HebrewLetters

The Hebrew Letter Dalet

2008-03-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

DALET is the 4th letter of the alphabet, has a numerical value of 4, means DOOR and makes a sound like the D in Delight. The Dalet has the shape of an open door.

This is a door that you can walk through in meditation. You are protected when you walk through the Dalet. The Dalet is set up to RECEIVE you.

The letter Dalet consists of two lines, one from right to left on top. And the other straight down on the right side. The first line connects Chochma-Wisdom to Chesed-Love while the second line connects Chochma-Wisdom to Chesed. The vowel associated with Chochma-Wisdom is a Petach, while Segol is associated with Chesed. The word Dalet means DOOR, while the word Petachmeans OPENING. Since Chochma-Wisdom represents our hight perception of the Divine, it is God’s opening to reveal Himself. Segol is related to the word Segula, a remedy that works for no apparent reason. SEGOL thus parallels the Sefirah of Chesed, which gives freely, even without reason (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The BahirYork Beach: Samuel Weiser. 113).

Gimmel Daleth [means] show kindness to the Poor [Gemol Dallim]. Why is the foot of the Gimmel stretched toward the Daleth? Because it is fitting for the benevolent to run after [seek out] the poor. And why is the roof [foot] of the Daleth stretched out toward the Gimmel ? Because he [the poor] must make himself available to him. And why is the face of the Daleth turned away from the Gimmel ? Because he must give him [help] in secret, [As though with averted face] lest he be ashamed of him (Shabbat 104a).

The conjunction of the two letters Gimel and Dalet indicates issuing forth… Gimel, giving and Dalet receiving (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:244b).

Four is a very important number in Kabbalah. There are four worlds - Asiyah - the World of Action, Yetzirah - the World of Feelings or Emotions, Beriyah - the World of Creation, Atzilut - the World of Emanation; four souls associated with the four worlds -
Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya; four letters in the name of God - Yud Hey Vav Hey; and four cups of wine at the Passover Seder.

The Hebrew Letter Gimel

2008-03-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

The Hebrew Letter featured in this painting is the Gimel.

Gimel.is the 3rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 3, and makes a sound like the G in Give. The Gimel is constructed of a Vav and a Yud. It means CAMEL or REWARD and is associated the phrase Gemilut Hasadim - ACTS OF LOVINGKINDNESS.

The The Bahir, which may be the oldest kabbalistic text, is attributed to R. Nehuniah ben HaKana, a first century kabbalist. In this text, R. Akiva states, the Gimel has "three parts because it BESTOWS, GROWS AND SUSTAINS." The three parts are the head, the tail, and a pipe in the middle through which energy can pass. "The GIMEL draws from above through its head and disperses through its tail” (The Bahir. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. lx, 8).

Gimmel
Daleth, show kindness to the Poor [Gemol Dallim]. Why is the foot of the Gimmel stretched toward the Daleth? Because it is fitting for the benevolent to run after [seek out] the poor. And why is the roof [foot] of the Daleth stretched out toward the Gimmel ? Because he [the poor] must make himself available to him. And why is the face of the Daleth turned away from the Gimmel ? Because he must give him [help] in secret, [As though with averted face] lest he be ashamed of him (Shabbat 104a).

When he [proselyte] went before
Hillel, he accepted him as a proselyte. On the first day, he taught him, Aleph Beit Gimel Dalet [The first four letters of the Hebrew alphabet]; the following day he reversed [them ] to him. ‘But yesterday you did not teach them to me thus,’ he protested. ‘Must you then not rely upon me? [As to what the letters are]. Then rely upon me with respect to the Oral [Torah] too’ (>Shabbat 31a).

Gimel is one of 7 letters which may be adorned with TAGIN, or little crowns, in the Torah, Tefillin or Mezzuzah scroll. These are called the SHAYNAYZ GAYTZ letters letters [
Shin Ayin Tet Nun Zayin Gimel Tsade] Each one of these letters contains a Zayin. A TAG is composed of 3 strokes which themselves look like little Zayins. There is a wonderful story in Talmud, which describes Moses ascending to Heaven to find God occupied in affixing TAGGIN to the letters of Torah (Menachot 29b).

[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the… the Gimel as a Tsade or the Tsade as a Gimel (Shabbat 103b).

Zohar - Then appeared the letter
Dalet as well as the letter
Gimel and put forth similar claims [O Lord of the world, may it please Thee to use me first in the creation of the world...]. The Lord gave them a similar reply, saying: It should suffice you to remain side by side together, since “the poor will not cease from the land” (Deuteronomy 15:11), who will thus need benevolence. For the
Dalet signifies poverty (Dalluth) and the Gimel beneficence [Gemulaa]. Therefore separate not from each other, and let it suffice you that one maintains the other (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:3a. p. 12 ).

The Hebrew Letter BEIT

2008-03-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Hebrew Letter
featured is the Beit.

Variant spellings - BET - BETH - BEIS - BAIT

Beit is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet and its numerical value is 2. The meanings of BEIT are HOUSE, HOME, CONTAINER. The
Beit makes a sound like the B in Beautiful.

Torah begins with the letter
Beit. It was chosen for this honor because it is closed on top, bottom and on the right. It is open on the left, the direction of the text, to teach us to look forward and not backward, in our daily lives (Freedman, H. and Simon Maurice Tr. 1983. Genesis Rabbah. New York: Soncino P. 9).

When the time came to create the world all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet presented themselves to God in reverse order. Each one requested that God place it first in creation. God rejected each one in turn. The Beit then entered and suggested that it be put first since it represented the blessings - Brachot. God agree and thus Beit was put first in the creation of the world (Zohar 1978. v.1. TR. Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. London: Soncino. 12).

Beit is female, Aleph, male. As Beit created, so Aleph, produced letters (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).

Rab Hanuna the Venerable said: ‘We find here a reversal of the order of the letters of the Alphabet, the first two words “Bereshith bara” - ”in-the-beginning He-created”-commencing with Beit, whereas the two words following, “Eloheim Et” -”God the”-commence with Aleph (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:2b).

We have been taught that wherever the name Solomon occurs in the Song of Songs, it refers to “the King to whom peace belongs”, while the term “king”, simply, refers to the Female. The lower is contained in the upper, and the mnemonic is that the lower is heir to the upper, so that both are as one, together constituting Beth (=bayith, house), as it is written, “With wisdom a house (bayith) is builded” (Proverbs 24: 3) (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:29a).

I love sitting in the Beit when I meditate. I did that for many years.The Beit made me feel very safe. So whenever I am feeling a little afraid I return to the Beit for that secure feeling. Try it! And let me know how it works for you.

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The Hebrew Letter Aleph

2008-03-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

ALEPH

The Hebrew Letter featured in this piece is the ALEPH.

ALEPH is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of one. The meanings of Aleph are: THOUSAND, MASTER, TEACHING, OX. The Aleph makes no sound. The Aleph is composed of a Vav (6) and 2 Yuds (20). Their combined value is 26 which is the numerical value of the name of God - Yud (10) Hey (5) Vav (6) Hey (5) (Chefitz, Mitchell. 2001. The Seventh Telling. New York: St. Martins Press. 219).

Alef Beth [means] ‘learn wisdom [Alef Binah] (Shabbat 104a).

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I am not called as I am written: I am written with Yud Hey, but I am read, Aleph Dalet [Adonai] (Kiddushim 71a).

The letters of the word for ‘husband’ are Aleph, Yud and Shin, and for ‘wife’ Aleph Shin and Hey. The Yud and Hey form the Divine Name; but if omitted, only Aleph and Shin are left which form the word Esh ‘fire’ (Sotah 17a).

Zohar - The letter Aleph remained in her place without presenting herself. Said the Holy One, blessed be His name: Aleph, Aleph, wherefore comest you not before Me like the rest of the letters? She answered: Because I saw all the other letters leaving Thy presence without any success. What, then, could I achieve there? And further, since Thou have already bestowed on the letter Beth this great gift, it is not meet for the Supreme King to take away the gift which He has made to His servant and give it to another. The Lord said to her: Aleph, Aleph, although I will begin the creation of the world with the Beit, thou wilt remain the first of the letters. My unity shall not be expressed except through you, on you shall be based all calculations and operations of the world, and unity shall not be expressed save by the letter Aleph. Then the Holy One, blessed be His name, made higher-world letters of a large pattern and lower-world letters of a small pattern. It is therefore that we have here two words beginning with Beit(Bereshith bara) and then two words beginning with Aleph(Elohim et). They represent the higher-world letters and the lower-world letters, which two operate, above and below, together and as one’ (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:3a-1:3b p.12-13).

Beit is female, Aleph, male. As Beit created, so “Aleph, produced letters (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).

Sefer Yetzirah
divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers – Aleph
Mem Shin , 7 doubles – Beit Gimel Dalet Kuf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals – Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.

According to Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation., God created the world by means of these letters. The Alephis one of the mothers- that group from which emanated AIR (from Aleph), WATER (from Mem) and FIRE (from Shin). The 3 mothers in the universe are AIR, WATER and FIRE...HEAVEN was created from FIRE, EARTH was created from WATER, and AIR from SPIRIT (WIND) balanced between them. Aleph and Shin spell AISH – FIRE. Aleph represents AIR and
Shin – FIRE. FIRE cannot exist without AIR (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Tr. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 145, 147, 159, 197).

When one is meditating with the Aleph be prepared for hugs. The Aleph loves to give hugs and receive them.

Some of you may read these words and laugh. Silly stories. But I challenge you to spend 5 minutes a day thinking about the letters. Perhaps you could practice drawing one letter for about a minute and then think about it of 4 minutes. See if you can do this every day for a few weeks. And watch what happens. They letters are ALIVE.

Bar Mitzvah

2008-02-11T07:16:00.000-08:00

Bar Mitzvah is from the Hebrew, literally meaning SON OF COMMANDMENT.

Bar Mitzvah means UNDER OBLIGATION (to observe the law) (Alcalay, R. The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary. Jerusalem: Massada. 283).

At the age of 13 one becomes subject to the commandments (Avot 5:21).

When a vow is made by someone age 13 or above, it is a valid vow (JT Yerushalmi Niddah 5:6).

Talmud teaches that when one comes of age one must fast on Yom Kippur. This obligation is required only of adults (Ketubah 50a)

It is not necessary to have a Bar Mitzvah celebration to BE a Bar Mitzvah. The obligations and responsibilities become a man's when he reaches 13 with or without a formal ceremony. Megilla 23a states that even a minor may lay tefillin. In fact (Sukkah 42a teaches that “if a minor know how to wrap himself in the tallit he is subject to the obligation.”

Bat Mitzvah is the time when a boy passes to manhood in the eyes of the community. He is thus allowed to participate in various rituals associated with full membership in the community such as ALIYAH - being called to recite the blessing over the Torah; laying tefillin - worn every weekday morning during services; being counted as one to make up a Minyan - the quorum necessary for community prayer.

The Hebrew Letters featured in this piece are Beit Resh - BAR; and Mem Tsade Vav Hey - MITZVAH.

Beshert - soul mate

2008-01-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

I am new at this blog thing. Have never done it. But friends suggested I start one so that you, my customers, or site visitors, would have easier access to me, Sarahleah. I have posted these two random items. Please let me know what you want me to post, what you would like to see on the site, any questions you would like me to answer, or whatever blogs are used for. I need your help. Teach me about how I can do all this? or more?

Ever wonder about where the word Beshert comes from? We assume it means SOUL MATE, but what else. BESHERT is Yiddish word meaning INEVITABLE, (pre)DESTINED, GIVEN (Weinreich, Uriel. 1968. Modern English-Yiddish Yiddish-English Dictionary New York: McGraw-Hill. 703), or MEANT TO BE.

BESHERT is probably related to the German bestimmt - pronounced beshtimt, meaning DESTINED.

The Hebrew Letters featured in this piece are Beit Aleph Shin Ayin Resh Tet. Taken together, and reading from right to left, they spell BESHERT.