The Firstborn Heh

"This month shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you
the first of the months of the year." [Shemot12:1] With the beginning of
Nissan and the Festival of Pesach, we mark the birth of the Jewish people and the
beginning of our monthly calendar.

According ot Sefer Yetzirah, the letter for this first month is the letter Heh. Each of the letters of the months are called the "simple letters" meaning they have no double (Bet-Vet, Shin-Sin, Kaf-Chaf, etc,) and are not one of the "Mother Letters," which are the three letters (Alef, Mem, and Shin) representing fundamental concepts that "give birth" to all the other letters. The Mother letter Mem, gives birth to all the letters associated with time and the calendar, giving birth first to the letter Heh.

The letter pair of the Mother (letter) Mem and her firstborn (letter) Heh are conspicuously present in the Pesach Seder and in words that relate to the Exodus from Egypt. First, the word formed by the two letters themselves Mah (Mem-Heh) means "what?" and is a key word guiding both the structure and the content of the Hagadah from "Mah-nish tana ha leila hazeh?" "How is this night different from all other nights?" to the central part of the Hagadah where we ask, ".... al shum mah?" what is the reason? regarding the three core symbols of the Seder: Pesach, Matzah and Maror.

Other significant words that are bordered by the Mem and Heh are:

Matzah (Mem-Tzadi-Heh)
Mateh (Mem-Tet-Heh), the staff used to bring the plagues and split the sea
Mazeh (Mem-Zayin-Heh) what is this? as stated by G-d to Moshe, what is that staff in your hand? [Exodus 4:2]
Makeh (Mem-Chaf-Heh), the plague, literally meaning to strike
Milah (Mem-Lamed-Hey), meaning circumcision, which was required for men
to participate in the Pesach offering
Marah (Mem-Reish-Heh) the place of bitter waters encountered after the splitting of the sea
Moshe (Mem-Shin-Heh)
Modeh (Mem-Vav-Dalet-Heh), to acknowledge, be gratefulor to admit

Over the next few weeks please share with us what you discover about Mem-Heh? What does what mean? Why does Mah appear so prominently as a word and as a frame for words related to Pesach?

Our search for possible answers is helped by our understanding of some ideas related to the letter Heh. The letter Heh is the letter signifying full expression and is therefore linked to the spiritual Sense for the month of Nissan, the Sense of Speech. The highest form of speech is acknowledgement as well as admitting one's mistakes to another. When we use speech to acknowledge, give thanks to another or to apologize, it is the greatest gift that we can give. It is the gift of making room for the other. The word "to thank", "to acknowledge" or "to admit" comes from the root Hod (Hey-Vav-Dalet). Every morning when we wake up, even before getting out of bed, we say "Modeh Ani" expressing our thanks to and acknowledgment of G-d for having restored our souls to us. Modeh, as thanks, speaks to the nature of the relationship as well as what is tangibly received.

If we look at our celebration of Pesach we find the Seder, which is the ordered telling of the story of our history and our Exodus from Egypt. The Hagadah is filled with our acknowledgement and thanks to G-d. In each of the 15 steps or sections of the Hagadah we express a different aspect of our acknowledgement. In the 5th step, the "Heh" step, (Heh equals 5) we have the Maggid, the actual telling of the story. We are taught that the story must be spoken. Even if one were to find themselves alone on Pesach, one would recount the story outloud to oneself. This is not the night for silent meditation. Our sages teach that someone who elaborates on the story of our acknowledgement of G-d, is praiseworthy.

We hope to use the next few weeks to elaborate our thinking about the letter Heh, and Mem-Heh, and let it speak its wisdom to us and deepen our ability to acknowledge G-d.

P.S. Where in the Hagadah is the letter Heh spelled out as a word? (Heh is spelled, Heh-Alef).