The Negative Side of the Letter 'S'

As mentioned, from a negative perspective, the letter 'S' expresses the evil inclination, whose entire desire is to close and lock the person in the prison of material desires by being enslaved to them and pursuing them, thereby bringing him to sadness, which closes his heart and locks the song of his life. Joy, singing, and music belong to the side of holiness, as written about the prophet Elisha: "And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of Hashem came upon him." The Jerusalem Talmud recounts: "Yonah son of Amitai was among those who went up for the festival and entered the Simchat Beit HaShoeva, and the holy spirit rested upon him. To teach you that the holy spirit rests only on a joyful heart." The Babylonian Talmud similarly explains the apparent contradiction in King Solomon's words: "I commended joy," versus "Of laughter I said, 'It is madness,' and of joy, 'What does it accomplish?'" Here is the language of the Talmud: "I commended joy, this is the joy of a mitzvah. And of joy, what does it accomplish? This is joy that is not of a mitzvah. To teach you that the 'Shechinah' does not rest neither through sadness nor laziness nor laughter nor frivolity nor idle talk but through the joy of a mitzvah, as it says: 'And now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass when the minstrel played that the hand of Hashem came upon him.'"

Song, music, and dance

The inspiration of the Shechinah through music that brings true joy of a mitzvah is the secret of the singing and music of the Levites with various musical instruments in the Holy Temple, standing on the fifteen steps that led up to the courtyard. Since joy is an inseparable part of serving Hashem, and a condition for ascending the steps of the spiritual ladder. Therefore, the Torah reading in public is done with the tunes of the cantillation, whose level is higher than the vowels, whose level is higher than the crowns, which are higher than the letters, as explained in the book "Etz Chaim" that the TNTA (tropes, vowels, crowns, letters) correspond to the letters of the Divine Name in various fillings, and the first and highest is the tropes of the scripture melody. And in his commentary on the book of creation, the Raavad wrote about the merit of music, explaining the verse "Who counts the clouds by wisdom, and the bottles of heaven who tips them": "Count, from the language of numbering. And he said that the clouds and all their details were done and crafted in wisdom. And the instruments of heaven from the language of harp and lyre. For by the paths [they are 32 paths of the numeric values of the letters], the spirit of life is drawn with known melodies [specifics], which are the 32 melodies in which the Torah is rolled. And he said [the verse with amazement], those melodies of the musician, meaning the tropes of the Torah [the cantillation with which the verses of the Torah are sung], who arranges them together." In the introduction to the book "Peat HaShulchan," a testimony from a student of the Gaon of Vilna about his teacher was brought: "And the wisdom of music he praised a lot. He would say that most of the Torah's secrets, the secrets of the songs of the Levites, and the secrets of the corrections of the Zohar cannot be known [properly] without it. Only through it is it possible to revive the dead, with its secrets hidden in the Torah."

In the book "Livnat HaSapir," the pleasure of the soul in singing is explained because the soul comes from the bundle of life above and is accustomed to hearing the songs of angels. Therefore, now being in the body and hearing the sound of music finds comfort and enjoys it as it was accustomed above. From the abundance of enjoyment and sweetness of the holy singing, it is worthy for the divine spirit to rest upon it as it was when it was above. The Maharal wrote that at the time of true joy the person reaches the perfection of the soul. Therefore, through joy, the divine spirit rests upon him, and he deserves the holy spirit.

However, it should be emphasized that even though the root of singing and music is in the realm of holiness, and through the hall of music, a person can enter the hall of the holy spirit, on the other hand, a person has the ability through his free choice to use this high and sublime system of music for the "other side" and to compose songs and melodies of materialistic inclination that spoil the soul. The fullest expression of the soul's yearning or joy in a tune is achieved in songs where the melody composed for the words fits precisely to the content of the words; a joyful melody to happy words, and an emotional longing tune to a song whose words express longing, and both together to the correct bodily movements and dance. The combination of these three together elevates the person to spiritual heights of true joy and closeness to Hashem. The true dance is nothing but the expression of the soul longing for its Creator, and with most of its movements of longing, it elevates the body to the rhythm of the song as trying to detach itself from the material ground. Such a sublime spiritual combination was in the Holy Temple during the Simchat Beit HaShoeva when those who participated in it properly were able to draw the holy spirit from it. Happy are the eyes that saw all this. Therefore, our sages said that the one freed from the chains of the evil inclination is the true free and happy person. And this is their language: "There is no free person, but one who engages in Torah." Because it guides him on how to control the inclinations and desires of the world, to sanctify the material and to subjugate it to the service of Hashem. While physical confinement such as imprisonment, or spiritual confinement such as mental pressure and sadness, come from the Satan (Samech Mem), the head of the forces of the other side, after it surrounds the person and binds him in the prison of desires, like a spider binding its victim in its web.

Thus, paralleling the power of assistance and surrounding for protection inherent in the letter 'S', it represents from the other side the evil inclination that binds and closes, the dissolving force and sadness. It is also explained in the book of creation that the letter 'S' brought forth the gallbladder, which is called by this name because of the bitterness it contains, as an aspect of sadness. Sadness resembles a central locking that locks all the gates of the heart and all the gates of intellectual understanding.

Therefore, this closing letter appears in the name of the head of the forces of the other side, Samael. Its shape resembles a snake, the evil inclination, with its tail tucked between its teeth, completely enclosing what is encompassed by it. Also, its pronunciation is similar to a snake's hiss: S, S.

Since the root of all languages is in the Holy Language, it is no wonder that the shape of the letter S in English is a twisted snake. And certainly, in providence from above, it happened that the forces of destruction, representatives of the Satan (Samech Mem) in the world, chose as their symbol the swastika made of two letters: SS, and for their infamous "elite" unit known for its unique cruelty, they called it "SS".

In the Holy Tongue, the doubling of the letter 'S', the letter of sadness and dissolution, creates the word "sas," which is a destructive worm from the moth family. As written in the verse: "As a garment shall be devoured by moth, and as wool shall be eaten by sas." This letter appears in the words 'arsenic', 'destruction', 'absence', and 'dissolution', and when it is doubled in the words 'chewing', and 'bubbling'.

Even today, not coincidentally, the substances of smoking 'drugs' and 'cigarettes' begin with the desire letter 'S' symbolizing the Satan (Samech Mem), as like the evil inclination, they begin with imaginations of delight and end in disease and even death.

And the way to break it is precisely through true joy that comes from doing a good deed, overcoming forbidden temptations, and from studying Torah. Since the very breaking of the chains of the inclination and controlling it, in terms of "Who is mighty? He who conquers his inclination," breaks the shell that the inclination builds around the human heart and separates him from his Creator, which is the root of sadness. And about joy, it is said "For in joy shall you go out." This verse hints that through joy a person goes out from all his troubles. For he is happy in every situation by reflecting on genuine thought and internalizing three foundations properly: A. Hashem loves all His creatures, including me. B. His wisdom is infinitely superior to that of man. C. He is omnipotent. Hence, certainly, everything He does with me is for my good. This correct thought is the secret of "Serve Hashem with joy." "With joy" is the same letters as 'thought'. Because through proper positive thinking, a person reaches true joy. And this is the reason for David son of Jesse's song when he was pursued by Saul who sought to kill him: "A psalm of David, Hashem is my shepherd, I shall not want!... Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me!"

The word "joy" alone is the same letters as "anointing." Because it is the anointment remedy for all ailments of the soul.

Examples of the use of the letter 'S' in a word

The root of the word 'surround': S.V.B. The letter 'B' signifies house, interior. Its duplication expresses great and wide interior. While the letter 'S' expresses the circumference around that interior. And this is the essence of the 'surround'.

The word 'nes' (miracle), which expresses the state of a person or people who were in danger that seemed unsolvable, and were miraculously saved, consists of the letter of downfall, 'N', and the letter of support, 'S'. Even a person who fled for his life from a place of danger, was in a state of downfall and was saved by fleeing. However, this one fled without planning his escape route, unlike a person who moved to another place for some necessity and planned in advance his departure, he is a person who 'traveled'. For the letter 'Ayin', the letter of seeing and observation, joined his desire to leave this place. In this case, the letter 'N' does not express a real downfall but discomfort and the unwillingness to remain here, due to some problem in this place, or due to the need to be in the other place.

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