Be Still And Know That I Am God
by Hebrewletters SL
Original - Not For Sale
Price
$950
Dimensions
15.000 x 11.000 inches
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Title
Be Still And Know That I Am God
Artist
Hebrewletters SL
Medium
Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper
Description
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD
HAR-POO OOD-OO KEE - ANOCHI – ELOHEIM, all from the Hebrew.. HAR-POO, (hiphil) TO LET DOWN the hands, TO LEAVE OFF, TO LET GO, LET ALONE, i.e. DO NOTHING, BE QUIET, BE STILL; . OOD-OO, AND KNOW; KEE, THAT; ANOCHI, I AM; ELOHEIM, God.
Hebrew Bible source - BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD (Psalms 46:11).
The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are: Hey Resh Pey Vav - HARPOO - BE STILL; Vav Dalet Ayin Vav - OOD-OO - AND KNOW; Caf Yud - KEE - THAT; Aleph Nun Caf Yud - ANOCHI -I AM; Aleph Lamed Hey Yud Mem. ELOHEIM - GOD Taken together, and reading from right to left, they spell HAR-POO OOD-OO KEE - ANOCHI - ELOHEIM.
Each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet has a special meaning and a story to tell. Here a few brief ones about the letters on this painting.
HEY is the 5th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 5, means BEHOLD and is constructed of a Dalet and a Yud, makes a sound like the H in Happy. Hey appears twice in the Yud Hey Vav Hey Name of God.
The numerical value of the Hey is five, alluding to the five names of the soul Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, Yechidah (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 19).
What is the purpose of the Hey? It is a throne for the Zayin, It is written “for one above the other watches” (Ecclesiastes 5:7) (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 19).
The word ‘Behebaram’ in Genesis 2:4, is usually translated “When they were created. In the Torah scroll the Hey in this word drew attention to itself by being smaller than the rest of the letters in the scroll. What significance did this have for the word ’Behebaram’? If this word could be translated WITH A Hey HE CREATED THEM, then that would mean that God created this world by means of the Hey. God did this because the Hey is closed on 3 sides and open on the 4th. This allows those who wish to deviate from the right path to get out through the open 4th side. On the left there is a little space between the leg and the roof. That is there to allow anyone who wishes to repent, to return through that small (Menachot 29b).
The heavens “are the totality of twenty-two letters”. The letter Hey produced the heavens to give them life and to water them and the earth
(Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).
Hey is the beginning of the Yud Hey Vav Hey meditation. One descends through the Hey, passes through the Vav [sometimes leaving the body safely in the care of the Vav] and continues descending through the second Hey. This an extremely powerful meditation.
Resh is the 20th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 200, makes a sound like the R in Radiant and means BEGINNING or HEAD. When one spells out the letter Resh in Hebrew, it is Resh Yud Shin. Yud and Shin spell Yesh - THERE IS. The letter Resh means BEGINNING. So it is possible to say that the Resh literally means THERE IS A BEGINNING.
The Resh looks very much like the Dalet. The only difference is that the right angle of the Resh is a rounded 45-degree angle. The horizontal line of the Dalet has a little foot that extends backwards toward the Gimel. Talmud cautions us not to mistakenly write the Dalet as a Resh or the Resh as a Dalet (Shabbat 103b).
“Kuf [stands for] Kadosh [holy]; Resh [for] Rasha [wicked]: why is the face of the Kuf averted from, the Resh? The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I cannot look at the wicked. And why is the crown of the Kuf turned toward the Resh? The Holy One, blessed be He, saith: If he repents, I will bind a crown on him like Mine. And why is the foot of the Kuf suspended? [To show] that if he repents, he can enter and be brought in [to God's favor] through this [opening]. This supports Resh Lakish, for Resh Lakish, said: What is meant by, Surely he scorns the scorners, But he giveth grace unto the lowly If one comes to defile himself, he is given an opening; if one comes to cleanse himself, he is helped” (Shabbat 104a).
One method of meditation is called PERMUTATION. This is simply the process of rearranging the order or sequence of the letters. There are extremely complex systems like those developed by the 13th century kabbalist Abulafia. And then there are simple ones. For instance the Resh is spelled Resh Yud Shin. Yud and Shin spell Yesh - THERE IS. The letter Resh means BEGINNING. So it is possible to say that the Resh literally means THERE IS A BEGINNING.
Yesh also means EXISTENCE, SUBSTANCE, BEING, REALITY. How would these words fit with the word BEGIN? The word ROSH – HEAD is closely associated with the Resh. Rosh is spelled Resh Aleph Shin. But if one spells it Aleph Shin Resh it is Asher. Asher means WEALTH, or Shin Resh is MINISTER. The gematria of these of these 3 letters is 510 which is also the gematria for Yenaten - SHALL BE GIVEN. One can spend a lifetime doing this. This can be called FUN.
Pey is the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 80, makes a sound either like the P in Peace or the F in Food, means MOUTH and is constructed of a Caf with a Yud situated at the top and rotated inward.
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.
Pey is one of the doubles.
If one looks carefully at the Pey one can see that there is a Beit, which makes up the empty space within it. The Beit is the first letter of the word Bereshit, IN A BEGINNING, which is the first word of Torah. God opened up God’s MOUTH and out came the Beit, BEGINNING, CREATION.
Pey 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).
I [PEY] signify redemption and deliverance (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:2b).
The bent Pey and the straight Pey [intimate] an open mouth Pey], a closed mouth (Shabbat 104a).
The medial (bent) Pey is almost closed. ‘A time to keep silence, and a time to speak’ (Ecclesiastes 3:7) (Shabbat 104a).
[The writing of the letters] must be ‘kethibah tammah’ [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the… Tet as a Pey or the Pey as a Tet Shabbat 103b).
Meditating in the Beit, which is inside the Pey, is like being in the vortex of creation. “God opened up God’s MOUTH [Pey] and out came the Beit,” BEGINNING, CREATION. I feel in meditation that I am in the primordial mix. It is a feeling of being one with everything and one with anothingness at the same time. Ain Sof. There is power here.
AYIN is the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 70 makes no sound, and means EYE or FOUNTAIN.
The Ayin is constructed of an elongated Yud (10) on the right and a Zayin (7) on the left.
In the alphabet the letter Samech is followed by the Ayin]. Samech Ayin [means] support [Semak] the poor [aniyim] (Shabbat t 104a).
In the alphabet the letter Ayin is followed by the letter Pey. But in (Lamentations 3:36-41; and Lamentations 4:16-17), which are written as an alphabetical acrostic, Pey (which means MOUTH) is placed before the Ayin (which means EYE). This is because when the spies went into the promised land they spoke with their mouths what they had not seen with their eyes (Sanhedrin 104b).
[The writing of the letters] must be ‘kethibah tammah’ [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the Aleph as an Ayin, the Ayin as an Aleph, (Shabbat 103b).
The Ayin 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.
Ayin 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).
The Ancient Holy One is called Ayin (nothing) (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 3:158b).
Wisdom was completed from Ayin (nothing) (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).
In meditation one can sit in the elongated arc of Ayin, on the right, and the Zayin, arm, on the left, curves around to hold one in place. It feels very safe and secure. When you are firmly settled Ayin will rock you gently.
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).
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.
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 consists of two lines, one from right to left on top. And the other straight down on the right side. The first line connects Dalet - Wisdom to Chesed - Love while the second line connects Chochma [ Wisdom] to Chesed. The vowel associated with Chochma [Wisdom] is a Petrach while Segol is associated with Chesed. The word Dalet means DOOR, while the word Petach means OPENING. Since Chochma [Wisdom] represents our high perception of the Divine, it is the opening of God that enables Him revealing Himself. Segol is related to the word Segula, a remedy that works for no apparent reason. Segol thus parallels the giving of Chesed, which gives freely, even without reason (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 113).
Talmud -
Gimel Dalet, show kindness to the Poor [Gemol Dallim]. Why is the foot of the Gimel stretched toward the Dalet? Because it is fitting for the benevolent to run after [seek out] the poor. And why is the roof of the Dalet stretched out toward the Gimel? Because he [the poor] must make himself available to him. And why is the face of the Dalet turned away from the Gimel? Because he must give him [help] in secret, lest he be ashamed of him. (Shabbat 104a).
It has been taught: Symmachus says: Whoever prolongs the word ehad [one]. has his days and years prolonged. R. Aha b. Jacob said: [He must dwell] on the Dalet (Brachot 13b).
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).
Abaye also said: The Dalet of tefillin is a halachah of Moses at Sinai (Shabbat 62a)
Zohar
The conjunction of the two letters Gimel and Dalet, Gimel is giving and Dalet is receiving (Zohar . 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; and Atzilut, the World of Emanation; four souls associated with the four worlds are Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya; four letters in the name of God; Yud Hey Vav Hey; and four cups of wine at the Passover Seder.
When the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to make the world, all the letters of the Alphabet were still embryonic, and for two thousand years the Holy One, blessed be He, had contemplated them and toyed with them. When He came to create the world, all the letters presented themselves before Him in reversed order. ... Then appeared the letter Dalet as well as the letter Gimel and put forth similar claims. 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 (Gemul). 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. 1:2b - 3a. p. 12).
Dalet presents itself to me as a door in meditation. It is always very interesting to see where I am when I open the door. Sometimes I am by the ocean, sometimes in a garden and sometimes in other places. Let me know where you end up when you meditate with the Dalet.
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.
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. 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.
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.
Menachot 29b teaches that the WORLD TO COME was created by use of the letter Yud.
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).
[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).
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 thing of sitting still.
If you enter meditation and the Yud comes to you, ask Yud a question and wait for the answer. Amazing results. The
Yud is also capable of taking you anywhere in the Universe. Give it a try and let me know the results.
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 Tellin. New York: St. Martins Press. 219).
Talmud -
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 Yud Hey Aleph Dalet [Adonai] (Kiddushin 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 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 -
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).
NUN is the 14th letter, has a numerical value of 50, makes a sound like the N, means SHINE, SPOUT, SPREAD in 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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