BRIT MILAH bt4 Painting by Hebrewletters SL

BRIT MILAH bt4

by Hebrewletters SL

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Title

BRIT MILAH bt4

Artist

Hebrewletters SL

Medium

Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper

Description

BRIT MILAH is from the Hebrew, meaning COVENANT or TREATY, CIRCUMCISION (Alcalay, R. The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary. Jerusalem: Massada. 293). COVENANT of CIRCUMCISION.

The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting Beit Resh Yud Tav - Mem Yud Lamed Hey. They spell BRIT MILAH, CIRCUMCISION. Taken all together they are translated COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION.

Hebrew Bible source – ‘I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nation. No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.…
But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sara. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year. (Genesis 17:3-6, 15-16, 17-21).

“All the generations, even those unborn, were at Sinai and participated in the covenant making” (Strassfeld, Sharon and Michael Strassfeld. “The Second Jewish Catalogue.” Philadelphia: JPS. 32)

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.

BEIT is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet and its numerical value is 2. The meanings of BEIT are HOUSE, 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.

He [God] made the letter Beit king over wisdom and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
The moon in the Universe
Sunday in the Year
And the seven gates in the Soul male and female
Two eyes, two ears tow nostrils, and the mouth (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 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.

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.

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.
Resh is one of the doubles.

He [God] made the letter Resh king over Peace and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
Saturn in the Universe
Friday in the Year
And the left nostril in the Soul male and female
Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 176).

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.

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. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 216).

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).

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.

TAV is the 22nd letter in Hebrew alphabet - the last letter. It has a numerical value of 400, means MARK, SIGN. In 1500 B.C.E. the Tav was written as an X. Perhaps this contributed to its meaning. Tav makes a sound like the T in Tall. The Tav is composed of a Dalet and a Nun.

Hebrew Bible source - ‘And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark Tav upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof’ (Ezekiel 9:4)

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 Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Tav is one of the doubles.

He [God] made the letter Tav king over Grace and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
Jupiter in the Universe
The Sabbath in the Year
And the mouth in the Soul male and female
Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 176).

“The [Hebrew] letter Tav advanced in front and pleaded: May it please Thee, O Lord of the world, to place me first in the creation of the world, seeing that I am the concluding letter of Emet (Truth) which is engraved upon Thy seal, and seeing that Thou art called by this very name of Emet, it is most appropriate for the King to begin with the final letter of Emet and to create with me the world. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: Thou art worthy and deserving, but it is not proper that I begin with thee the creation of the world, since thou art destined to serve as a mark on the foreheads of the faithful ones (Ezekiel 9:4) who have kept the Law from Aleph Tav, and through the absence of this mark the rest will be killed; and, further, you form the conclusion of MaWeTh (death). Hence thou art not meet to initiate the creation of the world” (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:2b).

Talmud - God said to the Angel Gabriel: ‘Go set a Tav [MARK] on the foreheads of the righteous so that they will be protected’ Shabbat 55a).

The Hebrew letters of EMET [Aleph Mem Tav] are located far apart in the alphabet, 1st, 13th and 22nd respectively, because TRUTH in found infrequently, at elongated intervals (Shabbat 104a).

They used to write a Tav for Teruma! [OFFERING, GIFT, DONATION, CONTRIBUTION] (Yevamoth 115b).

One can think of the following thought in meditation with the Tav. The Hebrew letters of EMET [Aleph Mem Tav] are located far apart in the alphabet, 1st, 13th and 22nd respectively, because TRUTH in found infrequently, at elongated intervals (Shabbat 104a).

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. 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. 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.

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).

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.
Hey is one of the elementals.

He [God] made the letter Hey king over speech and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
Aries in the Universe
Nisan in the Year
And the right foot in the Soul male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 215).

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.