General Expressions, pt. 2

EVERYDAY EXPRESSIONS:

Yes: ken, כן

No: lo, לא

OK: be-se-der, בסדר

Really?: be-e-meth?, באמת

Please: be-ba-ka-shah, בבקשה

Thank you: to-dah, תודה

Thank you very much: to-dah ra-bah, תודה רבה

You’re welcome: ‘al lo da-bar, על לא דבר

I don’t know: a-ni lo yo-de-a, אני לא יודע

I think so: a-ni cho-sheb, אני חושב

I don’t think so: a-ni lo cho-sheb, אני לא חושב

What do you think?: mah at-tah cho-sheb, מה אתה חושב

Why not? la-mah lo?, למה לא

Are you sure?: at-tah ba-tu-ach?, בטוח אתה

Certainly: be-wa-day, בודאי

Caph: The Power to Actualize Potential

The two letters of the full spelling of the Caph, are the initial letters of the two Hebrew words: koach ("potential") and poel ("actual"). Thus, the Caph hints at the power latent within the spiritual realm of the potential to fully manifest itself in the physical realm of the actual. יהוה (Yahweh) must create the world continuously; otherwise Creation would instantaneously vanish. His potential is therefore actualized at each moment. This concept is referred to as "the power to actualize potential ever-present within the actualized." In Chassidut we are taught that this should be one's initial awareness upon awakening. Since the literal meaning of the letter Caph is "palm" - the place in the body where potential is actualized - this awareness is reflected in the custom of placing one palm on the other upon awakening, before reciting the Modeh Ani prayer: "I thank You, living and eternal King, for you have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great."

Placing palm on palm is an act and sign of subjugation, similar to the act of bowing before a king. Whereas in bowing one totally nullifies one's consciousness in the presence of the King, in placing palm on palm one enters into a state of supplication and prayer to the King to reveal new will from His supernal crown (Will) to His subjects.

Caph is also the root of the word kipah (etymologically, the root of the word "cap" in English), the yarmulke or skullcap. In reference to the creation of man it is said: "You have placed Your Palm [Caph] over me." Our Sages refer to Adam as, "the formation of the Palms [Caph] of the Holy One, Blessed be He." The awareness of the presence of the "Palms" of יהוה (Yahweh) over one's head, in His ongoing creation of him, becomes the cap (kipah) on his head. Even higher, the very power to actualize potential manifest in His Palms, as it were, derives ultimately from His crown (the power of will) above His head (i.e. "superrational" Will.)

As a verb, Caph means to "subdue" or "coerce." We are told in the Talmud that at the time of the giving of the Torah at Sinai, "He suspended the mountain over them as a barrel." In Chassidut it is explained that the Divine motivation manifest in this act was actually one of greatest love for Yisrael. So much love was revealed by all the tremendous revelations at Sinai that the people were "coerced," as it were, to respond in acceptance of the yoke of Heaven, in love. The mountain itself appeared to forcefully embrace the people. Here the secret of the Caph is the "much" revealed from the "little" point of the Yad.

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FORM

Three connected lines with rounded corners; the crown on the head of a prostrating king.

Worlds:

• The totality of space surrounding the earth.
• The outermost sphere of the universe.

Souls:

• Three connected properties of the crown: faith, sublime pleasure, and will.
• The three meanings of Keter: "wait," "crown," and "encircle."

Divinity:

• Three stages of light before יהוה (Yahweh) created the world.
• The ability of the soul to relate to the Essence of יהוה (Yahweh).

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NAME

Palm; clouds; power to suppress.

Worlds:

• The power to suppress the forces of nature.
• The toil of labor.
• The power to rule.
• Physical clouds; expression of power.

Souls:

• The power to suppress one's evil inclination.
• The clouds surrounding Mt. Sinai - Jewish identity.
• Faith despite "dark clouds."
• Clean palms - observance of the commandments between man and man.

Divinity:

• The vessel to receive Divine pleasure.
• "I have engraved you upon My Palms."
• The Clouds of Glory.

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NUMBER

Twenty

Worlds:

• Twenty pieces of silver for which Joseph's brothers sold him.
• Twenty cubits, the maximum height of a Sukkah.

Souls:

• Twenty gerah, the full value of a shekel, symbolizing the union of two half-shekels.
• The age to become a soldier and pursue a livelihood.
• The twenty years Jacob worked for Laban.

Divinity:

• The twenty sefirot of the two countenances of the crown.

Yad: The Infinite Point

The letter Yad, a small suspended point, reveals the spark of essential good hidden within the letter Teyth. Subsequent to the initial tzimtzum, the contraction of יהוה (Yahweh)'s Infinite light in order to make "place" for Creation, there remained within the empty void a single, potential point or "impression." The secret of this point is the power of the Infinite to contain finite phenomena within Himself and express them to apparent external reality. Finite manifestation begins from a zero-dimensional point, thereafter developing into a one-dimensional line and two-dimensional surface. This is alluded to in the full spelling of the letter Yad (Yad-Waw-Daleth): "point" (Yad), "line" (Waw), "surface" (Daleth). These three stages correspond in Kabbalah to: "point" (nekudah), "spectrum" (sefirah), "figure" (partzuf). The initial point, the essential power of the Yad, is the "little that holds much." The "much" refers to the simple Infinity of יהוה (Yahweh) hidden within the initial point of revelation, which reflects itself as the Infinite potential of the point to develop and express itself in all the manifold finite phenomena of time and space.

Before the tzimtzum, the power of limitation was hidden, latent within יהוה (Yahweh)'s Infinite Essence. Following the tzimtzum, this power of limitation became revealed, and paradoxically the Infinite Essence of יהוה (Yahweh) that originally "hid" the power of limitation now Itself became hidden (not in truth, but only from our limited human perspective) within the point of contracted light.

From within this point of limitation is revealed the secret of the ten sefirot, the Divine channels of light through which יהוה (Yahweh) continually brings His world into being. Ten, the numerical value of the Yad, is also the number of commandments (literally "statements") revealed by יהוה (Yahweh) to His People Yisrael at Sinai. All the commandments, and in fact every letter of Torah, possess the power of the "little that holds much"; each is a channel for the revelation of יהוה (Yahweh)'s Infinite Light in finite reality.

FORM

A "formed" point: a crown above and a "pathway" below.
The smallest of the letters; the only letter suspended in midair.

Worlds:

• The "pathway" of the Yad; The initial point of space and time.
• Natural wisdom: "The wisdom of Solomon."
• Direction and purpose: the consciousness of the present moment.

Souls:

• The "body" of the Yad; The enwedged point.
• “The wisdom of יהוה (Yahweh)" as manifest in the judgment of Solomon.
• The power of self-nullification.

Divinity:

• The crown of the Yad above; The unenwedged point.
• “The wisdom of יהוה (Yahweh)" inspiring and directing Solomon's genius.
• Revealed Omnipresence; The beginning and end of every letter (form).

NAME

Hand; to thrust.

Worlds:

• The secret of space; To thrust - the principle of action and reaction.
• The wave-nature of radiation.

Souls:

• Intelligence; Friendship.
• To acknowledge - to make space for others; Empathy

Divinity:

• יהוה (Yahweh)'s "hand" - the Infinite Will and ability to sustain the Creation.
• Charity, physical and spiritual.
• “Shaking יהוה (Yahweh)'s Hand": identifying with archetypal souls and Temple service.
• יהוה (Yahweh)'s thought - the origin of the Jewish soul.

NUMBER

Ten; "The tenth shall be holy"; the decimal nature of reality.

Worlds:

• Ten Divine utterances through which the world was created.
• Ten things created on the first day.
• Ten things created at dusk at the end of the first Friday.
• Ten generations from Adam to Noah and from Noah to Abraham.

• Ten kings ruled the whole world; Ten nations given to Abraham.
• Ten pure animals; Ten categories of forbidden magic.
• Ten battles of Joshua; Ten essential limbs of the body.

Souls:

• The sefirot - Spiritual Powers; Ten categories of the souls of Yisrael.
• Ten trials of Abraham; A minyan of ten men.
• Ten synonyms for prayer; Ten synonyms for song.
• Ten cardinal songs sung throughout history.
• Ten martyrs of Yisrael; Ten spiritual functions of the heart.

Divinity:

• Ten Commandments; Ten plagues.
• Ten miracles in the Holy Temple; Ten days of repentance.
• Yom Kippur--the tenth day; The Divine Name ten times on Yom Kippur.
• Ten names of Ruwach HaKodesh; Ten are called "the man of יהוה (Yahweh)."
• Ten verses of Kingdom, Remembrance and Shofar-blast.
• Ten synonyms for teshuvah.

Teyth: Introversion - the Concealed Good

The Teyth is the initial letter of the word towb, "good." The form of the Teyth is "inverted," thus symbolizing hidden, inverted good--as expressed in the Zohar: "its good is hidden within it." The form of the letter Cheyth symbolizes the union of groom and bride consummating with conception. The secret of the Teyth (numerically equivalent to nine, the nine months of pregnancy) is the power of the mother to carry her inner, concealed good - the fetus - throughout the period of pregnancy.


Pregnancy is the power to bring the potential to actualization. The revelation of new, actual energy, the revelation of birth, is the secret of the next letter of the Aleph-bets, the Yad. The Yad reveals the point of "Essential Life" as realized in the secret of conception of the Cheyth and carried, impregnated, in the Teyth.


Of the eight synonyms for "beauty" in Hebrew, towb--"good"--refers to the most inner, inverted, and "modest" state of beauty. This level of beauty is that personified in Torah by Rebecca and Bath Sheba, who are described as "very beautiful [goodly] in appearance."


At the beginning of Creation, the appearance of light is termed "good" in יהוה (Yahweh)'s eyes: "And יהוה (Yahweh) saw the light was good." Our Sages interpret this to mean "good to be hidden for the tzadikim in the Time to Come." "And where did He hide it? In the Torah, for 'there is no good other than Torah.'"


The Ba'al Shem Towb teaches that the "Time to Come" refers also to every generation. Each soul of Israel is a potential tzadik (as it is said: "and your people are all tzadikim"), connected to the goodly light hidden in Torah. The more one actualizes his potential to be a tzadik, the more goodness he reveals from the Torah "womb."


In the first verse of the Torah - "In the beginning יהוה (Yahweh) created the heavens and the earth" - the initial letters of "the heavens and the earth" spell יהוה (Yahweh)’s "hidden Name" in Creation (Aleph-He-Waw-He), according to Kabbalah. The numerical value of this name is seventeen, the same as that of the word, towb, "good." The word tzadik equals 12 times 17 = 204, the total value of the twelve permutations of the four letters of this hidden Name. Tzadikim, who are called "good," possess the power of the hidden Name (derived from "the heavens and the earth"), the hidden goodness needed to unite heaven and earth and thereby reveal the inner light and purpose of Creation. Just as the Aleph possesses the power to bear opposites - the power of the firmament to join the higher and lower waters together - so does the Teyth possess the power to unite the upper and lower worlds, "heavens and earth." Chassidut teaches that in the service of the soul, this power is manifest in man when he assumes the state of being "in the world yet out of the world" simultaneously. To be "in the world" means to be fully consciousness of worldly reality in order to rectify it. To be "out of the world" means to be fully aware that in truth "there is none other besides Him."


Another connection between light and good is found in the story of the birth of Moses: "And she [Yochebed, Moses’s mother] saw him that he was good." Rashi quotes the Midrash, which explains that at the birth of Moses a great light filled the room. According to the early Masorah, the Teyth in the word towb ("good") of this verse is written extra large. This hints at the Absolute Divine Good entrusted to the soul of Moses, whose life mission was to fulfill the promise of redemption from Egypt and the revelation of Torah at Sinai. The Egyptian exile is compared to a womb in which Israel was latently pregnant for two hundred and ten years. At Sinai, heaven and earth were united, as discussed in the letter Aleph.

Thus, the full teaching of the Teyth is that, through the service of the soul, all of reality becomes "pregnant" with יהוה (Yahweh)’s Infinite goodness and beauty, thereby bringing harmony and peace to "heavens and earth."

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FORM

A vessel with an inverted rim; the sefirah of yesod; peace.

Worlds:

· Form hidden in matter.

· Potential hidden in actual.

· Peace among the elements of Creation.

· Peace between water and fire in heaven: "He who makes peace on high."

Souls:

· The soul hidden in the body.

· Peace among the souls of Israel.

· The outer womb: the impure world; the inner womb: the pure aspiration of the soul.

Divinity:

· יהוה (Yahweh) hidden within His Creation.

· Future revelation of universal peace.

· יהוה (Yahweh)’s presence impregnated in the world.

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NAME

Inclination; staff - snake; below; bed.

Worlds:

· The snake in the Garden of Eden: the liver; innate behavior patterns.

· Lower worldly inclinations.

· The tendency to lie.

Souls:

· The power to judge properly.

· The correct power of imagination.

· The twelve tribes of Israel.

· The twelve senses.

Divinity:

· The breastplate of the High Priest.

· The bed - unity of man and wife in the Presence of יהוה (Yahweh).

· Torah cantillation.

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NUMBER

Nine

Worlds:

· Nine physical materials that form vessels which contract impurity.

· Nine levels of peace.

· Nine sefirot pouring blessing into malchut.

Souls:

· The nine months of pregnancy.

· The nine positive commandments in the laws of Foundation and Character.

Divinity:

· The numerical symbol of truth and eternity.

· Nine blessings of Musaf on Rosh HaShanah.

· Nine blasts of the shofar.

· Eternal life.

General Expressions, pt. 1

SALUTATIONS: Ba-ru-koth

Hello! or Goodbye¹: sha-lom, שלום

Welcome!: ba-rukh ha-ba, הבא ברוך

Good morning: bo-qer towb, טוב בקר

Good evening: e-reb towb, טוב ערב

See you later!: le-hit-ra-ot or le-hit, להתראות or להת

1. Shalom is also used to mean Good afternoon & Good day. Literally, it means peace, well-being, & welfare.

Cheyth: The Life Dynamic of Run and Return

Cheyth is the letter of life (chaim, from the root chayah, whose most important letter is Cheyth). We are taught in that there are two levels of life "essential life" and "life to enliven." יהוה  (Yahweh) Himself, as it were, is in the state of "Essential life." His creative power, continually permeating all of reality is "life to enliven." So in the Jewish soul: the essence of its root, at one with יהוה (Yahweh), possesses the state of "essential life." The reflection of the light of the soul which shines below to enliven the body and its physical experience is at the level of "life to enliven." The second level of life, life as we know it in general, manifests itself as pulsation, the secret of "run and return."


According to the Ari z"l," the letter Cheyth is constructed by combining the two previous letters, Waw and Zayin, with a thin bridge-shaped line, referred to as the chatoteret ("hunchback"). The new energy effected by the union of the Waw--or yashar--and the Zayin--or chozer--is the secret of "hovering" or "touching yet not touching." The image of "hovering" appears at the very beginning of Creation: "And the spirit of יהוה (Yahweh) was 'hovering' over the water." The word "hovering" (merachefet) is the eighteenth word in the Torah. It is the first word in the Torah which is numerically a multiple of twenty-six, the value of the Name Havayah (merachefet = 728 = 26 times 28). Twenty-eight is the numerical value of koach, "power." Thus, the full secret implied by the numerical value of the word "hovering" is "the power of יהוה (Yahweh)." In Kabbalah, this word is, in particular, the secret of the Divine power to resurrect the 288 fallen sparks that "died" in the process of the "breaking of the vessels" (merachefet being a permutation of meit rapach, "288 have died"). The Sages teach us that the "Spirit of יהוה (Yahweh)" here referred to is in fact the soul of Mashiach (which permutes to shem chai, "the living name").


"Hovering" is symbolized in Torah "as an eagle arouses her nest and hovers over her young," as taught by the Maggid of Mezeritch. In order not to crush her young and their nest, the eagle hovers over her nest when feeding her young, "touching yet not touching." The eagle here is a metaphor for יהוה (Yahweh) in relation to His children Israel in particular and to the totality of His Creation in general. Were יהוה (Yahweh) to either fully reveal His ultimate Presence or withdraw His power of continuous re-creation, the world would instantaneously cease to exist.


Therefore, by "hovering" over created reality, יהוה (Yahweh) continues to sustain and nourish His Creation while simultaneously allowing each creature or, in the terminology of Kabbalah, each vessel, the ability to grow and develop "independently." The letter Cheyth thus hints at the delicate balance between the revelation of יהוה (Yahweh)’s Presence to us (the Waw of the Cheyth) and the concealment of His creative power from His Creation (the Zayin of the Cheyth).


This state of "hovering," "touching yet not touching," is the beginning of the phenomenon of "life to enliven." "Touching yet not touching" from Above thereafter reflects itself as "run and return" in the inner pulsation of every living creature. "And the living creatures [chayot] run and return like the appearance of lightning." Do not read chayot ("living creatures") but chayut, ("life-force").


The chatoteret, that sublime thin line that connects the two components or motion of the "life to enliven," itself points upward. It hints at "He who lives at the summit of the world," יהוה (Yahweh)’s "Essential Life." In truth, His Essence paradoxically fills and sustains all created reality while simultaneously "hovering" high above the level of the "hovering" life-force itself, unfathomable and beyond all human perception.

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FORM

A Waw on the right, a Zayin on the left, with a thin, hunchback bridge (chatoteret) connecting them above.

Worlds:

·  A gateway: the power to enter a higher energy level and exit therefrom.

·  The ascent of all worlds on Shabbath and their subsequent descent after Shabbath.

·  (At the level of Souls: the power to enter the mysteries of one’s own soul and thereafter return to worldly consciousness.)

·  (At the level of Divinity: the power to enter the mysteries of the Torah and thereafter return to the consciousness of one’s task on earth.)

Souls:

·  The union of three partners in man: father (Waw), mother (Zayin), and יהוה (Yahweh) (chatoteret, chupah).

·  The marital dance.

Divinity:

·  “ יהוה (Yahweh) lives at the summit of the world"--the chatoteret.

·  יהוה (Yahweh) "hovering" over Creation.

·  The union of יהוה (Yahweh)'s immanence, transcendence, and the Jewish People.

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NAME

Fear; Life--whose full expression is love.

Worlds:

·  Loving יהוה (Yahweh) with one's physical body.

·  Life-force of the body.

Souls:

·  Loving יהוה (Yahweh) with one's soul.

·  Lifeforce of the soul.

·  The heartbeat of the tzadik

Divinity:

·  Essential unity with יהוה (Yahweh).

·  Life-force of life itself.

·  Resurrection of the dead.

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NUMBER

Eight

Worlds:

·  Eight vertices of a cube.

·  Three-dimensional plurality.

·  " יהוה (Yahweh) is one in the seven heavens and the earth."

Souls:

·  The eighth day - the day of circumcision.

·  The eight days of Chanukah - "The candle of יהוה (Yahweh) is the soul of man."

·  The circumcision of the foreskin of the lips on (Zot) Chanukah.

·  The circumcision of the foreskin of the ears on the eighth day of Sukkot.

·  The circumcision of the foreskin of the heart on Yom Kippur, the eighth day of the High Priest’s separation.

Divinity:

·  Gateway to infinity.

· יהוה (Yahweh)’s Transcendent Light.

·  Origin of the Jewish soul and its descent through the seven heavens to earth.

Zayin: The Woman of Valor

The Maggid of Mezeritch, the successor of the Ba’al Shem Towb, teaches that the verse "A woman of valor is the crown of her husband" alludes to the form of the letter Zayin. The previous letter, Waw, portrays the Or Yashar ("straight light") descending from YAHWEH into the worlds. The Zayin, whose form is similar to a Waw, though with a crown on top, reflects the Or Yashar of the Waw as Or Chozer ("returning light"). Or Chozer ascends with such great force that it causes you to reach a higher state of consciousness than that of the revealed origin-point of the Or Yashar. When reaching the initially superconscious realm of Keter or in other words, the "crown," it broadens your awareness to both the right and the left. In truth "there is no left in that Ancient One in the level of Keter, for all is right (Titus 1:15)." This means that the awe of YAHWEH (left) at this initially superconscious level is indistinguishable, in its nature to cling directly to YAHWEH, from the highest manifestation of the love of YAHWEH (right).

The experience of Or Chozer, subsequent to the consummation of the creative process inherent in Or Yashar, the creation of man on the sixth day, is the secret of the seventh day of Creation--Shabbath. The "Shabbath Queen" who, in general, signifies woman in relation to man--"the woman of valor is the crown of her husband"-- has the power to reveal in her husband his own superconscious crown, the experience of serene pleasure and sublime will innate in the day of Shabbath.

"Who is a good [literally, "kosher"] woman? She who does her husband’s will." Chassidut explains that the word "does" also means "rectifies," as said in the completion of the account of Creation & the seal of the seventh day, Shabbath: "that which YAHWEH created to do"-- "to do" in the sense of "to rectify," thus implying that YAHWEH has given us the task to consummate the rectification of His Creation, as explained by the Sages. Thus the "kosher woman" is she who rectifies her husband’s will by elevating him to ever new awareness of previously superconscious realms of soul.

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FORM

A "Waw" whose head extends in both directions and thus appears as a crown. Scepter of a King.

Worlds:

• Rulership manifested in the world.
• "Natural" selection.

Souls:

• "A woman of valor is the crown of her husband." Sarah: the soul’s experience of Shabbath and Kabbalah.
• The election of the Jewish People.

Divinity:

• Shabbath, Kabbalah.
• Returning light spreading, at its peak, to the left - fear, and to the right - love.
• Becoming a vessel for YAHWEH’s blessing and sanctity.

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NAME

Weapon - sword; ornament or crown; species - gender; to sustain.

Worlds :

Weapon - a sword.

Conflict as an inherent property of physical nature.

Souls:

Species or gender; the union of husband and wife.

Man is the crowning ornament of Creation.

YAHWEH’s three crowns, two of which He gives to His children.

Divinity:

YAHWEH sustaining the world.

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NUMBER

Seven - "All sevens are dear."

Worlds :

Maximal compactness.

The seventh day of Creation - Shabbat.

Seven weeks of counting the Omer.

Seven consecutive months in which fall the three Festivals.

The sabbatical year; The jubilee year, after 7 times 7 years.

The seventh millennium.

Seven fruits of Israel; Seven seas; Seven heavens.

Seven chambers of Paradise.

Souls:

Seven lamps of the menorah; seven categories of Jewish souls.

Seven shepherds of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.

Seven circuits, seven blessings, and seven days of celebration of groom and bride.

Seven Rabbinic mitzvot.

Divinity:

Seven "eyes" of YAHWEH watch over all Creation.

Seven lower sefirot.

Tishrei, the seventh month:

Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, the revelation of Divine Providence,

Sukkot Seven clouds of glory,

Simchat Torah - Seven Hakafot.

Waw: Connection

In the beginning of Creation, when Infinite Light filled all reality, YAHWEH contracted His Light to create hollow empty space, as it were, the "place" necessary for the existence of finite worlds. Into this vacuum YAHWEH drew down, figuratively speaking, a single line of light, from the Infinite Source. This ray of light is the secret of the letter Waw. Though the line is singular in appearance, it nonetheless possesses two dimensions, an external as well as an internal force, both of which take part in the process of Creation and the continuous interaction between the creative power and created reality.

The external force of the line is the power to differentiate and separate the various aspects of reality, thereby establishing hierarchical order, up and down, within Creation. The internal force of the line is the power to reveal the inherent interinclusion of the various aspects of reality, one in the other, thereby joining them together as an organic whole. This property of the letter Waw, in its usage in Hebrew, is referred to as Waw hachibur, the Waw of connection"--"and." The first Waw of the Torah--"In the beginning YAHWEH created the heavens and [Waw] the earth"--serves to join spirit and matter, heaven and the earth, throughout Creation. This Waw, which appears at the beginning of the sixth word of the Torah, is the twenty-second letter of the verse. It alludes to the power to connect and interrelate all twenty-two individual powers of Creation, the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet from alef to Tav. (The word et [which appears before the two instances of the word "the" in this verse, and is spelled Aleph-Tav] is generally taken to represent all the letters of the alphabet, from Aleph to Tav. Our Sages interpret the word in this verse to include all the various objects of Creation present within heaven and earth.)

In Biblical Hebrew, the letter Waw also possesses the function of inverting the apparent tense of a verb to its opposite from past to future or from future to past (Waw hahipuch). The first appearance of this type of Waw in the Torah is the letter Waw" which begins the twenty-second word of the account of Creation, "And YAHWEH said...." This is the first explicit saying of the ten sayings of Creation: "And YAHWEH said [the verb 'said' being inverted from the future to the past tense by the vav at the beginning of the word--'And']: 'Let there be light,' and there was light." The phenomenon of light breaking through the darkness of the tzimtzum, the primordial contraction, is itself the secret of time (future becoming past) which permeates space.

In the Divine service of a Jew, the power to draw from the future into the past is the secret of teshuvah ("repentance" and "returning to YAHWEH") from love. Through teshuvah from fear, one's deliberate transgressions become like errors; the severity of one's past transgressions becomes partially sweetened, but not completely changed. However, when a you return in love, his deliberate transgressions become like actual merits, for the very consciousness of distance from YAHWEH resulting from one's transgressions becomes the motivating force to return to YAHWEH with passion even greater than that of one who had never sinned.

Every Jew has a portion in the World to Come, as is said: "And all your nation are 'tzadikim'; forever they will inherit the land." The power of teshuvah to completely convert one's past to good, is the power of the vav to invert the past to the future. This transformation itself requires, paradoxically, the drawing down of light from the future to the past.

Drawing the future into the past in the Divine service of man is the secret of learning the inner teachings of the Torah, that aspect of the Torah which is related to the revelation of the coming of the Mashiach. It is explained in the verse in the Song of Solomon: "May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine" as alluding to the sweet teachings that will be revealed by the YAHWEH BEN YAHWEH BEN YAHWEH. When a you intently study the secrets of the Torah, you draw from the future into the past, in order to strengthen yourself to return in complete teshuvah from love and thereby convert your past into future.

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FORM

A vertical line. A pillar. A man standing upright.

Worlds:

Twelve pillars of Creation - the twelve lines of a cube. The twelve tribes.

Seven pillars of Creation - six directions and time. The seven shepherds.

One pillar of Creation the future. Mashiach.

The connecting rods in the Tabernacle.

Souls:

Complete stature of man - standing on earth with head reaching up towards heaven.

The Hebrew People standing together.

The "Golden Path" in the service of YAHWEH.

The torso in relation to the hands, feet, and brit.

Divinity:

The pillar of Truth.

Consistency of the middle pillar.

Divinity piercing through the middle point of every Creation.

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NAME

A Hook

Worlds:

The connecting hooks of the pillars in the Tabernacle - concealment and revelation.

The axis of symmetry and the equilibrium between symmetry and asymmetry.

Souls:

The power which links together the souls of Yisrael.

The points of will to do YAHWEH's Will engraved in the heart of every Hebrew.

The axis which connects the good points present within every Hebrew.

Divinity:

The connecting link between the separate Laws - engraved letters of Divine essence - of the Torah.

The force of connection between the Divine sparks inherent throughout reality.

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NUMBER

Six

Worlds:

Six Days of Creation, and their six corresponding Divine forces active in creation.

Six letters of the word bereshit, "In the beginning."

Six Alephs in the first verse of the Torah.

Six-millennium duration of the world.

Six directions of the physical world.

Souls:

Six wings (states of love and fear in the soul) of the fiery angels.

"Give truth to Jacob."

Divinity:

Six orders of the Mishnah.

The six "wings" of the "Magen David."

Six cubits - the dimensions of the Tablets received by Moses at Mt. Sinai.

Hey: Expression - Thought, Speech, and Action

The name of the letter Hey appears in the verse, "Take [Hey] for yourselves seed." "Take" (Hey) expresses revelation of self in the act of giving of oneself to another. Giving to others in the form of self-expression is the ultimate gift of self. In the secret of the letter Giymel, the rich man gives of himself to the poor man in the form of charity. The highest form of charity is when the giver is completely concealed from the receiver, in order not to embarrass him, as is said, "the concealed gift subdues anger." Here, in the secret of the letter Hey, the gift itself is the relation and expression of self, drawing the receiver into the essence of the giver. Joseph, the speaker of the verse "take for yourselves seed," corresponds to the sefirah of Yesod, whose function is to express self in the form of giving seed, as explained in Kabbalah. When Joseph first gave grain to his brothers, they were unable to recognize him, similar to the Daleth in relation to the gimlet. Upon his revelation to his brothers (and thereby to all of Egypt), his giving became that of the Hey. Instead of grain he now gave seed.

The soul possesses three means of expression--"garments," in the terminology of the Kabbalah and Chassidut: thought, speech, and action. The higher garment, thought, is the expression of one's inner intellect and emotions to oneself. The process of the intellect and emotions becoming conscious through thought is similar to giving oneself (the essentially unconscious domains of the soul) to another (one's state of consciousness). The two lower garments, speech and action, express oneself to others.

The three lines which compose the form of the Hey correspond to these three garments: the upper horizontal line to thought; the right vertical line to speech; the unattached foot to action.

The horizontal line symbolizes a state of equanimity. The continuous, horizontal flow of thought is the contemplation of how YAHWEH is found equally in every place and in every thing. In relating to one's fellow Hebrew, one must realize that each of us possesses an innate inner point of goodness, and that all Hebrews are equal in essence. This realization, the horizontal high plane of one's consciousness in relation to another, sets the "scene" for all individual, personal relationships.

The origin-point of speech, the right vertical line of the Hey is directly connected to the line of thought and thereafter descends to express one's thoughts and inner feelings to others. The root of the word speech in Hebrew, dabar, means "leadership," as in the expression "There is one leader [dabar] in a generation, not two leaders in a generation." Leadership implies hierarchy, relative positions of up and down, and thus is represented by a vertical line. The King, and likewise every leader, rules through his power of speech, as is said, "By the word of the King is His sovereignty."

The separation of action, the unattached left foot of the Hey, from thought, the upper horizontal line, reflects a deep truth about the nature of action. "Many are the thoughts in the heart of man, yet the advice of YAHWEH shall surely stand." The servant of YAHWEH experiences the existential gap between his thoughts and deeds. Often he is unable to realize his inner intentions. Other times he is surprised by unexpected success. In both cases he feels the hand of YAHWEH directing his deeds. The gap is the experience of the Divine Nothing, the source of all Creation in deed: something from nothing.

We have now reached the culmination of the sequence represented by the three letters Giymel, Daleth, and Hey, the process of giving of oneself to another. The gift, represented by the foot, the unattached segment of Hey, when fully integrated in the receiver, becomes his own power of action and giving of himself to others. Even more, now he fully realizes that the ultimate effect and potency of his deeds are in truth the act of Divine Providence.

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FORM

Three lines; the two lines of the Daleth together with an unattached left foot.

Worlds:

• Three dimensions of physical reality:
  • Width - horizontal line,
  • Length - vertical line,
  • Depth - unattached foot.
• There is a dimension of reality beyond initial sensory perception.
• "We will do and understand."

Souls:

• Three garments ("servants") of the soul:
  • Thought (meditative or involuntary) - horizontal line,
  • Speech (from the heart or from the lips) - vertical line,
  • Action - unattached foot.
• The beinoni, who masters his "servants."

Divinity:

• Three Divine manifestations:
  • Essence - horizontal line,
  • Transcendent Light - vertical line,
  • Immanent Light - unattached foot.

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NAME

To be broken; to take seed; behold; revelation.

Worlds:

• Breaking of the vessels and the resulting plurality of Creation.
• The teacher breaking the brilliance of his comprehension for the sake of the student.
• Broken existence resulting in unified existence.

Souls:

• Impregnating reality with the souls of Yisrael.

Divinity:

• Divine revelation - "Beholding" YAHWEH.
• Ultimate revelation of the Mashiach.
• Small Hey: potential Divine revelation.

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NUMBER

Five

Worlds:

• Symbol of division.
• Five origins of speech in the mouth.
• Five fingers of the hand.
• Five visible planets in the solar system.
• The five vanities in the opening verse of Ecclesiastes.

Souls:

• Five levels of the soul.
• Five times "Bless YAHWEH, my soul" in Psalms 103 and 104.
• Five voices of the joy of bride and groom.

Divinity:

• Five Books of Moses.
• Five voices at the giving of the Torah.
• Five times light in the first day of Creation.
• Five final letters.
• Five redemption's.

Daleth: Selflessness

The Daleth. The poor man, receives charity from the rich man, the Giymel. The word Daleth means "door." The door stands in the opening of the house, the Beyth.

In the Zohar, Daleth is read as "that has nothing [d'leit] of her own." This expresses the property of the lowest of the Divine Emanations, the sefirah of Malchut, "kingdom," which has no light other than that which it receives from the higher sefirot. In man's service of YAHWEH, the Daleth characterizes "shiflut," "lowliness," the consciousness of possessing nothing of one's own. Together with the awareness of one's own power of free choice, one must be aware that He gives you the power to achieve success, and not to think, YAHWEH forbid, that one's accomplishments are "my power and the strength of my hand." Any achievement in this world, particularly the performance of a mitzvah (commandment), the fulfillment of YAHWEH's will, depends upon Divine aid. This is especially true in one's struggle with his evil inclination, whether it be manifest as external passion, stubborn resistance to accepting the yoke of Heaven, or laziness, apathy, and the like. As some of the Sages teach: "If not for YAHWEH's help he [man] would not have been able to overcome it [the evil inclination]."

The Talmud describes a situation where one man is carrying a heavy object and another man appears to be helping him by placing his hands under the object, when in truth the first man is carrying all the weight. The second man is referred to as "a merely apparent helper." So are we, explains the Ba'al Shem Towb, in relation to YAHWEH. Ultimately, all one's strength comes from Above. Free choice is no more than the expression of one's will to participate, as it were, in the Divine act. One merely places one's hands under the weight carried exclusively by YAHWEH.

"For to You, YAHWEH, is kindness, for You pay man in accordance with his deed." The Ba'al Shem Towb observes: Just payment in accordance with one's deed is not an act of kindness (chesed), but rather one of judgment (din)! He answers: "in accordance with one's deed," can be read "as though the deed is his." Thus YAHWEH's ultimate kindness is His enclothing the "undeserved" reward in the guise of deservedness, so as not to shame the receiver. The Name of YAHWEH in this verse is Adnut, the letters of which also spell in Hebrew dina, "judgment," implying the Divine guise of judgment, through which YAHWEH's kindness (chesed) is most fully expressed. The Zohar reads chesed as "chas d’leit," "having compassion [on] the Daleth," i.e. he who possesses nothing of his own.

In regard to an arrogant person YAHWEH says: "I and he cannot dwell together." The door to YAHWEH's house allows for the humble of spirit to enter. The door itself, the Daleth, is the property of humility and lowliness, as explained above. The Daleth is also the initial letter of the word dirah, "dwelling place," as in the phrase "YAHWEH's dwelling place below." Thus the full meaning of the Daleth is the door through which the humble enter into the realization of YAHWEH's dwelling place below.

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FORM

Two lines forming a right angle, with a corner point. A man bent over. Three levels of bitul.

Worlds:

• The corner point: Consciousness of the ego.
• Bitul HaYeish.
• Every creature's unconscious awareness of its continuous recreation by YAHWEH.

Souls:

• The vertical line: selflessness.
• Bitul Bimtziut; "Standing crowded."
• Collective consciousness; willingness to sacrifice one's life for one's people.

Divinity:

• The horizontal line: submergence of the soul in its Divine Source.
• Bitul Bimtziut Mamash; "Prostrating wide."
• Letters being surrounded by white parchment. Willingness to sacrifice one's life for YAHWEH.

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NAME

Door; poor man; lifting up - elevation.

Worlds:

• Door--bitul, the entrance way to truth.
• The servant who refuses to go through the door of freedom.

Souls:

• True lowliness of the soul.
• The moon as a symbol of the soul.

Divinity:

• The elevation of the soul by YAHWEH into Himself.
• "I will exalt you, YAHWEH, for you have lifted me up." Not belonging.

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NUMBER

Four

Worlds:

• Four elements of the physical world: fire, air, water, and earth.
• Solid, liquid, gas, combustion.
• Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen.
• The four physical forces: gravity, electromagnetic, strong, weak.
• Man, animal, vegetable, and inanimate objects.
• Four seasons of the year; Four directions.
• The four worlds: Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah.

Souls:

• Four matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.
• Jacob's four wives: Rachel, Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah.
• The four sons and the four cups of wine of the Seder
• The four expressions (levels) of redemption.
• Four feet of the Divine Throne: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David.
• Father, mother, son, daughter: the first commandment of the Torah: "be fruitful and multiply."

Divinity:

• Four letters of YAHWEH's Name.
• Four components of the Torah text.
• Four basic levels of Torah interpretation.