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.

Giymel: Reward and Punishment

The Sages teach that the Giymel symbolizes a rich man running after a poor man, the Daleth, to give him charity. The word Giymel is derived from the word gemul, which in Hebrew means both the giving of reward as well as the giving of punishment. In Torah, both reward and punishment have the same ultimate aim the rectification of the soul to merit to receive YAHWEH's light to the fullest extent.

Reward and punishment imply that man is free to choose between good and evil. (The teaching of the Giymel thus refers back to that of the open left side of the Beyth, from which it is born, as explained above.) The Rambam (Maimonides), in particular, places great stress upon free choice as being fundamental to Hebrew faith. According to the Rambam, the World to Come, the time of reward, is a completely spiritual world, one of souls without bodies. On this point the Ramban (Nachmanides) disagrees and argues that since complete freedom of choice exists only in our physical world, the ultimate rectification of reality the reward of the World to Come will also be on the physical plane. Kabbalah and Chassidut support the opinion of the Ramban.

This is alluded to by the leg of the letter gimel which expresses the running of the rich man to bestow good upon the poor man. Running, more than any other physical act, expresses the power of will and freedom of choice (the Hebrew word for "running," ratz, is related to the word for "will," ratzon). In running, the leg is firmly in contact with the earth; through an act of will, the soul directly affects physical reality. The final reward, the ultimate revelation of YAHWEH's Essential light, will thus justly be bestowed upon the soul in the very same context as its life's endeavor, the physical world.

The Torah says: "Today in this world to do them," from which the Sages infer: tomorrow in the World to Come to receive their reward." Only "today" do we possess the opportunity to choose between good and evil. And so in accordance with our choice do we, ourselves, define the reward and punishment of "tomorrow." Just as evil is a finite phenomenon, so is punishment. Not so good and reward, which are truly infinite. The Giymel of "today" is the secret of better one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world than all the life of the world to come. The Giymel of "tomorrow" is the secret of better one hour of serenity in the world to come than all of the life of this world.

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FORM

A Waw with a Yad as a foot. A person in motion.

Worlds:

• The running of the rich to the poor, the full to the empty, inherent in nature.

Souls:

• The run and return of the soul between its Divine source and physical abode.
• The hand of Jacob grabbing the heel of Esau.
• The constant progression of the Hebrews.

Divinity:

• The expansion and contraction of the Infinite Light in the process of Creation.

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NAME

Camel; bridge; weaning; benevolence.

Worlds:

• The camel's journey through the desert of this world.
• The camel symbolizes the angel of death.
• A bridge; the connecting force inherent in nature.
• Primordial matter and Divine wisdom.

Souls:

• The soul nursing from its Source.
• The process of weaning through which a person learns to be independent.

Divinity:

• YAHWEH's continuous bestowal of lovingkindness and the weaning of the tsimtsum.
• The obligation to emulate YAHWEH by giving to others.

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NUMBER

Three

Worlds:

• Numerical symbol of stability and balance.
• Equilibrium between the three primary elements of Creation: air, water, and fire.

Souls:

• Three Fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• Three divisions of Hebrew souls: kohanim (priests), Leviim (levites), and Israelites.
• The segol and the segolta.

Divinity:

• Three parts of the Torah: The Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings.
• "Three bonds are bounded together: Israel, Torah, and YAHWEH."

Beyth: YAHWEH's Dwelling Place Below

The letter Beyth, from the word "house," refers to YAHWEH's house: "My house will be called a House of Prayer for all peoples." The Midrash states that the Divine motivation for creation was that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, desired a dwelling place in lower reality. The fulfillment of this desire begins with the creation of man, a Divine soul enclothed in a physical body, and proceeds with the multiplication of man, to "conquer" the whole world and make it the kingdom of YAHWEH.

The Torah precedes the detailed description of the Tabernacle and its vessels with the statement of its ultimate purpose: "They shall build me a Temple and I will dwell in them." Not "in it," the Sages explain, but "in them"--in each and every Jew. "Dwelling in them" is, in essence, the revelation of Divinity in the people of Israel, ever present but often "shadowed," as in the time of exile and destruction of the Temple. The innate sanctity of the people of Israel, the "sanctuary of YAHWEH," when revealed and linked to that of the land of Israel, causes the Holy Land to expand and eventually encompass all the earth (lower reality): "the land of Israel will in the future spread out to all the lands of the earth."

Beyth is numerically equal to the word "ta'awah," which means "desire" or "passion." In general, "ta'awah" connotes a negative human property. However, in several places "ta'awah" denotes the positive passion of the Tsadik, the righteous man. One passage in Proverbs states: "He will fulfill the passion of the Tsadik," and a second says: "the passions of Tsadikim are only good." The "ta'awah" of YAHWEH, the "Tsadik of the world," is altogether above reason and logic. At this level one cannot ask "why." "About passion, there can be no question." As YAHWEH is the essence of good so His passion is "only good."

"With whom did the Holy One, Blessed be He, take counsel whether or not to create the world? With the souls of the tsadikim." The "souls of the tsadikim" refers to all Jewish souls, as is said: "All your people are tsadikim." YAHWEH's connotation as the "Tsadik of the world" refers to the absolute origin and unity of the Hebrew soul in His very Essence. When the soul descends to be enclothed in the finite consciousness and experience of a seemingly mundane body, its task is to become the tsadik below in true emulation of its Source, the "Tsadik Above." This is accomplished through the refinement and purification of passion, ta'awah, to become "only good."

The "Tsadik Above" dwells in the House built for Him by the tsadik below. Here, the deepest passion of YAHWEH reaches fulfillment. The large Beyth, the first letter of the Torah and the beginning of Creation, expresses this ultimate purpose, as is said: "The final deed arose first in thought." In the first word of the Torah, Bereshit, the three "servant" letters--the prefix Beyth" and the two suffix letters, Yad and Tav - spell bayth, "house" (equivalent to the full spelling of the letter Beyth). The root of "bereshit," Reysh, means "head." Thus the most "natural" permutation of bereshit reads: Reysh Bayth, "the head of the house." One permutation of the letters rosh isosher, "happiness." When the tsadik draws YAHWEH, the "Head," into His House, it becomes a house of true and eternal happiness.

The drawing down of the "Head" to dwell in His "House" below, in true happiness, is the secret of berakah, "blessing," which begins with the letter Beyth. The Sages teach that the "Big Beyth" begins the Creation, and the Torah as a whole, with the power of blessing. YAHWEH blesses His creation, which He creates with the attribute of lovingkindness, the attribute of Abraham, as I will explain in the letter Hey. Abraham, the first Hebrew soul, is subsequently entrusted with the Divine power of blessing, the "Big Beyth" of Creation, as is said: "And you shall be [the one who bestows] blessing." Afterwards, at the time of his circumcision, he was given the "Small Hey" of Creation, the power to draw down and manifest the Divine blessing of happiness in the smallest detail of reality.

The Priestly Blessing is composed of three verses. The number of words progress in the order 3, 5, 7, with equal differences of two, Beyth. The number of letters progress in the order: 15, 20, 25, with equal differences of five, Hey. Words represent full, or large consciousness, whereas letters represent particular, or small consciousness. The power to bless "fullness" is the power of the Beyth, as is said: "And full with the blessing of YAHWEH." The power to draw down the blessing to the smallest detail of reality is that of Hey.

This service of Abraham, and all Hebrews after him, leads to the fulfillment of the ultimate intention of Creation, the realization of Yisrael's power of blessing, that the domain of the King (the "Head of the House") extend to encompass all reality and, thereby, bestow true happiness to all.

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FORM

Three connected Waw's with an opening on the left, the "northern side."

Worlds:

• "Evil begins from the north."
• Man's ability to choose between good and evil.
• The animal soul's three positive character traits and the evil inclination. The open north side symbolizes the attribute of courage.

Souls:

• The open north side symbolizes the "fear of heaven."
• "All is in the hands of heaven except for the fear of heaven."
• The Mashiach will close the open side--The integration of free will and Omniscience.
• Speaking Torah--revealing the innate spark of Mashiach.

Divinity:

• Closed Sides--Divine revelation--"You"--in mind, heart, and action.
• Open Side--Divine concealment--"He"--in the hidden heart--the darkness above the light.

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NAME

House

Worlds:

• A physical house.
• One's metaphysical "house"--his relationship to reality.
• The whole of Creation is a "house" in relationship to YAHWEH.
• Superconscious pleasure--"A man without a house is not a man."

Souls:

• The feminine aspect of the soul represented by the house.
• "A man's house is his wife."
• The soul as a house for YAHWEH--the daughter of the priest.
• The power of pregnancy

Divinity:

• YAHWEH's desire to make for Himself a dwelling place in lower reality.
• The House of Immanence and the House of Transcendence.

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NUMBER

Two

Worlds:

• The beginning of manifest plurality.
• The dualistic nature of Creation.
• Hierarchic complexity.

Souls:

• The soul is described as "the second to the King."
• Joseph: the Prism effect--the revelation of mind.
• Mordechai: the Time effect--the revelation of heart.

Divinity:

• Divine power of Self to contain two opposites.
• Concealment of Divine essence and revelation of His light.
• Concealment and revelation of light to lower and higher states of consciousness.
• The Torah begins with a large Beyth.
• The Name Hawayah and the Name Elokim.
• "The two companions that never separate."