Echad

by Hebrewletters SL

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Price

$500

Dimensions

7.000 x 5.000 inches

Title

Echad

Artist

Hebrewletters SL

Medium

Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper

Description

ECHAD is from the Hebrew, meaning ONE (Alcalay, R. The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary. Jerusalem: Massada. . 55).
EHAD is an Anglicized spelling.

Hebrew Bible source - Hear [Shema], O Israel: The Lord our God [Eloheim], the Lord is one [echad] (Deuteronomy 6:4).

Talmud -
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).
When R. Akiva was taken out for execution, it was the hour for the recital of the Shema, and while they combed his flesh with iron combs, he was accepting upon himself the kingship of heaven [I.e., recited the Shema]. [Lit., ‘when will it come to my hands]. His disciples said to him: Our teacher, even to this point? He said to them: All my days I have been troubled by this verse, ‘with all thy soul,’ [which I interpret,] ‘even if He takes thy soul. I said: When shall I have the opportunity of fulfilling this? Now that I have the opportunity shall I not fulfil it? He prolonged the word Ehad [‘One’ in Hear, O Israel etc] until he expired while saying it. A Bat Kol went forth and proclaimed: Happy art thou, Akiva, that thy soul has departed with the word Ehad! The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He [haKadosh barochu]: Such Torah, and such a reward? [He should have been] from them that die by Thy hand, O Lord (Psalms 17:14).
He replied to them: Their portion is in life. A Bat Kol went forth and proclaimed,Happy art thou, Akiva, that thou art destined for the life of the world to come (Berachot 61b).
Zohar -
‘The Lord will be One, and his Name One’ (Zechariah 14: 9):
Six words above - Shema Israel Tetragrammaton ‘Elohenu’ Tetragrammaton Ehad, corresponding to the six aspects, and six words below – ‘baruk shem kebod malkuto le'olam vaed’ (Blessed be the Name, etc.) - corresponding to the six other aspects. The Lord is one above; and His Name is One below (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 2:134a).
As we have learnt, ‘one’ alludes to above, below, and the four quarters of the universe, these being the supernal Chariot, so that all are embraced in a single unity reaching out to the Ain sof (Infinite). After the recital of ‘Hear, O Israel’ (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino.. 2:216b).

The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are in this painting are Aleph Chet Dalet . Taken together, and reading from right to left, they spell ECHAD.

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.




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).

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.




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.

Uploaded

January 15th, 2019

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