Resh — the 20th Hebrew letter
ר
Symbolism
Head, beginning, chief; the person; two hundred — the poor man (rash) and the chief (rosh) spelled by one letter's fortunes
What the letter is built from
A single sweeping curve — a head bowed forward; a vav bent at the top, some say
Its first root in Scripture
The first resh root hides inside the Torah's very first word: reshit, 'beginning,' from rosh, 'head'
Messianic thread
Rosh — the Head. 'He is the head of the body' (Col 1:18); Rosh HaShanah crowns the year as He crowns creation. The guarded large resh of Exodus 34:14 keeps 'another' from becoming 'one' (see Text Anomalies).
In the mystical tradition
Resh is the rasha (wicked) who can turn: facing the qof of holiness before it and able to become rosh, head. The sages read its bowed curve as the humility that redeems beginnings.
Wisdom of the letter
Every reshit (firstfruit) belongs to God — resh teaches that heads and beginnings are holy ground.