Tefilah Prayer
by Hebrewletters SL
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$500
Dimensions
7.000 x 5.000 inches
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Title
Tefilah Prayer
Artist
Hebrewletters SL
Medium
Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper
Description
TEFILAH is from the Hebrew, meaning PRAYER, SUPPLICATION (Alcalay, R The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary. Jerusalem: Massada. 2827).
There are various opinions about the origins of the word. TEFILAH be from the root PALA, Pey Lamed Hey, meaning TO CUT, SEPARATE, DISTINGUISH (Gesenius, William. 1979. Tr. Samuel Tregelles. Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures.Grand Rapids:Baker Book House. 675a,b);
Or from NAFAL, Nun Pey Lamed, meaning FALL, PROSTRATE; or the reflexive tense of NAFAL, meaning to PROSTRATE ONESELF SUPPLICATION (Alcalay, R The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary. Jerusalem: Massada. 1663-1664);
or from PALAL, Pey Lamed Lamed,TO JUDGE, TO SUPPLICATE
or HITPALLEL the reflexive tense of palal, meaning TO JUDGE ONESELF (Kolatch, Alfred J. 1984 The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names. Middle Village: Jonathan David. 182; Birnbaum, Philip. 1995. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. 657).
Liturgy - The Amida is one of the sections that make up the services. It is called the Amida because it is recited while standing. This is based on the verse ‘Then stood up Phineas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed’ (Psalms 106:30). The Amida is also called Tefilla because prayers and supplications are expressed in it. Shmoneh Esrei is yet another name, because the Amida is made up of 18 blessings. These benedictions are divided into three subcategories: the Fathers, the Powers, and the Sanctification of the Name (Idelsohn, A.Z. 1967. Jewish Liturgy and Its Development. New York: Schocken. 92-93).
Hebrew Bible sources - ‘For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that you goes with us? so shall we be separated [pala ], I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth’ (Exodus 33:16).
‘There fell [naphal], a voice from heaven’ (Daniel 7:20).
‘Palal son Uzai, repaired part of the walls of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah’ (Nehemiah 3:25).
Talmud -
R. Eliezer SAYS: IF A MAN MAKES HIS PRAYERS A FIXED TASK, IT IS NOT A [GENUINE] SUPPLICATION. What is meant by a FIXED TASK? R. Jacob b. Idi said in the name of R. Oshaiah: Anyone whose prayer is like a heavy burden on him (Berachot 28b, 29b).
Tradition - R. Nachman of Bratzlav, grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, taught: If you are not at peace with the world, your prayer will not be heard. Forget everyone and everything during your prayers; forget yourself and your needs (Birnbaum, Philip. 1995. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. 657).
The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are Tav Pey Yud Lamed Hey. Taken together they spell TEFILAH.
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.
The Hebrew letter featured in this painting is the Tav.
Tav is the 22nd letter in Hebrew alphabet the last letter, has a numerical value of 400, makes a sound like the T in Tall, is composed of a Dalet and a Nun means MARK, SIGN. In 1500 B.C.E. the Tav was written as an X. Perhaps this contributed to its meaning.
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.
Tav is one of the doubles.
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)
According to Sefer Yetzirah, God created the world by means of these [Hebrew] letters. And God “made the letter Tav king over Grace and He bound a crown to it and combined one with another and with them He formed Jupiter in the Universe, Shabbat in the Year and the mouth in the Soul, male and female” Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. Tr. Aryeh Kaplan. 1990.York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 145, 147, 159, 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).
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).
‘But not to one who is wholly righteous? Is it not written, And begin [the slaughter] with my sanctuary, (Ezekiel 9:6) which, R. Joseph learned, should not be read my sanctuary but my sanctified ones, namely the men who fulfilled the Torah from Aleph to Tav’? (Avodah Zarah 4a).
Tav is the sixth letter of the first word, Bereshit, in the Bible.
What does it mean to be marked by a Tav? Is there really an angel Gabriel? Or even an angel? Why did God form Shabbat with the Tav? Why did God make the Tav king over Grace? Grace? These can be topics for meditation.
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.
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.
Pey is one of the doubles.
God made the Pey King over Dominance.
And he formed with them
Mercury in the Universe
Thursday in the Year
And the left ear in the Soul (Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters: Sefer Otiyot. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing. 176).
If one looks carefully at the Pey one can see that there is a Beit inside, 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.
Pey 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).
I [PEY] signify redemption and deliverance (Zohar 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:2b).
The bent Pey and the straight Pey [intimate] an open mouth Pey, a closed mouth. The medial (bent) Pey is almost closed (Shabbat 104a). “A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7).
[The writing of the letters] must be ‘kethibah tammah’ [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the… Tet as a Pey or the Pey as a Tet Shabbat 103b).
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.
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).
In the Sephrotic tree the Yud symbolizes WISDOM - the stage of concealment which precedes its development into a state of expansion in UNDERSTANDING. It is then contained and represented in the letter Hey (Zalman, Shneur. 1981. "Igeret Hateshuvah." Likkutei Amarim - Tanya. Brooklyn: Kihot. 359).
Menachot 29b teaches that the WORLD TO COME was created by use of the letter Yud.
Generally speaking, the Yud is associated with some form of spirituality. In the four world paradigm the Yud corresponds with the level of Atzilut - Emanation; the first Hey with Beriyah, Creation, the Vav with Yetzirah - Formation and the second Hey with the world of Asiyah, Action.
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.
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 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).
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.
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