Resh (ר) is the twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Numerical value: 200
Sound: "R"
Meaning: 1. Poor 2. evil 3. head
Story
When Nachmanides’ (1194-1270) student Reb Avner converted to Christianity and became a high-ranking official in the court of Spain, Nachmanides questioned his actions.1
“I left Judaism because of you …” Avner replied. “You taught us that all the laws of Torah, science, and history are hinted at in the Torah portion of Haazinu,2 and I refused to believe that. How could one small portion be so replete with knowledge? Your statement eventually brought me to deny the entire Torah.”
Nachmanides persisted: “What I said is true. If you want, you may challenge me.” Avner then asked his teacher to show him where his name, “Avner,” appears in Haazinu.
G‑d endowed Nachmanides with Divine wisdom, and he quoted: "אמרתי אפאיהם אשביתה מאנוש זכרם — I said I would make an end of them. I would cause their memory to vanish from among mankind.”3 Nachmanides showed his former student that the third letter of each of the last four words of the verse spell the name Avner.
Realizing his grave mistake, Avner asked his teacher how he could do teshuvah for his sins. “Your repentance lies in the very verse I just quoted,” Nachmanides replied. Reb Avner then took a boat and set off on the seas unaccompanied by a sailor or navigator. He was never heard from again.
The Rebbe explains that the third letter of the first word of the quoted verse is the letter resh, ר, which stands for Reb (or Rabbi). What is most intriguing about this story is that Avner’s name, as it is hinted to in the Torah, includes the honorable title of Reb, which he merited through his repentance. In truth, concludes the Rebbe, even before repenting, he carried the title of Reb.4
Design
The twentieth letter of the aleph-bet is the letter resh. The design of the resh represents an individual who is bent over; a poor person. The resh is composed of two lines, one horizontal and one vertical. It looks very similar to the dalet, but the dalet has a yud at its upper right-hand corner, which the resh lacks.5 As we explained in the chapter on dalet, the yud represents one who is subservient to G‑d and adheres to every letter of the law. The resh’s two lines represent intellect and speech.6 Because they are not joined with a yud, the speech and intellect of this individual are for his own gratification—they can even degenerate and become corrupt and evil. Such a person’s thoughts and speech are often directed to hurting and conspiring against others. In this way, he drags his most essential faculties into the depths of unholiness.
The absence of the yud is important in another way. The yud signifies Olam Haba, the World to Come. The Talmud7 tells us that G‑d created the physical world with the letter hei, and He created the World to Come, with the letter yud. The yud thus represents the judgment that will take place in the World to Come. A dalet is someone who always has in mind that there will be a Day of Judgment. He is, therefore, careful about what he thinks and does. A resh, however, is a person who does not care what he does. He has no regard for his thoughts or speech because he doesn’t believe in the ultimate Day of Judgment signified by the yud.
So the resh is the unholy counterpart of the dalet.8 If a resh is substituted for the dalet in the word echad, אחד, the word becomes acher, other. The mere removal of the dalet’s yud changes the concept of “one G‑d” to “other gods,” or idol worship. By removing the yud, thus declaring one’s belief in other gods, the Midrash tells us it is as if one is “destroying worlds.”
We find a reverse situation in regard to the birth of Joseph (Yosef). When Joseph was born, his mother, our Matriarch Rachel, said, “Yosef li Hashem ben acher—G‑d, add to me another son (ben).” In Hebrew, the word yosef means “to add.” Acher means “other.” The Tzemach Tzedek explains that the mission of every Jew is to change a person who is “other,” who doesn’t appreciate holiness, into one who is a ben (a child of G‑d). In other words, we must transform an acher into an echad, a person who is one with G‑d.
Gematria
The numeric equivalent of resh is 200. The Talmud teaches that a poor person is permitted to collect charity from a synagogue if he does not possess 200 zuz.9 The moment the person has 200 zuz, he is no longer considered poor.
Meaning
The word resh stands for rash, one who is poor. This meaning is illustrated in the famous story of King David10 after he married Bat Sheva. Bat Sheva had been the wife of one of King David’s soldiers whom he had sent to the front lines of battle and who subsequently died. Nathan the Prophet came to David and reproved him with a parable: “There were two men in one city; one rich and the other poor. The rich man had many flocks and herds but the poor man had nothing save one lamb … The rich man took the poor man’s lamb … ” The Hebrew used for the passage “and the poor man had nothing” is “v’larash ein kol....” So resh/rash signifies poverty.
The poverty of the resh is more wretched than the destitution of the dalet, a dal—who also is a poor person. The poor person represented by the dalet has a pittance, but the rash has nothing.
“There is no poor person except he who is poor in knowledge,”11 says the Talmud. The resh is far away from G‑d. He entertains flagrant, evil thoughts and speaks negatively. He is beyond the level of having or not having money. He is spiritually bereft; the poorest of the poor.
The Talmud tells us that the resh also stands for the word rasha, which means an evil person.12 We know, however, that when a wicked person repents, he becomes a baal teshuvah, and is therefore higher than a tzaddik. In such a case, the resh no longer means rasha, but rosh, or “head.” This concept is also hinted at in its design and gematria, as will be explained.
If you continue drawing the rounded line of the resh (ר), it turns into a kaf (כ), representing the spiritual faculty of Keter (crown).13 In so doing, the resh is elevated to the level of Keter. This is hinted to by the fact that the resh also stands for rosh (head)14 and the head’s skull is considered its crown. Furthermore, the numeric equivalent of resh (200) is 10 times kaf (Keter) (20).
The resh, at times poor and at times wicked, has the ability to do teshuvah. It can awake from its slumber and repent. The resh can truly be transformed into the rosh: the head of the Jewish people.
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