AVENU AMLKENU hh1
by Hebrewletters SL
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Title
AVENU AMLKENU hh1
Artist
Hebrewletters SL
Medium
Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper
Description
Avenu Malkenu
As first our relationship with God was Malkenu - our King - a sovereign above us. Should we sing to Malkenu, it would be with trepidation, lest our voices not be found suitable, and we, as subjects, be dismissed. After two thousand years have passed, and our relationship to God grew beyond Malkenu to Avinu - our Father - a parent who watched over us in love. Should we sing to ‘Avinu Malkenu’, it would be with the awe reserved for a king balanced by the love we feel for a parent. Another two thousand years have passed, and our relationship has evolved still further, from Malkenu to Avinu and now from our Parent to our Partner. When we sing Avinu Malkenu,on the days of awe, arms linked, as a congregation, we acknowledge our partnership with God in the process of creation, a new model for the new millennium From the teachings of Mitchell Chefitz, author The Seventh Telling. http://amzn.to/2wEpTNt ,
The Thiry-third Hour http://amzn.to/2j3T33B , The Curse of Blessings http://amzn.to/2eJR5o2 , White Fire http://amzn.to/2eKQEK0 and Blood Covenant http://amzn.to/2eKayF6 .
Do you imagine that it is the Holy One who writes in the Book of Life? The Holy One does no more than open it. You do the writing. The Book of Life is opened on Rosh Ha Shannah and closed on Yom Kippur. While it is open, sit with pen and paper and begin to write: "I have been privileged to live to see this year, but there is no certainty that I will live to see the next, so I sit down to write into the Book of Life and leave these words to you." Write to your parents, your children, your spouse, your siblings. Seal your words and put them away until next Rosh Hashanah. Then read what you wrote, and replace it with yet another entry in the Book of Life (From the teachings of Mitchell Chefitz, author The Seventh Telling. http://amzn.to/2wEpTNt ,
The Thiry-third Hour http://amzn.to/2j3T33B , The Curse of Blessings http://amzn.to/2eJR5o2 , White Fire http://amzn.to/2eKQEK0 and Blood Covenant http://amzn.to/2eKayF6 .
Teshuvah is the response from an agency outside of oneself to the question, "Where do I go from here?" Just as a magnet suspended receives a response from an agency outside of itself in its quest for direction, so on Yom Kippur we suspend ourselves and ask for Teshuvah -- a response. How should we turn? The response is always given. Are we willing to be moved by it? Mitchell Chefitz, 2001. The Seventh Telling. http://amzn.to/2wEpTNt New York: St. Martin's Press.
The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are Aleph Beit Yud Nun Vav the first word, AVINU, our FATHER; and Mem Lamed Caf Nun Vav in the second word - MALKENU - our KING.
Each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet has a special meaning and a story to tell. Here are a few short ones about the letters in this painting.
ALEPH is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of one, meanings are: THOUSAND, MASTER, TEACHING, OX and 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).
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories:
3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin,
7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav
and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Zayin Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Aleph is one of the mothers. (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. http://amzn.to/2fj0sYO York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 159, 162, 174, 175).
The Soncino Hebrew - English Talmud. 1990. http://amzn.to/2wBfsIT -
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Aleph Beit [means] learn wisdom [Aleph Binah]. Aleph, learn and Binah, wisdom (Shabbat 104a)
The Holy One, blessed be He [haKadosh barochu, said: I am not called as I am written: I am written with Aleph Dalet Nun Yud [Adonai] (Kiddushin http://amzn.to/2wBfsIT 71a).
There are Names which may be erased, and there are Names which may not be erased. These are the Names which may not be erased, such as: Eloha, Elohim, your God, I am that I am, (Aleph Dalet Yud Hey [Adonai], Shaddai, Zebaot . These may not be erased because they are not used solely of the Deity, and are therefore not sacred.
ehyeh asher ehyeh [Aleph Hey Yud Hey, Aleph Shin Resh, Hey Yud Hey] (Shavuot http://amzn.to/2wBfsIT 35a).
The Hebrew letters of the word for husband are Aleph Yud Shin, and for wife, Aleph Shin 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 http://amzn.to/2x13kTa
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 Beit 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 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).
When one is meditating with the Aleph be prepared for hugs. The Aleph loves to give hugs and receive them.
BEIT is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, its numerical value is 2,means HOUSE, HOME, CONTAINER and makes a sound like the B in Beautiful.
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories:
3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin,
7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav
and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Zayin Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Beit is one of the doubles.
God made the Beit king over Wisdom
God formed the moon in the Universe
Sunday in the year
And right eye in the Soul
(Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters: Sefer Otiyot. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing. 174).
Midrash - 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 9).
Talmud -
R. Hisda also said: The writing of the Tables could be read from within and without, e.g., nebub [hollow] would be read buban behar, [in the mountain] [as] rahab; saru [they departed] [as] waras. The Rabbis told R. Joshua b. Levi: Children have come to the Beth Hamidrash and said things the like of which was not said even in the days Joshua the son Nun. [Thus:] Aleph Beit means learn wisdom. [Aleph means learn and Beit [Binah] means wisdom] (Shabbat 104a).
When he [a 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, the letters ] 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’ (Berachot 31a).
[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the… the Beit as a Caf, or the Caf as a Beit (Shabbat 103b).
Zohar -
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).
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 E” -”God the ” -commence with Aleph (Zohar Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:2b).
Afterwards the letters were distinguished and inscribed in the Scripture-beth in Bereshith bara, and aleph in Elohim eth. Beth is female, Aleph male. As Beit created, so Aleph produced letters. “The heavens” are the totality of twenty-two letters. (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).
‘He who wishes to enter into my presence must first of all pass through that gate. So here the first gate to super-Wisdom is the fear of God; and this is what is meant by reshith (beginning). The letter Beit (=2) indicates two things joined together, namely two points, one shrouded in mystery and one capable of being revealed; and as they are inseparable they therefore are both joined in the single term reshith (beginning), i.e. they are one and not two, and he who takes away the one takes away the other as well’ (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:7b).
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 Beit (=baith house), as it is written, “With wisdom [Hachma] he will build a house (Beit) ” (Proverbs 24:3; Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:29a).
The first word in Torah is Bereshit which t means IN A BEGINNING. If you divide Bereshit into bara and sheet it means HE CREATED SIX [sheet is 6 in Aramaic] Six what? The 6 days in which creation was completed? (Zohar. 1984 Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:3b. 13). Six directions? East, West, North, South, Up, down?
The first letter to come to me in meditation was the Beit. For years I sat in the Beit as I meditated. It is a safe place.
YUD is the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 10, means HAND, makes a sound like the Y in Year and is a simple point. It is the smallest letter in the alphabet and yet is frequently associated with the very large concept of EMANATION, the highest level in the Four World paradigm of Kabbalah.
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories:
3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin,
7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav
and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Zayin Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Yud is one of the elementals.
He [God] made the letter Yud king over action and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
Vergo in the Universe
Elul in the Year
And the left hand in the Soul male and female
Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. http://amzn.to/2fj0sYO York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 216).
Menachot 29b teaches that the WORLD TO COME was created by use of the letter Yud
[The writing of the letters] must be ‘kethibah tammah’ [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the… Vav as a Yud or the Yud as a Vav Shabbat 103b).
[Zayyin Chet Tet Yud Kaf Lamed]: [this sequence teaches,] and if thou doest thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, will sustain[ Zan] thee, be gracious [Hen] unto thee, show goodness [Metiv] to thee, give thee a heritage [Yerushah], and bind a crown [Keter] on thee in the world to come (Shabbat 104a).
Yud has the important job of being the first letter of the Tetragrammaton - Yud Hey Vav Hey. Zohar states that, in this context, the Yud represents the head of all creatures (Zohar. 1984 Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 3:130).
In the Sephrotic tree the Yud symbolizes WISDOM - the stage of concealment which precedes its development into a state of expansion in UNDERSTANDING. It is then contained and represented in the letter Hey (Zalman, Shneur. 1981. "Igeret Hateshuvah." Likkutei Amarim - Tanya. Brooklyn: Kihot. 359).
Generally speaking, the Yud is associated with some form of spirituality. In the four world paradigm the Yud corresponds with the level of Atzilut - Emanation; the first Hey with Beriyah, Creation, the Vav with Yetzirah - Formation and the second Hey with the world of Asiyah, Action.
When meditating with the Yud, the Yud presents itself right in front of me. It then enters into me right away filling me with a most peaceful feeling. I like to sit with this feeling as long as I can. When I think of the YUD I think of sitting still.
VAV is the 6th letter, has a numerical value of 6, is constructed of a single vertical line, means HOOK and makes a sound like the V in Victory. When used as a vowel, Vav can sound like a long `o’ or a long `u.’ Translated it means AND. It is the GREAT CONNECTOR. Vav appears in the Four Letter name of God - Yud Hey Vav Hey.
“VAV is the sound if beiing joined. And VAV is a the sound of and. One and another” (Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters: Sefer Otiyot.Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing. 35).
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories:
3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin,
7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav
and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Zayin Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Vav is one of the elementals.
God made the Vav king over thought
God formed Taurus in the Universe
Ivar in the year
And right kidney in the Soul
(Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters: Sefer Otiyot. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing. 215).
The 6 Sephirot represented by the Vav are - Chesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 146-172).
What does the letter VAV resemble? It is alluded to in the verse “He spreads out light like a garment” (Psalms 104:5). For VAV is nothing other than six directions [ east, west, north south, up and down]? (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 30).
The first word in Torah is Bereshit which t means IN A BEGINNING. If you divide Bereshit into bara and sheet it means HE CREATED SIX [sheet is 6 in Aramaic] Six what? The 6 days in which creation was completed? (Zohar . 1984 Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:3b. 13).
When used as a vowel, Vav can sound like a long `o’ or a long `u.’ Translated it means AND. It is the GREAT CONNECTOR. Vav appears in the Four Letter name of God - Yud Hey Vav Hey
“VAV is the sound if beiing joined. And VAV is a the sound of and. One and another” (Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters: Sefer Otiyot.Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing. 35).
In meditation, the Vav is a place where you can leave your body in order to descend to a deeper place.
NUN is the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 50, makes a sound like the N in Now, and means SHINE, SPOUT, SPREAD in Hebrew and FISH in Aramaic. The Nun has the head of a Zayin. The body is an elongated Zayin.
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories:
3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin,
7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav
and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Zayin Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Nun is one of the elementals.
He [God] made the letter Nun king over smell and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
Scopio in the Universe
Chesvan in the Year
And the intestine in the Soul male and female
Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. http://amzn.to/2fj0sYO York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 217).
The Nun is one of 5 letters: [Caf Mem Nun Pey Tsade] that have 2 forms - the regular [bent] form used in the beginning and middle of a word and the FINAL FORM,- SOFIT, used as the last letter of a word (Shabbat 4a).
According to the ancient kabbalistic text The Bahir, the bent Nun represents the spinal cord through which the body is fed by the brain (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir . York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 31).
The final Nun represents, by its shape, man who walks erect, and who mystically combines male and female (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:18b-19a. 80).
Nun 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 [Shin, Ayin, Tet, Nun, Zayin, Gimmel, and 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:
Rab Judah said in the name of Rab, When Moses ascended on high he found the Holy One, blessed be He, engaged in affixing coronets to the letters. [These are the Taggin, i.e., three small strokes written on top of the letters Shatnayz Gaytz in the form of a crown (Menachoth 29b).
Ashre, [Psalm 145:1-21), which is arranged alphabetically, save that the verse beginning with the letter Nun (N) is missing. R. Johanan says: Why is there no Nun in Ashre? [Because the fall of the enemies of Israel begins with it [Nephilim]. For it is written: Fallen is ‘nefal’ [Nun Pey Lamed], the virgin of Israel, she shall no more rise (Amos 5:2). R. Nachman b. Isaac says: Even so, David refers to it by inspiration [Literally ‘the Holy Spirit’]. The meaning is, David knew by inspiration that Amos was going to prophesy the downfall of Israel, and he refers to that verse and prophesies their being raised up again, [though their downfall is not mentioned by David] and promises them an uplifting. For it is written: The Lord upholdeth all that fall (Psalm 145:14; Berachot 4b).
Abaye said: he should eat fish, for Samuel said, Nun Samech Ayin [read] ‘Nuna’ [fish] ‘sama’ [are a healing] ‘la-enayim’ [to the eyes]! - That is at the end of the illness [Three letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order] (Nedarim 54b).
The Nun represents nourishment or nurturing tome. It is a gentle letter. In meditation this letter is generally stationary for me. If I want to travel around there are many other letters, Aleph Tet Caf Lamed Mem, to mention just a few. But if I want to be quiet and feel at peace, I ask the NUN to come. I sit in the curve, my head nestled under its head, and it rocks me with tenderness. It soothes my emotions and SHINES through me.
MEM is the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet , has a numerical value of 40, makes a sound like the M in Middle. But according to the ancient kabbalistic text ‘Sefer Yetzirah,’ the MEM hummmmmms! Mem is composed of a Caf (20) and a Vav (6) = 26, which have the same GEMATRIA as the Four letter name of God, Yud (10) Hey(5) Vav (6) Hey (5) = 26, the holiest of God's Names.
Mem is usually associated with the word mayim - WATER or Eemah - MOTHER.
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories:
3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin,
7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav
and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Zayin Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Mem is one of the mothers.
He [God] made the letter Mem king over Water and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
Earth in the Universe
Cold in the Year
And the belly in the Soul male and female
Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. http://amzn.to/2fj0sYO York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 154).
Tradition tells us that the engraving of the letters of the 10 commandments went all the way through the tablets, from the front side to the back side. Therefore the final Mem since it is completely closed, should have fallen out. . Because it did not, R. Hisda said that it stood there be means of a miracle (Shabbat 104a).
The Mem is one of the 5 letters [Caf Mem Nun Pey Tsade] that have 2 forms - the regular [bent] form used in the beginning and middle of a word and the FINAL FORM, ‘Sofit’, used as the last letter of a word (Shabbat 4a).
One form is used in the beginning and the middle of a word - the open Mem. The other form is at the end of the word - the closed Mem. According to Talmud, the open Mem represents revealed teaching and the closed Mem represents concealed teaching (Shabbat 104a).
It must be ‘kethibah tammah’ [perfect writing]; the Mem as a Samech or the Mem as a Mem, closed [letters] open or open letters closed (Shabbat 103b).
Sometimes when I meditate with this letter, the Mem acts like sort of a submarine for me. At other times I can breathe under water. Nice. Let me know how you do.
Lamed is the 12th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 30, makes a sound like the L in Like, Lamed means both TO LEARN and TO TEACH.
The Lamed is the tallest and most majestic of all the letters. Indeed Rashi interprets A TOWER FLYING IN THE AIR (Hagigah 15b) - as applying to the upper stroke of the Lamed. The Lamed is generally considered to be constructed of a Caf (20) with a Vav (6). In this configuration the LAMED has a GEMATRIA of 26 - the same as that of the Yud (10) Hey(5) Vav (6) Hey (5) name of God (Haralick, Robert M. 1995. The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters. Northvale: Jason Aronson. 180)
Since LAMED means LEARNING, it would seem that this would constitute a direct connection between LAMED, LEARNING and GOD.
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories:
3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin,
7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav
and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Zayin Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Lamed is one of the elementals.
He [God] made the letter Lamed king over coition and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
Libra in the Universe
Tishrei in the Year
And the gall bladder in the Soul male and female
Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. http://amzn.to/2fj0sYO York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 217).
The ‘ziz’ was the name of the headplate worn by the High Priest, (Exodus 28:36). The headplate was a kind of golden plate two fingerbreadths broad, and it stretched round [the forehead] from ear to ear, and upon it was written in two lines ‘ Yud Hey [Divine Name] above and ‘Holy Lamed’ [Holy unto] below (Shabbat 63b).
[Zayyin Chet Tet Yud Kaf Lamed]: [this sequence teaches,] and if thou doest thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, will sustain[ Zan] thee, be gracious [Hen] unto thee, show goodness [Metiv] to thee, give thee a heritage [Yerushah], and bind a crown [Keter] on thee in the world to come (Shabbat 104a).
R. Nehemiah said, ‘In the case of every word which requires a Lamed at the beginning [to indicate direction] Scripture has placed a Hey’ at the end’ (Yevamoth 13b).
Lamed is the second letter of the third word , Eloheim, meaning GOD.
Considering the majesty of this letter, I must admit my meditations are very undignified. I usually ride the Lamed as one would a horse if one were a very bad rider - sitting on the curve and hold onto its neck. Let me know about yours.
CAF is the 11th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 20, means PALM OF THE HAND, SPOON, CONTAINER and stands for bent objects. When the Caf has a dot in it, Caf makes a sound like the K in Kitchen. Without the dot it makes a sound similar to that made by the letter Chet. When functioning as a prefix CAF can mean AS, LIKE, WHEN, AT, ABOUT or ACCORDING TO.
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories:
3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin,
7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav
and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Zayin Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Caf is one of the doubles.
He [God] made the letter Caf king over Life and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
Venus in the Universe
Wednesday in the Year
And the right nostril in the Soul male and female
Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. http://amzn.to/2fj0sYO York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 175).
The Caf is one of 5 letters: [Caf Mem Nun Pey Tsade] that have 2 forms - the regular [bent] form used in the beginning and middle of a word and the FINAL FORM, SOFIT, used as the last letter of a word (Shabbat 4a
[The writing of the letters] must be ‘kethibah tammah’ [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the… Beit as a Caf, or the Caf as a Beit (Shabbat 103b).
The word CAF first appears in Torah in Genesis 32:26 when Jacob wrestles with the Angel. CAF is the HALLOW or CONTAINER for Jacob's hip bone. Isaiah 49:16 - ‘I have engraved you on the KAPHIAM’ - PALMS of My Hands.
In Shabbat 104a there is a homiletic interpretation of the names of the Hebrew letters. Here the CAF is linked with the word KETER- CROWN. This passage states that if one masters UNDERSTANDING - ALUF BENAH (ALUF – MASTER, BENAH – UNDERSTANDING) and gives to the poor GAMOL DALEEM (GAMOL – REWARD, DALEEM – POOR) then the Holy One…will…bind a CROWN – KETER upon you for the World to Come.
At that moment, the Caf descended from its throne of glory and quaking and trembling said: O Lord of the universe, may it please Thee to begin through me the creation of the world, seeing that I am Thine own ‘Cavod’ (honour). And when Caf descended from its throne of glory, two hundred thousand worlds began to shake, the throne trembled, and all the worlds quaked and were about to fall in ruins. Said to her the Holy One, blessed be His Name: Caf, Caf, what do thou here? I will not create the world with thee. Go back to thy place, since thou stand for extermination (Kelayah). Return, then, to thy place and remain there. Immediately she departed and returned to her own place. O Lord of the universe, may it please Thee to begin through me the creation of the world, seeing that I [Caf] am Thine own ‘Kavod’ (honor) Zohar . 1984 Tr. Harry Sperling et al. http://amzn.to/2x13kTa New York: Soncino.
1:6a).
When sitting in the Caf, which means PALM OF THE HAND, I feel like I am being held in the PALM of the Universe. Very comforting.
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