OFANIM angels

by Hebrewletters SL

Buy the Original Painting

Price

$900

Dimensions

12.000 x 9.000 inches

Title

OFANIM angels

Artist

Hebrewletters SL

Medium

Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper

Description

OFANIM is from the Hebrew, meaning WHEELS (Alcalay, R. The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary. Jerusalem: Massada. 42).

Hebrew Bible source - ‘The appearance of the wheels [ofanim] and their work was like unto the color of a beryl; and the four had one likeness....’ (Ezekiel 1:16).


Talmud - What does [the word] Hashmal mean?- Rab Judah said: Living creatures [ophanim] speaking fire. In a Baraitha it is taught: [Hashmal means], At times they are silent, at times they speak. When the utterance goes forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, they are silent, and when the utterance goes not forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, they speak.
And the living creatures [ophanim] ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning (Ezekiel 1:14). What is the meaning of ‘ran and returned’? - Rab Judah said: Like the flame that goes forth from the mouth of a furnace [brick-kiln]. What is the meaning of ‘as the appearance of a flash of lightning’? - R. Jose b. Hanina said: Like the flame that goes forth from between the potsherds [I.e., perforated earthen pieces used in smelting gold. Gimel Zayin Kuf (E.V ‘flash of lightning’’ is here explained in its Aramaic sense of ‘a fragment, piece of pottery’]
And I looked, and, behold a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud with a fire flashing up, so that a brightness was round about it; and out of the midst thereof as the color of electrum [Hashmal], out of the midst of the fire [a brick-kiln]. Whither did it [the stormy wind coming out of the north go? Rab Judah said that Rab said: It went to subdue the whole world under the wicked Nebuchadnezzar. And wherefore all this? That the peoples of the world might not say: Into the hand of a low people the Holy One, blessed be he, delivered His children,The Holy One, blessed be He [haKadosh barochu], said: Who caused Me to be a servant to idol-worshippers? The iniquities of Israel, they caused Me. (Hagiga 13a-13b).


Mishneh Torah is a codification of Jewish LAW [halacha] written by Maimonides, the 12th century halakhist, philosopher, physician. In this LEGAL document, Maimonides states that there are ten levels of angels and ranks them by name. "The different names with which the angels are called reflect their [spiritual] levels. Thus they are called: the holy 1. Chayyot, who are above all the others; the 2. Ofanim, the 3. Erelim, the 4. Hashmalim; the 5. Serafim, the 6. Malachim; 7. the Eloheim; 8. the Sons of Eloheim; 9. the Cherubim; 10. the Ishim." These ten names which are used to refer to the angels reflect their ten [different spiritual] levels. The level above which there is no higher level except that of God, blessed be He, is that of the form called Chayyot. Therefore, the prophets state that they are below God’s throne of glory.
The tenth [and lowest] level is that of the form called ishim. They are the angels who communicate with the prophets and are perceived by them in prophetic visions. Therefore, they are called ishim, because their level is close to the level of human knowledge (Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1981. Tr. Eliyahu Touger. New York: Moznaim. 2:7. 166-68).



Hebrew Bible source - ‘As for the wheels [ofanim] they were called in my hearing - ha galgal’ (Ezekiel 1:20). Maimonides associated ‘galgallim’ with heavenly spheres. (Maimonides. 1963. The Guide of the Perplexed. v. 2 Tr. Shlomo Pines. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 3:3. 422-423).

Hebrew Letters featured in this piece are Aleph Vav Pey Nun Yud Mem sophit. Taken together they spell OFANIM.

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 Tellin. New York: St. Martins Press. 219).

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




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).

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.



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.
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.

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 a nothingness at the same time. Ain Sof. There is power here.


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).

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.



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.

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 think of sitting still.



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).

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.

Uploaded

January 27th, 2019

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags