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.