted Isaac’sbirth. (Gen. 17)

Sarai was 90 when HaShem changed hername to Sarah; this was the moment when she was promiseda son (Isaac). (Gen. 17)

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According to Jewish law, once somethingis done three times it is considered a permanent thing.This is called a chazakah. Once we have done something three times, we have connected to it and connectedit to this world. A threefold sequence associated withstrength and permanence[11]as in the continuum of three holy days (Rosh HaShanah and Shabbat) withwhich some years began. Nine is three times three, i.e., a chazakah in regard to this chazakah.

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In the ninth blessing of the amida weask HaShem to bestow upon us the goodness He investedin creation:

Bless us, our Father, in all the workof our hands, and bless our year with gracious, blessed,and kindly dews: be its outcome life, plenty, and peace as in the good years, forThou, HaShem, are good and does good and blesses the years.Blessed be Thou, HaShem, who blesses the years.

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The clear Torah demarcation that marks nearly every seder in Torah is ninespaces, or more. I am unable to see any exceptions in the sederim for the septennial cycle (two triennial Torah cycles of three and half years.)

ATBASH:

Maximal MALE	Maximal FEMALE
א - Alef	ת - tav
ב - Beit	ש - shin
ג - Gimmel	ר - reish
ד - Dalet	ק - kuf
ה - Hei	צ - tzadik
ו - Vav	פ - pei
ז - Zayin	ע - ayin
ח - Chet	ס - samech
ט - Tet	נ - nun
י - Yud	מ - mem
כ - Kaf	ל - lamed
Minimal MALE	Minimal FEMALE

נפש (nephesh - soul) is an ATBASHof תוב (tov - good). So, in HaShem’s world, the male world of creation, you have tov, good. This intangible male word is given concrete, female, reality in the nephesh, the soul of man. A nephesh,a soul, is the ability to connect,as we have seen before. That nephesh which connectswith HaShem is tov, is good. That soul which burns andmakes the connection, is tov, is good. This נר, this ner – this flame, this nephesh ruach, when it becomes litup, it becomes tov, good. Where does the flame of connectionbetween us and HaShem burn? It burns in the Beit HaMikdash, HaMakom, The Place of connection. Thus our nephesh connects with HaShem in ThePlace of Daat, the place of connection,the place of knowledge. That is what the menorah signifies!

To transform the oceans of blood andtears into joy and elevation is surely an innermost desire of every Yid. Nevertheless, when the proposedsolution is a Beit HaMikdash, we immediately disconnect,unable to comprehend the slightest notion of such a reality. The actual date ofTisha B’Av subtly hints at this idea. Tisha,the number nine, represents birth(as we know from the Pesach Seder —“Tisha mi yodeia?…tisha yarchei leidah”– Who knows nine? Nine are the months of child-bearing.). The concept of birth is a recurring theme on Tisha B’Av. The chant for Shacharit begins: When you givebirth to children and grandchildren…” In fact, Chazaltell us that Mashiach’s birthwill take place on Tisha B’Av. Furthermore, the painsof exile are constantly compared to the painful pangsof childbirth. It is, thus,fitting for this day to be on the ninth of the month.

The first nine days of the Hebrew month of Av arecollectively known as "The Nine Days" (TishaHaYamim), and are a period of semi-mourning leadingup to Tisha B'Av, the ninth day of Av on which both Temples in Jerusalemwere destroyed.

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Bamidbar (Numbers)34:13 And Moses commanded the children of Israel,saying, This is the landwhich ye shall inherit by lot, which HaShem commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the halftribe: 14 For the tribe of thechildren of Reuben according to the house of their fathers,and the tribe of the children of Gad according to thehouse of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribeof Manasseh have received their inheritance: 15 The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritanceon this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.

The original Torah requirement calls for blowing only nine blasts- three Teruot, each of which is preceded and followedby a Tekiah for a total of nine blasts. The number9 is derived from the fact that the Torah has three versesthat mention teruah and another verse that indicates that each teru'ahneeds to be preceded and followed by a tekiah blast- this makes for a total of 9 blasts.[12]Though some of the Sages indicate that the requirement of nine blasts is of rabbinicalorigin, the halakha indicates that this requirement is Biblical.[13]

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The Arizal explains that numbers havetheir origins in the supernal spiritual worlds. Single digit numbers correspondto the physical realm Asiyah, the sefirat Malkhut. Tenscorrespond to the angelic realm Yetzirah, the sefirat Tiferet. Hundreds correspondto the Neshama realm Beriah, the sefirat Binah, Imma. Being that hundreds emanatefrom the realm of Imma, they are the source of blessing. Therefore, all offeringsare the rectification of 100% of the produce offered.

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This study was written by

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

(Greg Killian).

Comments may be submittedto:

Rabbi Dr. Greg Killian

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Internet address: gkilli@aol.com

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