Two Forms of Pei – the open one to speak, the closed to keep quiet.
There are only 834 open Pei’s in the whole Chumash, but there are 3,976 closed Pei’s. Most of the other letters are in the thousands. The open Pei has the smallest amount. This leads to an amazing lesson regarding how much speaking we should do, versus how much keeping quiet! Most of the time we should keep quiet and listen. But how can we gauge ourselves to know when to speak and when to listen? →
Rashi explains with Hillel’s teaching in Brochos 63a: “When others are not teaching you should do so, when others are willing and capable, you should refrain.”
This matches Hillel’s teaching in Avos 2:6, “If there are no others, you do your best.”
This gives us a new perspective on the best position to keep our mouth →
“Closed.”
On one hand we learn, “This nation I created for Me, they should relate My praises,” (Yeshaya 43:21). But we also learn in Tehilim 65 →
“To You, silence is praise.”
…‘Pesach’ refers to opening, as one who opens their mouth to speak. Our words can change people’s lives by making them feel special and empowered.
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