ELITZEDEK nm11-2
by Hebrewletters SL
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7.000 x 5.000 inches
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Title
ELITZEDEK nm11-2
Artist
Hebrewletters SL
Medium
Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper
Description
ELITZEDEK is from the Hebrew, meaning MY GOD IS JUST (Kolatch, Alfred J. 1984. The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names. Middle Village: Jonathan David. 79).
ELITZEDEK is composed of three Hebrew elements: EL, meaning GOD (Alcalay, R. The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary Jerusalem: Massada. 90); and TZEDEK meaning RIGHTEOUSNESS, JUSTICE, STRAIGHTNESS, TRUE (Alcalay, R. The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary. Jerusalem: Massada. 2155).
ELITZEDEK –MY GID IS RIGHTEOUS.
The Yud at the end of EL indicates first person possession.
Hebrew Bible sources – ‘‘The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God [eli] my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower (Psalms 18: 2).
‘Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou might be justified when thou speak, and be righteous [tzadak] when thou judge’ (Psalms 51:4).
‘The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous [tzadku] altogether’ (Psalms 19:9).
Talmud -
Simeon the Just [Tzadik] was the Kohen Gadol at the beginning of the Second Temple period; the eighth Kohen Gadol after Yehoshua b. Yehotzadak; he is among the survivors of the ‘Men of the Great Assembly. A group of 120 sages who led the Jewish people at the beginning of the second temple era (Frieman, Shulamis. 1995. Who's Who in the Talmud Northvale: Jason Aronson Inc. 293).
‘Simeon the Just’ - R. [Shimon ha Tzadik] said: ‘Upon three things the world is based: upon the Torah, upon the Temple Service, and upon the practice of lovingkindness’ (Avot D Rabbi Natan 4:1, 19b).
The twenty-fifth of ‘Tebeth’ is the day on which the Cutheans demanded the House of our God from Alexander ,the Macedonian, so as to destroy it, and he had given them the permission, whereupon some people came and informed Simeon the Just R. [Shimon ha Tzadik] ‘What did the latter do? He put on his priestly garments, robed himself in priestly garments, some of the noblemen of Israel went with him carrying fiery torches in their hands, they walked all the night, some walking on one side and others on the other side, until the dawn rose. When the dawn rose he [Alexander] said to them: Who are these [the Samaritans]? They answered: The Jews who rebelled against you. As he reached Antipatris, the sun having shone forth, they met. When he saw Simeon the Just, he descended from his carriage and bowed down before him. They said to him: A great King like yourself should bow down before this Jew? He answered: His image it is which wins for me in all my battles. He said to them: What have you come for? They said: Is it possible that star-worshippers should mislead you to destroy the House wherein prayers are said for you and your kingdom that it be never destroyed! He said to them: Who are these? They said to him: These are Cutheans who stand before you. He said: They are delivered into your hand. And that day they made a festive day (Yoma 69a).
In the year in which Simeon the Just [Shimon ha Tzadik] died, he foretold them that he would die. They said to him, ‘Whence do you know it?’ He replied. ‘Every Day of Atonement there met me an old man, dressed in white and wrapped in white, who entered with me [into the Holy of Holies] and left with me; but this year there met me an old man, dressed in black and wrapped in black, who entered with me but did not leave with me.’ After the Festival of Tabernacles [Sukkot] he was ill for seven days and then died (Menachot 109b).
The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are Aleph Lamed Yud Tsade Dalet Kuf. Taken together, and reading from right to left, they spell ELITZEDEK.
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).
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories:
3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin,
7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav
and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Zayin Tet Zayin Yud Zayin Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Aleph is one of the mothers.
He [God] made the letter Aleph king over Breath and he bound a crown to it…
And then He formed
Air in the Universe
The tempture in the Year
And the chest in the Soul male and female
Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 152).
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.
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.
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.
TSADE is the 18th letter, sounds like T and S pronounced at the same time, is constructed of 2 letters - an elongated and curved or bent Nun on the left and a Yud on the right. Tsade is associated with the word TSEDEK, RIGHTEOUS (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 22).
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.
Tsade is one of the elementals.
Tsade 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).
I am the sign of the righteous (Zadikim) and of Thyself who art called righteous, as it is written, “For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteousness” (Psalms 11:7; Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:2b).
Tsade 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).
A bent Tsade and a straight Tsade: the righteous [tzadek] is bent [in this world]; the righteous is straightened [in the next world]. But that is identical with the faithful bent [and] the faithful straightened [righteous when bent, righteous when straight]?-The Writ added humility to his humility; hence [we learn that] the Torah was given under great submissiveness. (Shabbat 104a).
[The writing of the letters] must be ‘kethibah tammah’ [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the… the Gimel as a Tsade or the Tsade as a Gimel (Shabbat 103b).
There are many ways to meditate in the Tsade. The Tsade gives great hugs. One can sit in the curve on the bottom and rock back and forth. But if one stands where the Nun and the Yud meet, the Tsade will grip one securely at the waist with the tops of the Nun and the Yud; and one can see forever.
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).
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.
Dalet is one of the doubles.
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.
KUF is the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 100, makes a sound like the K in Kind and means TO SURROUND, TO TOUCH, MONKEY.
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.
Kuf is one of the elementals.
There is some disagreement as to what components make up the Kuf. Munk says that it is constructed of a Caf (20) and a Vav (6). This is very nice because it then has a GEMATRIA of 26 which is the same as the Yud (10) Hey(5) Vav (6) Hey (5) name of God (Munk, Michael. 1983. ‘The Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet’. New York: Mesorah. 195). Ginsburgh states that the Kuf is formed by a (Shabbat 104a).above and a Zayin descending below. He also points out that the YUD is the only letter suspended in mid-air. The LAMED is the only one that rises above the "ceiling" of the letters. So too is the KUF unique. It is the only one whose regular form descends below the "FLOOR" of the letters (Ginsburgh, Yitzchak. 1990. The Hebrew Letters. Jerusalem: Gai Einei. 283).
Kuf is the voice of an angel calling kadosh kadosh kadosh “Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts” (Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters: Sefer Otiyot. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing. 67).
Kuf stands for KADOSH - HOLY. The foot of the Kuf is suspended to show that the person who repents can return to holiness through the opening between the Zayin and the (Shabbat 104a).
“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).
I am afraid that my meditations with the Kuf are very un-holy. I sit in the Caf, put my feet on the side of the Zayin and steer with the head of the Zayin. It is sort of a combination plane and go-cart for me. Let me know of your experiences with the Kuf.
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October 21st, 2019
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