CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

PEH

(pay or peh)(final form: )

SOUND: p, ph

NUMERICAL VALUE: 80

Meanings

, Peh, means “mouth.” It is the sign of the profoundly powerful activities of speaking and singing. In Genesis, the Holy creates the entire universe through these means.

Peh equals eighty. According to the Torah, Moses was eighty years old when he got the call to lead the Hebrews to freedom. Moses was able to speak with God “mouth to mouth”¹ and become God’s spokesman despite having a serious speech impediment! (Some commentators say that Moses stuttered, while others believe he had difficulty enunciating specific consonants.)

When Moses beheld the vision of the burning bush and heard the Divine Voice telling him to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt, he objected. Moses argued that he wasn’t qualified to be the leader because he was “slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”

The Voice answered Moses’ objections, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.” Furthermore, Moses’ older brother Aaron would help as Moses’ spokesman.² Moses is thus the prototype of one who transcends limitations and whose mouth is freed to speak with divine inspiration.

Application

Inspired speech or song is Peh’s ideal, where words flow with a spirit of holiness, and we are able to say what is needed in an appropriate, effective, and eloquent fashion. “The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips,” is the word of Proverbs.³ Peh calls us to speak and sing from the heart.

“A person has joy by the answer of his [or her] mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”⁴ Are there things that need to be said? Is now the time to say them? Peh encourages us to speak out, to speak up, to claim our right to be heard, and not be afraid.

On the other hand, in some situations, prudence and restraint might be most appropriate. When Peh appears, it is an opportunity to weigh our words. Peh can be a sign to be quiet, to close the mouth and listen. Speech is extraordinarily powerful. It can be creative or destructive. Peh reminds us to not underestimate this power. We must especially be on guard that we not indulge in lashon hara, the “evil tongue” of malicious gossip or slander.

“Right Speech” is one category of the Buddhist “Noble Eight-fold Path” to calmness, insight, and enlightenment. Right Speech includes refraining from telling lies, from creating disharmony through backbiting and slander, from using malicious or abusive language, and from foolishly babbling or gossiping. “When one abstains from these forms of wrong and harmful speech one naturally has to speak the truth, has to use words that are friendly and benevolent, pleasant and gentle, meaningful and useful. One should not speak carelessly: speech should be at the right time and place. If one cannot say something useful, one should keep ‘noble silence.’”⁵

In a Hasidic tale, the prophet Elijah appears in disguise as a ragged wanderer and reproaches Rabbi Bunam and his companions as they debate the acceptability of the food being served them in a strange inn. “Oh you Hasidim, you make a big to-do about what you put into your mouths being clean, but you don’t worry half as much about the purity of what comes out of your mouths!”⁶

Jesus similarly declared, “Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a person; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a person.”⁷

Sometimes, not speaking defiles a person. There are times when speaking is called for. Are we holding back from communicating our feelings or ideas out of timidity or shyness? Out of anger or resentment? Peh beckons us to speak when necessary and appropriate, to come forth as who we are and to not hide behind silence. We may have a “turning word” to share with someone, but it must be spoken for the turning to occur. Often, we regret things we failed to do or say more than the things we actually did or said. Peh urges, “Speak while you have the chance. Life passes quickly. Don’t let that chance go by.”

The attitude which underlies right speech is described by Robert Aitken in his appropriately titled book, Encouraging Words:

        Noble, upright speech arises from clear understanding that none of us will be here very long and it behooves us to be kind to one another while we can. It arises from knowing in our hearts that we need each other and cannot survive alone. I vow to speak out of consideration for the frailty of my friends, and my own frailty, and out of consideration for our intimate family relationship. I vow not to speak as though the errors of others were ingrained or as though I were separate.⁸

Before reading the Amidah, a core part of every Jewish prayer service, worshipers recite the following verse from Psalms: “Open up my lips, O Yah, that I may sing your praise.”⁹ This is Peh’s prayer: to have our lips be freed to express gratitude. Such gratitude, whether to the Divine or to other people or beings, needs to be expressed out loud. The Talmud teaches that feelings of friendship should be verbalized.¹⁰ Similarly, repentance and confession are considered incomplete and ineffective until expressed aloud.¹¹ All sorts of pledges, from marriage vows to oaths of office, become official only after being spoken. Peh urges, “Speak!”

Spoken words are at the heart of Jewish religious observance. Each week, the Torah is chanted aloud. Silent reading of the Torah or other prayers is considered inadequate; the sound of the words must reverberate in the air to make the teachings come to life.

Speaking and hearing are profoundly intimate acts. “When I speak, the bones in your ear vibrate,” said poet Etheridge Knight. Peh reminds us of the intimacy and power of the spoken or sung word, and encourages us to not take them for granted.

Instead, with awareness of the potency for good or ill of our words (or our silence), we can pray with David, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, oh Yah.”¹²

Peh’s Shadow

Talking too much is one negative aspect of this sign of the mouth. “A fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.”¹³ We may need continually to remind ourselves to exercise self-control and be quiet. This can be an ongoing practice.

Or, we may be too quiet. Peh calls us to balanced communication, to compassionate expression. Someone we know may desperately need a kind word spoken or a misunderstanding clarified.

The tendency to gossip, put people down, and spread rumors is all too human. Peh asks us to resist this temptation and instead to uplift our speech, to have our words be words of blessing, not cursing.

Personal Comments

It’s natural for humans to talk, to sing, to tell stories. Sometimes, when I don’t have to attend to the meaning of the words swirling around me, I can hear the human voices as sounds of the natural world, like birdsongs or cricket chirps or wind in the trees. In the multi-mouthed chorus of nature, humans’ sounds are just one part of the mix.

When I can remember this way of perceiving human speech, I’m a little less likely to become upset or reactive because of someone’s words. I also become less self-conscious and inhibited about sending my own voice out into the world. After all, it’s just the sound of the earth expressing itself, the voice of nature coming through as my voice. Peh reminds me that the universe is full of many kinds of mouths and many kinds of speech. I pray that I am able to hear the harmony within this multitude of sound.

 

Summary for Peh

Numerical value:	80
Meanings:	Mouth. Communication.
Application:	Speak from the heart.
	Speak when needed and keep silent when appropriate.
	Practice “Right Speech.”
	Express gratitude out loud.
Shadow:	Talking too much.
	Not talking enough.
	Gossiping.
Reflection:	Are there words I need to say to someone that I have been silencing out of fear or timidity or complacency? Is now the time to say them?
Suggested action:	For today, try to avoid gossiping, subtly or not so subtly putting people down, and all other negative speech.