'Resh' is for Randy

A new customer wrote to me right back at the start of all this coronavirus business. She had seen my papercut initials online and thought that they would make great "pick me up" gifts for friends in the US. For one friend she wanted the Hebrew letter Resh and for the other friend the letter A. She wanted both papercuts to be backed in blue.
The Hebrew letter ר Resh is the twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It has a shape similar to a backwards English letter r. Most Israelis pronounce it like a softer version of the French r, in the back of the mouth where the tongue meets the throat. Sephardic Jews (from Spanish or Arab speaking countries) pronounce it like the Spanish r, which is how the equivalent letter sounds in Arabic. But English speakers like myself often just use the English r sound.

In gematria (a mystical tradition that assigns a numerological value to Hebrew letters) Resh represents the number 200. The letter represents our head ראשי (rosh) and is one of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet that initiates or begins, that starts something: First ראשון; First of all, firstly, origin, beginning, starting point ראשית; Increase רבה. Resh follows the letter ב Beth in the Hebrew word ברא bera, "to create".

Resh as an abbreviation can stand for Rabbi (or Rav, Rebbe, Rabban, Rabbenu and other similar constructions). The letter may be found after a person's name on a gravestone to indicate that the person had been a Rabbi or to indicate the other use of Rav, as a generic term for a teacher or a personal spiritual guide.

Finally, Resh is used in an Israeli phrase; after a child may say something false, one may say "B'Shin, Quf, Resh" (With Shin, Quf, Resh). These letters spell Sheqer, which is the Hebrew word for a lie. It would be akin to an English speaker saying "That's an L-I-E."

My customer's second request was for the letter A but there is very little I can tell you about this letter that you don't already know! In the case of this papercut, A stands for Ann. I hope that Ann and Randy were very happy with their artworks and the sentiment behind them.
My letters are available unframed and can be cut in various sizes. Do you have someone you would like me to cut a papercut initial for? You can order one right here.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Make It Pretty Monday, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Inspire Me Tuesday, Pictorial Tuesday, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, {wow me} wednesday and Creatively Crafty.