Tav — Weekday Letter, Saturday (Standing Letter)

Attributes

The letter Tav is practiced on Shabbat/Saturday, the day of Malchut-Kingdom.

Tav is connected with the attribute of Malchut-Kingdom, and with the opposite qualities of gracefulness and ugliness. The letter Tav in Hebrew means the “Sign”. It is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the connotation of multiplicity. It represents the Malchut-Kingdom attribute, which in the body corresponds to the crown of the sexual organs. These are the gender “signs” of the body.

By contemplating the varied aspects of creation, one becomes awe struck at the extent of the manifestation of the Creator uniquely present in every separate creature. One then sees that all things carry His unique stamp and sign.

In the Sefer Yetzira Tav is connected with Shabbat, the direction “center” and the mouth in the human body. Tav is a receptor of all elements–Air, Water, and Fire–and represents, on its own, the first occurrence of the element of Earth. The planet of Tav is Jupiter.

In relation to the Ten Sefirot, Tav corresponds to Malchut-Kingdom. In the human body it corresponds to the area from the genitals to the feet: for women from the opening of the womb (cervix) to the feet; for men from the crown of the penis to the feet.

How to do the letter

To do the Tav, stand upright, feet joined together. Reach up with your arms extended, keeping the back as straight as possible, then gently bend forward at the waist with the arms and hands aligned reaching for the toes. Keep your legs and arms straight (but not locked), and parallel to each other. Bend your palms gently 90 degrees at the wrist with the aim of touching the floor with your full palms (about one foot in front of your toes). Allow your head to hang, in line with the arms. Feel the heaviness of your upper body pull you closer to the ground. If you are able to place your palms on the floor, put more weight on the hands than on the feet. (You can also use a cushion or block to rest your palms on.) Then go into the inner exercise for 3-5 breaths or more. When you have become familiar with doing the Tav, you can include an additional mental focus on the mouth while doing the basic inner exercise.

Benefits

Benefits of doing the letter Tav include: gracefulness, and relief for restlessness, insomnia, fatigue, indecision, and intestinal problems.

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