Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Hei motzaos hapeh
ה׳ מוצאות הפה
The five articulations of the mouth (hei motzaos hapeh)
The five places in the mouth where speech is articulated (throat, palate, tongue, teeth, lips); above, the divine speech, Malchus, divides likewise, through the five Gevuros, into bounded levels, such as the four angelic camps.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 3, ¶3The voice that comes from the breath of the heart is simple; it is divided into letters at the five articulations of the mouth (the throat letters, the palate letters, and so on). The hei of parah (“par” and “hei”) is the five Gevuros, the source of this division of the letters.
כי קול היוצא מהבל הלב הוא קול פשוט ומתחלק לאותיות בה׳ מוצאות הפה אחה״ע מהגרון גיכ״ק מהחיך
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 15, ¶17The letters are divided in pronunciation by the five articulations, yet the organs are not like a harp, whose movement produces the sound. The letters come out of themselves with no intent to move the tongue or lips: the letters move the organs, for they are rooted in the soul itself.
אלא אדרבה האותיות מניעות את הלשון לאותיות דטלנ״ת והשפתים לאותיות בומ״ף והאותיות מצד עצמן הן מושרשות בנפש עצמה
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 11, ¶2The angels’ wings are “parted” because their life comes from Malchus, the hei of “with hei He created them,” the breath of His mouth. As the breath of speech divides into five articulations, so the breath of His mouth divides into separate levels: the four camps of the Shechinah, Michael’s camp (face of the lion) and the rest, corresponding to four of the articulations.
כמו שהבל הדיבור מתחלק לה׳ מוצאות עד״מ כך בחי׳ רוח פיו ית׳ מתחלק להיות מדרגות חלוקות ומובדלות זו מזו
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 11, ¶3The fifth articulation, the palate letters (gimmel, yud, kaf, kuf), is the one who “makes peace in His heights” between Michael, prince of water, and Gavriel, prince of fire. It is drawn from Chochmah (“his palate is sweetness,” “the palate tastes food”) and is the inner side of the chayos, which is not parted like their wings.
ומוצא הה׳ הוא בחי׳ גיכ״ק מוצא החיך בחי׳ עושה שלום במרומיו
- Likkutei Torah, Kedoshim 1, ¶13The supernal speech receives from the infinite middos only through contraction, from their back and outer side; so it then divides into parts through the five articulations, to be drawn down within limits. Hence, citing the Idra and Etz Chaim, the feminine is called nekevah, nekev hei: the five articulations receive from the middos through an opening, a lessening of the light.
שהדבור מקבל רק ע״י צמצום מבחי׳ אחוריים וחיצוניות מהמדות כו׳ ל כן אח״כ מתחלק לחלקים בדבור ע״י ה׳ מוצאות שיומשך בבחי׳ גבול
Stated differently
Whether the letters take shape at the five articulations, out of a simple voice, or already exist in the soul and move the articulations
כי קול היוצא מהבל הלב הוא קול פשוט ומתחלק לאותיות בה׳ מוצאות הפהThe voice that comes from the breath of the heart is simple, and it is divided into letters at the five articulations of the mouth; the five Gevuros are the source of this division.
אלא שהאותיות כבר היו בנפש שכל נפש מליאה אותיות ובבואם לה׳ מוצאות הפה הם המניעים את המוצאות ולא מתנועעים ע״י המוצאותThe articulations do not make the letters, as a harp makes its sound; the letters were already in the soul, which is full of letters, and on reaching the five articulations they move the articulations and are not moved by them.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 11, ¶2Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 11, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 13, ¶7Likkutei Torah, Kedoshim 1, ¶13Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3, ¶7Likkutei Torah, Emor 4, ¶35Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 15, ¶17Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 16, ¶8
Where it appears
In 34 paragraphs of 29 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 11 ¶2 ¶3 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 22 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 8 ¶16
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12 ¶23
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 2 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 8 ¶27 ¶28
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 6 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 10 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 2 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Kedoshim 1 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 5 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 5 ¶31
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 12 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 13 ¶6 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 3 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 5 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 1 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 7 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 16 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 4 ¶8 ¶35
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 9 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 13 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 3 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 8 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 11 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 15 ¶17
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.