Tet

Tet, the ninth letter, first appears in the Torah in the word "tov" (good), in Genesis 1:4: "And God saw the light, that it was good." This association with goodness is fundamental to the letter's spiritual identity. The Ba'al HaTurim notes that Tet does not appear in the passage listing the twelve tribes of Israel, yet it appears for the first time in the Torah in connection with divine light -- teaching that Tet represents a hidden, inner goodness that may not be immediately visible but is deeply luminous. The shape of Tet is unusual -- it curves inward, like a vessel or a womb, containing something within itself. The Kabbalists teach that this represents the concept of hidden good (tov hatzanua): the most profound blessings are those that are concealed, not flaunted. Tet is the letter of interiority, of the richness that lives beneath the surface. The number nine, as the last single digit, represents completion of a cycle -- the nine months of pregnancy, after which new life emerges. The Talmud (Shabbat 104a) teaches that Tet represents goodness because "tov" (good) begins with Tet. But the sages add a nuance: the goodness of Tet is not superficial pleasantness. It is the deep, structural goodness woven into the fabric of creation -- the kind of good that sometimes appears only in retrospect, after difficulty has been transformed into growth.

Tet is pronounced as a "T" sound, similar to Tav (ת). In ancient and liturgical Hebrew, Tet was an emphatic "T" produced further back in the mouth, but in modern Israeli Hebrew, the distinction between Tet and Tav has largely disappeared -- both are pronounced as a simple "T." When writing Tet, it has a distinctive curved shape that opens at the top -- somewhat like the letter "U" with an inward curl on the left side. It does not resemble any English letter closely. Be careful not to confuse it with Mem (מ), which is more boxy. Tet does not have a final form.