Aleph: The Paradox of YAHWEH and Man

The Aleph is formed by two Yads, one to the upper right and the other to the lower left, joined together by a Waw. These represent the higher and lower waters and the firmament between them.

Water is first mentioned in the Torah in the account of the first day of Creation: "And the Spirit of YAHWEH moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1)." At this time the higher and the lower waters were indistinguishable; their state is referred to as "water in water." On the second day of Creation YAHWEH separated the two waters by "stretching" the firmament between them.

In the service of the soul, as taught in Chassidut, the higher water is water of joy, the experience of being close to YAHWEH, while the lower water is water of bitterness, the experience of being far from YAHWEH.

In Jewish philosophy, the two intrinsic properties of water are "wet" and "cold." The higher water is "wet" with the feeling of oneness with the "exaltation of YAHWEH," while the lower water is "cold" with the feeling of separation, the frustration of experiencing the inherent "lowliness of man." Divine service, as taught by Chassidut, emphasizes that in fact the primary consciousness of both waters is the sense of the Divine, each from its own perspective: from the perspective of the higher water, the greater the "exaltation of YAHWEH," the greater the oneness of all in His Absolute Being; from the perspective of the lower water, the greater the "exaltation of YAHWEH," the greater the existential gap between the reality of YAHWEH and that of man, thus the inherent "lowliness of man."

The Talmud tells of four sages who entered the "Pardes," the mystical orchard of spiritual elevation reached only through intense meditation and Kabbalistic contemplation's. "When you come to the place of pure marble stone, do not say 'water-water,' for it is said, 'He who speaks lies shall not stand before my eyes.'" The Ari z"l explains that the place of "pure marble stone" is where the higher and the lower waters unite. Here one must not call out 'water-water,' as if to divide the higher and lower waters. "The place of pure marble stone" is the place of truth--the Divine power to bear two opposites simultaneously: "the paradox of paradoxes." Here "the exaltation of YAHWEH" and His "closeness" to man unite with the "lowliness of man" and his "distance" from YAHWEH.

The Torah begins with the letter Beyth: "Bereshit (In the beginning) YAHWEH created the heavens and the earth." The Ten Commandments, the Divine revelation to the Hebrew People at Sinai, begin with the letter Aleph: "Anochi [I] am Yahweh thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." The Midrash states that "higher reality" had been set apart from "lower reality," for YAHWEH had decreed that neither higher reality descend nor lower reality ascend. In giving the Torah, YAHWEH annulled His decree, He Himself being the first to descend, as it is written: "And YAHWEH came down on Mount Sinai". Lower reality, in turn, ascended: "And Moses approached the cloud...." The union of "higher reality," the upper Yad, with the "lower reality," the lower Yad, by means of the connecting vav of Torah, is the ultimate secret of the letter Aleph.

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FORM

A Yad above and a Yad below with a vav separating and uniting them simultaneously. The secret of the image in which man was created.

Worlds:

• The upper and lower waters with the firmament between them.
• In the world:
  • The upper atmosphere, the lower atmosphere, the ocean & water table.
  • Energy waves, the atmosphere, the hydrological cycle.
• In the human body:
  • The respiratory system, the diaphragm, the digestive system .
  • The skull-water, the membrane, the brain-moisture.

Souls:

• Feeling both close to YAHWEH and distant from Him with commitment to Torah and mitzvotbalancing these emotions.
• "Crying is enwedged in my heart on one side, while joy is enwedged in my heart on the other side."

Divinity:

• Transcendent and Immanent Light with the contraction (tzimtzum) and impression (reshimu) between them.
• Man in perfect unity with the Infinite Will of YAHWEH.

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NAME

Oxen; thousand; teaching; master.

Worlds:

• Oxen--gross physical reality, the lower animal soul.
• Thousand--multiplicity in Creation, the "thousand mountains grazed by the ox."
• The yoke of the ox yielding a thousandfold and returning to unity.

Souls:

• "I will teach you wisdom"; the root of the soul is derived from the wisdom of YAHWEH.
• Direct insight of Divine truth; to be nothing.

Divinity:

• "Master of the universe."
• The Divine "One" revealing itself throughout the plurality of Creation.

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NUMBER

One

Worlds:

• First of all countable numbers.
• The beginning of process in nature and sequence of worldly events.
• One counts "something from something."

Souls:

• "One nation in the land."
• The organic unity of all Jewish souls.
• One counts "something from nothing."

Divinity:

• "YAHWEH is One": the absolute unity of YAHWEH.
• "There is none other besides Him:" "One, single, and unique."
• One counts "nothing from something