Boy And Shma Shema

by Hebrewletters SL

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Price

$950

Dimensions

14.500 x 11.000 inches

Title

Boy And Shma Shema

Artist

Hebrewletters SL

Medium

Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper

Description

SHEMA is from the Hebrew, meaning HEAR, LISTEN (Alcalay, R. The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary. Jerusalem: Massada. 2660).
SHEMA is the first word of Deuteronomy 6: 4, which is the closest thing that there is to a Jewish confession of faith (Birnbaum, Philip. 1995. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. 306).

Hebrew Bible Name - Shema was a son of Hebron, brother of Korach, Tappuah, and Rekem, father of Raham, grandfather of Jorkoam, and uncle of Shammai (1 Chronicles 2:43-44).

The Hebrew letters sums up the first and second commandments: Hear O Israel, the Lord [Yud Hey Vav Hey] is our God, the Lord [Yud Hey Vav Hey] is One.
The Mishnah is a compendium of Jewish law compiled by Judah ha Nasi at the beginning of this era. In this work the reciting of the Shema morning and evening is discussed as an established custom. The Mishnah refers to the reciting of the SHMA as the acceptance of the yoke of kingdom of heaven (Mishnah Berachot 2:5; (Birnbaum, Philip. 1995. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. 306).

The reciting of the Shema includes three bible passages: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 11: 13-21, and Numbers 15: 37-41. It offers praises, reminds us to heed the commandments and teach our children. In fact the verse Deuteronomy 6:7 commands us to teach the commandments. The Hebrew word in sentence is translated as TEACH is shenantam, from shanan meaning TO INCULCATE, TO TEACH, TO REPEAT. This word means also TO SHARPEN, as in to sharpen a sword or an arrow. TO ENGRAVE! It is a powerful word and used to convey the importance of learning. Deuteronomy is said to have been promulgated during the reign of Josiah (632-609) B.C.E.), this tradition of study is thousands of years old.

Babylonian Talmud - R. Hama b. Hanina said: If one in reciting the Shema pronounces the letters distinctly, hell is cooled for him (Berachot 15b).
It has been taught: ‘Symmachus’ says: Whoever prolongs the word echad [one] has his days and years prolonged. R. Aha b. Jacob said: [He must dwell] on the Dalet [because the word does not mean ‘one’ till he comes to the Dalet. R. Ashi said: Provided he does not slur over the Chet [by omitting its vowel and so make the when word meaningless]. R. Jeremiah was once sitting before R. Hiyya b. Abba, and the latter saw that he was prolonging [the word echad] very much. He said to him: Once you have declared Him king over [all that is] above and below and over the four quarters of the ‘heaven, no more is required (Berachot 13b).

Yerushalmi Talmud A. We learned, One who recites the Shema in the morning must mention the exodus from Egypt in [the blessing which follows the Shema and begins with the words] ‘True and Right.’
B. Rabbi says, ‘One must mention [God's ] kingship in [that paragraph].’
C. Others say miracles of the] splitting of the sea and the smiting of the first-born (JT Berakhot 1:5, IV.A-C, p.57).



The first person Sh'ma
From the teachings of Mitchell Chefitz, author The Seventh Telling, The Thiry-third Hour, The Curse of Blessings, White Fire and Blood Covenant:
Pay Attention. It is my obligation (to meditate on) Adonai my God, Adonai who is one. Blessed is the Name of Glory, whose kingdom is throughout space and time. I shall love Adonai, my God, with all my heart, with all my life, with all I have, and these words which I am commanded, at this Adonai moment, are on my heart. I shall sharpen my children in them. I shall speak of them when I sit in my house, when I walk in the world, when I lie down at night, when I rise in the morning. I shall bind them as a reminder on my arm. They shall be as guideposts between my eyes. I shall mark them on the doorposts where I live and where I do business so that I might remember that I might do all according to Your will, so that I might be holy to my God. You are (after all) Adonai, my God, who brought me out from the tightest of places to relate to me as a God. You are Adonai, my God, And that's the truth [Emet].

The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are in this painting are Shin Mem Ayin - Yud Shin Resh Aleph Lamed - Yud Hey Vav Hey - Aleph Lamed Hey Nun Vav - Yud Hey Vav Hey - Aleph Chet Dalet. Taken together they spell SHEMA.

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.




SHIN is the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 300, SHIN TOOTH, YEAR, REPEAT, TEACH. Shin makes the sound SHHHHHH when the DOT is on the right, and SSSS when the DOT is on the left.

There are differing opinions about which components make up the Shin. Kushner states that the Vav makes up the right arm, the Zayin the left, and Yud the middle. In Haralick’s opinion, the Yud is on the right, the Zayin on the left and the Yud in the middle. It is the view of Ginsburgh that the Shin is composed of 3 Vavs, each with a little Yud on its top. So, to make this letter your own, it will be necessary to take it into meditation and come to your own conclusion (Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters.. Woodstock: Jewish Lights. 72; Haralick, Robert. 1995. The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters.. Northvale: Jason Aronson. 299; Ginsburgh, Yitzchak. 1990. The Hebrew Letters. Jerusalem: Gai Einai. 313).

Shin 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).

Sepher Yitzirah 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 Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf. According to the text, God created the world by means of these letters. The Shin is 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 (Sepher Yitzirah. TR. Aryeh Kaplan. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 145, 147, 159, 197).

The Hebrew 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).

A NIGGUN is a holy TUNE. Meditative chanting is softly singing a NIGGUN over and over again. In this case one could chant the word SHALOM.
But sometimes the Shin takes me for a ride. The middle yud bends over to make a seat and I steer with the left and right Yuds. The Shin loves to race the jet skis in the ocean. Especially since we always win.





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.




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.


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.







SHIN is the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 300, means TOOTH, YEAR, REPEAT, TEACH. Shin makes the sound SHHHHHH when the DOT is on the right, and SSSS when the DOT is on the left.

There are differing opinions about which components make up the Shin. Kushner states that the Vav makes up the right arm, the Zayin the left, and Yud the middle. In Haralick’s opinion, the Yud is on the right, the Zayin on the left and the Yud in the middle. It is the view of Ginsburgh that the Shin is composed of 3 Vavs, each with a little Yud on its top. So, to make this letter your own, it will be necessary to take it into meditation and come to your own conclusion (Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters.. Woodstock: Jewish Lights. 72; Haralick, Robert. 1995. The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters.. Northvale: Jason Aronson. 299; Ginsburgh, Yitzchak. 1990. The Hebrew Letters. Jerusalem: Gai Einai. 313).

Shin 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).

Sepher Yitzirah 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 Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf. According to the text, God created the world by means of these letters. The Shin is 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 (Sepher Yitzirah. TR. Aryeh Kaplan. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 145, 147, 159, 197).

The Hebrew 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).

A NIGGUN is a holy TUNE. Meditative chanting is softly singing a NIGGUN over and over again. In this case one could chant the word SHALOM.
But sometimes the Shin takes me for a ride. The middle yud bends over to make a seat and I steer with the left and right Yuds. The Shin loves to race the jet skis in the ocean. Especially since we always win.



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.










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).

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



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, which is the eleventh letter to make her debut in the Bible.
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 hose if one were a very bad rider - sitting on the curve and hold onto its neck. Let me know about yours.


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 any where in the Universe. Give it a try and let me know the results.


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.


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.




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.




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.



CHET is the 8th letter of the alphabet and has a numerical value of 8, is pronounced like the CH in BaCH. Kushner's description is the best that I have found of what is necessary to create the sound of Chet . It is the "top of your throat and the bottom of your throat fighting against one another” (Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters: Sefer Otiyot.Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing. 39).

Usually the Chet is composed of 2 Zayins. But the 16th century kabbalist master, Luria, stated that the Chet consists of a Vav on the right and a Zayin on the left. Each Hebrew letter has a numerical value. GEMATRIA is the numerical manipulation of the values of the letter to explain the meaning of a word or phrase. The combined value of the Vav (6) and Zayin (7) is 13 which is the value of the word ECHAD - Aleph Chet Dalet (4) = 13. ECHAD means ONE. It is also the highest prime denominator of the name of God - Yud (10) Hey(5) Vav (6) Hey (5) = 26 =13 = ONE.

Talmud teaches that if one learns UNDERSTANDING and performs acts of LOVINGKINDNESS for the poor, then God will look upon the person with Chen spelled Chet Nun with FAVOR, GRACE (Shabbat 104a).

[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the… the Chet as a Hey or the Hey as a Chet (Shabbat 103b).
Zayyin Heth Heth Yod 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).

Mishneh Torah is a major halachic (law) work written by Maimonides. In it Rambam explains that there are 10 levels of ANGELS. The Hayyot [Chet Yud Vav Tav] HA KODESH are above all the others. The word Hayyot begins with a Chet and is related to the word Chai [Chet Yud] - LIFE (Mishneh Torah 1981. Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 2:7. Tr. Moses Hyamson. New York: Feldheim. 36a).

In meditation the letter Chet frequently presents itself as a door way. It is safe to go through this particular doorway because it is constructed of a Vav and a Zayin, which, by virtue of their numerical value, allude to the name of God as explained above. It is also possible to ask for an ANGEL to guide one when passing through Chet.



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).

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).

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.

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March 22nd, 2018

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