Letter Families and Their Intersections — Rav Ziegler zatsal
Lesson · Rav Haim Ziegler זצ״ל

Letter Families and Their Intersections

The relations between Hebrew letters, shown on three examples
A teaching of Rav Haim Ziegler zatsal · Éditions Gueoula
Translated from the French original; the French version remains the reference text.
Letter Families and Their Intersections
The relations between Hebrew letters, shown on three examples

Hebrew letters do not stand alone: they form families, and one root imprints the same movement on every word that carries it.

פ-ר: to separate, to multiply, to blossom, fruit, to explain — the passage from one to many.

ק-ר: to call, to draw near, cold, to tear — the qof encircles and separates according to context.

יד — the hand — has the value fourteen, and the human hand has fourteen finger bones.

📖 Read the lesson
1 פ-ר-ש: from one toward many

פרד to separate · פרה to multiply · פרח to blossom · פרי fruit · פרש to explain.

Five words, one movement: what was one unfolds and becomes several. To separate is to make two out of one; to blossom is to open what was closed; to explain is to unfold what was held together.

The root does not describe a thing: it describes a gesture, and that gesture is found again in every word of the family.
2 ק-ר-ש: separating and encircling

קרא to call · קרב to draw near · קור cold · קרע to tear.

The qof encircles and separates according to context: to call is to bring toward oneself; to tear is to push apart. The same sign works in both directions.

3 יד: the hand

יד = י (10) + ד (4) = 14.

And the human hand has fourteen finger bones: three in each of the four fingers, two in the thumb.

The Rav drew from this that the word states the structure of the thing it names. It is a reading — you can check it on your fingers; it cannot be proved.

Did you follow the lesson?

Four questions on the teaching of Rav Ziegler zatsal.

1
What common movement does the פ-ר family carry?
To separate, to multiply, to blossom, to bear fruit, to explain: the same opening every time.
2
What does פרש mean within this family?
To explain is to unfold what was held together: the gesture of separating, applied to speech.
3
What does the qof do in the second family?
To call brings toward oneself, to tear pushes apart: the same sign works both ways.
4
What is the value of יד, and what does that number count in the hand?
י is 10 and ד is 4: fourteen, and the hand has fourteen finger bones.

Result