Twebrew School

Today, you'll be learning your last letter of the Aleph-Bet! We'll be focusing on the letter Tzadi, along with it's Final Letter, the Tzadi Sofit. This letter makes a Tz sound like in the word Matzah. We conclude by reading the blessing Ha'motzi Lechem Min Ha'aretz, which you may recognize as the bracha said over challah on Shabbat. (Remember: To request your very own copy of our Hebrew textbook, which corresponds to our online instructional videos, please "Enroll" in Twebrew School by clicking here . Within 2 Business Days, you will receive an email from us with a personalized link to a site where you can download the book. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at JewishTreats@NJOP.org.)

The letter tzadi is one of the five letters of the aleph-bet that has a sofit, a different form used when the letter appears at the end of the word. The regular tzadi is one of the most difficult letters of the Hebrew alphabet to write. The letter bends and folds while at the same time reaching its arms upwards. And yet the very shape of the letter helps us to better understand the letter. The root word of tzadi means hunter. If one looks at the shape of the letter, one can envision (using one’s imagination) a hunter kneeling down with his bow, ready to strike. At the same time, the Hebrew word tzad means side, and the tzadi bends to one side while stretching to the other. Still again, the letter’s name is often mispronounced as tzadik, which means righteousness, and one can see in the stretched out arms of the letter the idea of humankind reaching up to heaven while striving to reach the Divine. There can be no doubt about it, tzadi is an intense letter. A tzadik is a righteous person...