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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: Yud, Chaf, Lamed
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by Avigayil Landsman |
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We continue with the overview of the letters, focusing this month on yud, chaf and lamed. 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.
Yud—Spirituality
Numerical value: 10
Sound: “y” as in “yes”
Words: yad—hand; yud-hay-vav-hay (YHVH)—the Holy Name of God
God, may the works of my hands manifest
The dream YOU planted in my soul
The letter yud derives from a pictogram of a hand holding papyrus.
The letter yud is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet; it is delicately suspended from the top writing line. The letter yud is the foundation of the other letter of the alphabet, all of which are formed by extending the horizontal or vertical parts of yud.
Ten is a number of completions, having gone beyond the first nine single digits. There are ten sephirot (emanations of the divine) in the Tree of Life. The ten sephirot symbolize the complete expression of God’s presence.
The smallest letter of the aleph-beit (Hebrew alphabet) teaches us that everything in creation, human, animal, vegetable and mineral contains within it a small spark of the divine. The message of yud is that our spirituality is expressed through our actions. God created the world and it is our job to continue what God initiated.
Yud means actions (done with one’s hands). Yud is the letter of spirituality because it is through our actions that our highest intensions take form. It is not enough to pray or meditate alone. These activities fuel us to do the work that is needed in repairing the world.
It is impossible to name the nameless; to do so limits the limitless, yet we need to find some way to address the essence of divinity. The symbol for God is the four letters: yud-hey-vav-hey (YHVH). In ancient times, the High Priest would pronounce this Holy Name once during the most sacred day of the year. We have long forgotten how to pronounce this ancient name so when we read it, we say “Adonai,” which means “Lord.” Various permutations of YHVH contain all the verb tenses of “to be”. Other names of God are adjectives, such as Compassion, Mercy, and Sustainer. The Torah is said to be a commentary on the YHVH because every name of God is connected to certain verses. YHVH is like the trunk of a tree and the other names are like the branches. The related verses branch off from the main branches. In this way, everything can be traced back to the essential YHVH.
Let’s look at how these three letters combine to represent the Ineffable:
YUD—spirituality, the essence of the divine, the beginning of aliveness
HEY--aliveness through the awareness of divinity in our lives
VAV--connection from the heavenly realm to the earthly realm
HEY--expressing the upper hey of being fully alive in all we do
Spiritual application: Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish renewal movement teaches that when the letters YHVH are written vertically they look like a person: yud is the head; hay, the shoulders and arms, vav is the spine and the lower hay is the pelvis and legs. He suggests that when we look at others, we project YHVH onto them. This is a creative way to affirm that we are truly made in the image of God!
Practical application: Appreciate the intricate beauty of one of the most complicated instruments on the planet—your hand. The hand has more bones in it than any other body part. Notice how your bent pinky finger looks like the letter yud!
Chaf—Glory
Numerical value: 20
Sound: “k” as in carrot or “ch” as in yuch
Words: kavod: honor, heavy, glory; chaf: palm of the hand, inner thigh
Derivation: palm of the hand
What is concealed in my hand
What is concealed in my heart
Will be revealed by opening both to YOU
The letter chaf derives from and means the palm of a hand. While the yad, hand represents actions (done with one’s hand), the letter chaf represents what is hidden.
The word chaf appears in the famous Bible story of Jacob wrestling with an angel for it is Jacob’s inner thigh, or chaf that is injured. Because he prevails with the angel by insisting on receiving a blessing (the name Yisrael, “God wrestler”) after he is injured, we learn that chaf comes to mean(or indicate?) hidden glory. The nation of Israel comes from Jacob, who is blessed with the spiritual name, Israel, because he has prevailed.
Spiritual application: Are you willing to confront your inner demons in order to find your hidden glory, your purpose in life? Know that the inner work is the toughest work one can engage in.
Practical application: What’s hiding in your pantry, your attic, all those concealed places you rarely clean out? Exploring those concealed, hard-to-reach places reveals unseen rewards, from finding your old yearbook to your mom’s antique lamp that’s worth a fortune!
Lamed— Heart path
Numerical value: 30
Sound: “l” as in love
Words: lev—heart, lomed—teach, lilmod—learn
Derivation: ox goad
To learn a lesson of lamed
Teach what is in your heart.
You will then truly learn what is
in your heart
Lamed is the only letter that soars above the writing line. This letter is reaching up for divine instruction. Since the letter lamed goes above the top writing line, we understand that teaching and learning are the most cherished things we can do, especially when we do it through the heart, lev.
The message of lamed is that when you teach from your inner truth, your students feel your passion and strong connections are made. Similarly, when you learn something of great significance to you, your heart expands. I have always loved my teachers and students who sincerely cared about what they were either teaching or learning. I also found that the strong bond of teaching and learning became a catalyst of reciprocity; my students taught me by tapping into information I didn’t know I had and I did the same for my teachers. The lessons shared made our spirits soar!
Spiritual application: Are you doing what you feel you were born to do? Each of us has our work to do in this lifetime; part of our job is finding out what it is and then pursuing it. Finding it can take a lifetime in itself, so if you are frustrated by the amount of time you have spent trying to figure it out, remember that lamed also speaks of going slowly (la’at). Engage with the process of life. When you fully engage on all levels with what is going on in your life, your heart will speak the truth, leading you to your destiny (goal).
Practical application: Do you have a skill or special knowledge—something you are passionate about, that you can share with others? Contact your local community center or continuing education department of your local community college, etc. to find a venue!
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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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