Question: I have noticed a set of five Hebrew letters at the end of the Hebrew phrasing on many monuments. What do these letters stand for?
I.G., East Greenwich
Dear I.G.,
Often we see a combination of the Hebrew letters tav, nun, tsadi, bet, and hay inscribed on a monument or a marker. These Hebrew letters are an abbreviation for t’hay nafsho/nafsha tzrurah b’tzror hachairn. The English translation is roughly “May his/her soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life.”
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