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Creating Bridges: Spirituality & Philosophy:
Kabbalah: "Letters from Heaven:"
Spiritual Guidance from the Hebrew Alphabet
A Journey
Through The Letters:
Part 3
Letters From Heaven: Zayin, Chet, Tet
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by Avigayil Landsman |
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We continue with the overview of the letters, focusing this month on zayin, chet and tet. For each letter, we will learn the sound, the numerical value, and several words (beginning with that letter) that illuminate its meaning. We will consider how to apply the letters’ meanings to our daily lives.
Zayin— completion and movement
Numerical value: 7
Sound: “z” as in “zoo”
Meaning: weapon
Words: zachor- remember, zera- seed; zman- time
Inside the seed
The future
memory
Zayin’s shape is derived from an arrow or a vertical line connecting two parallel lines that represent a distance to be covered. This suggests a confrontation between two individuals, two enemies or two situations. An arrow travels through distance and implies movement. In the Torah scroll, zayin appears as an ornament on top of certain letters of the aleph-beit.
The numerical value of zayin is seven, an especially important number in the Torah. There are seven days of creation that correspond to the seven days of the week. Mystically, there are seven “lower” sephirot, or essences of the divine. The seventh day of the week is Shabbat, Sabbath, when work stops and Jews take an entire day to focus on Torah, prayer and enjoyment of nature, family and love.
Zayin means weapon. There is a keris sword that has the zigzag shape similar to the shape of the letter zayin! Zayin, the sword and the number seven, therefore indicates an ending, a time to “cut off.” We can look at the zayin as a spiritual sword, cutting away the useless or worn-out, whether it is relationships, old clothes and clutter or attitudes.
Zayin is the first letter in the word z’man, the Hebrew word meaning time. Time is always moving; we can neither stop, kill, borrow nor keep time. The only way we can hold on to time is through memories and ritual.
Spiritual application: Is there something you need to let go of, such as a habit or relationship that inhibits your full enjoyment of life? Cut through the unhealthy ties that bind you with your spiritual sword.
Practical application: make a commitment to get to your appointments in a timely fashion! Buy a new clock, watch and calendar as a reward and motivator for your commitment. Plant some seeds and patiently note the progress of growth over a period of time. Other than Burpee, seeds can be dropped hints or project ideas.
Chet: LIFE!
Numerical value: 8
Sound: “ch” as in L’Chayyim!
Meaning: gate
Words: Chay- life; chayt—missing the mark
The letter chet derives from a gate. A gate is a barrier that can act as either an obstacle or a protector.
Chayt, the Hebrew word for missing the mark is more popularly known as “sin,” though “missing the mark” is a better meaning for this archery term. Sin sounds very final, with no further opportunities for correction. A more useful conception of chayt is that it brings you to an awareness about yourself that will compel you to look deeper into yourself so that you can make amends and change your behavior. Mistakes provide the opportunity for teshuva, the Hebrew word for return, response, a concept that will be discussed in tav, the last letter of the aleph-beit. Mistakes are, as we all know, part of the dynamics of life because they provide opportunities for learning.
Spiritual application: Every time you light a candle to meditate, do so with the intension of spiritually walking through a gate to the divine. Use your spiritual practice as a gateway to living more fully.
Practical application: We all make mistakes; learning from them is what makes us wise. Learn from your mistakes!
Tet—goodness
Numerical value: 9
Sound: “t” as in “top”
Words: tov—good; tal-- dew; tahor-- pure
Pure goodness
Gives birth
To truth
Derivation: a snake biting its tail.
Tet is the first letter of the Hebrew word for goodness, tov. In the Biblical story of creation God says that the light, etc. that is being created is good. The word good implies the life-supporting qualities that include justice, peace, holiness and compassion.
The numerical value nine has several important implications. The gematria, or numerical value of the Hebrew word for truth, emet is nine. Human gestation takes nine months as the goodness of the parents pours into the fetus.
The letter tet is a curved line that bends over into itself like a blade of grass laden with dew. Dew is sacred, a symbol of God’s presence. In the arid wastes of the desert, dew must have been a miraculous measure of moisture. The rabbis say that the manna, the food that sustained the Hebrews on their long journey through the desert came down with the dew. There is a midrash that the gemstones that were used in the High Priest’s breastplate came down in the dew. Dew is so deeply venerated that there is a prayer for dew in the liturgy.
Spiritual application: Notice that the top of the letter is open, like a funnel, channeling divine goodness to enter from above. You can do a tet meditation by raising and opening your arms heavenward to receive the divine flow. Let God’s abundance fill you with the goodness that will wash you clean and make your heart pure. This will allow your actions to flow freely and manifest more goodness in the world.
Everything we experience, no matter how sad, challenging or hurtful is for the good if we embrace the challenge of transforming ourselves. Each stumbling block put before us, each riddle we try to unravel is presented to us for the purpose of refining our souls.
Practical application: Dew departs once the sun comes up, but it sustains plant life in the desert. Notice the goodness from others that sustains you. Look for the goodness in others. Let people in your life (spouse, children, friends, wait staff, health care providers) know that you appreciate what a good job they are doing.
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Avigayil Landsman,
Torah Scholar, Calligrapher, Teacher & Creator of the "Letters From Heaven" Deck
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Avigayil has been a serious student of Torah for the last ten years and has written many d'vrai Torah(Torah lectures). She is the creator of Letters from Heaven, a Jewish divination system that incorporates the mystical meanings of the Hebrew letters, her chiddushim (new insights into Torah) and their application to the challenges of daily life. Her LFH readings offer seekers of all persuasions spiritual direction in finding one's authentic voice.
Avigayil is a multi-media artist who is best-known for the beaded breastplate that adorns the Woodstock Jewish Congregation's Torah. She creates personalized ketubot, beeswax Shabbat candles, shiviti plaques and other judaica as well as secular art in Sculpey, paint, and shadow boxes that combine disparate objects such as feathers, beads and wood.
Her Judaica (beeswax Shabbat and havdallah candles, havdallah spice boxes, shiviti plaques) and calligraphy cards are available for purchase at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation's judaica shop, Miriam's Well and her home. She also does private commissions.
Avigayil has taught enrichment classes in calligraphy for the Woodstock Jewish Congregation's Hebrew school. She prepares children and adults for becoming Bat/bar-mitzvah with humor and deep wisdom that come from her own unique way of living through the lessons of Torah. She has also given workshops and lectures on the spiritual meaning of the Hebrew letters and Letters from Heaven at Omega.
"Avigayil Landsman's interpretations of the Hebrew letters are original, witty, steeped in scholarship, and above all a genuine opening to our own spiritual wisdom." Rachel Pollack, creator of Shining Tribe Tarot Deck
www.rachelpollack.
com
Avigayil is available for art commissions and LFH readings in person or on the phone. She may be contacted by e-mail at:
Avigayil1@earthlink.net
Website:
www.jewish-wisdom
-and-art.4t.com
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