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Creating Bridges: Spirituality & Philosophy:
Kabbalah: "Letters from Heaven:"
Spiritual Guidance from the Hebrew Alphabet
Opening the door of Dalet
Finding an open door (delet)
At the crossroads
Leads the Way to (derech)
My Beloved Friend (dodi)
by Avigayil Landsman
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Dedication
This month's column is dedicated to my dear friend Rachel Pollack, world's best cheerleader, gentle mentor, perceptive, caring Tante, hysterically funny buddy and a pretty darned good Tarot teacher and reader to boot. Rachel recommended me for this column, so I owe her a big gracias for making the shiddach (connection) with Meta Arts. Rachel opened the door of Tarot to me and urged me to pursue my creation of Hebrew divination. My first reading was for her and when SHE was blown away, I knew I was on to something. Rachel in some way inspires many of my readings. My friendship with Rachel has nurtured my soul in thousands of ways.
In honor of Rachel, who turned me onto Tarot, I will discuss the connection between the Empress card with dalet. The Empress represents fertility, motherhood and the deep love of the Mother. Dalet derives from an image of a door but also of a breast or the pubic triangle. In fact, all of writing is connected to the female principal because "all marks made by the 'nails' of cuneiform script all reproduce the pubic triangle." ("Mysteries of the Alphabet" by Marc-Alain Ouknin) The Hebrew word "dad" means nipple or breast. The Empress reminds us to marvel at the wonder of our bodies and the dalet is the letter of physicality. The Empress in a reading may represent an individual who is a bit indulged in earthly pleasures (or someone who is in need of having a little fun!) while the dalet speaks of the humility that results from our awareness of our material existence.
Homiletically speaking…
When the vowel is changed in dalet, the letter, we get the word delet, door or opening. When I think of doors, I think of the Devil card from Rachel Pollack's Tarot deck, Shining Tribe. The small figure of the devil seems to be hiding behind many doors. The door leads us to new levels of awareness, opening up to a new path. At one time or another in our lives, we fixate on material concerns. This might take us away from spiritual growth, but eventually, we'll run into a wall. The door is the moveable part of the wall that opens to a new realm. We don't have to think of physicality in the negative, however. The physical is only harmful when we obsess over it. The Empress and Devil cards also teach us that love of the physical can lead to the spiritual. What door are you opening? Where will it lead? What's behind door number 1 or would you prefer to have what's hiding behind the curtain?
Doors can also symbolize taking risks. A song in the movie "Mame" has the words, "Open a new window, open a new door. Travel a new highway that's never been tried before!" The resistance we have to change! You'd think that door of opportunity was vacuum-sealed! Our lack of self-confidence, our self doubt and self-consciousness are barriers to opening a new door, yet it's often the risks that spark our creativity and inner growth.
The late nineteenth century hassidic master, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger referred to a midrash (homily) in his book, Sefat Emet that speaks of the energy of dalet. "Happy is the one whose listenings are to Me, hovering always at my doorways, door within door." The humility implied here is that whatever we have learned, there is always more to know. Life is a door opening to new understandings, or "listening." "My doorways" refer to the doors of the synagogue, where people learn Torah. Always be prepared to learn. (from The Language of Truth: The Torah commentary of the Sefat Emet, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger, translated and interpreted by Arthur Green, p323)
Metaphysically speaking…
Four is the number of the earth, and matter (a word derived from mater, or mother). The circle is the symbol of heaven (probably because of the Sun as an example, but also because a circle has no end or beginning), while an equal-armed cross or a square symbolizes earth. There are four seasons (based on two equinoxes and two solstices), four cardinal directions, four fixed astrological signs, four elements (fire, earth, air and water). The four cardinal directions give you four perspectives with which to express yourself. Your ideas change when you face a new direction. The paper we write on, the homes we live in generally have four sides. When we think of our bodies, we think of four: right, left, front and behind. I thank Rachel for this information, gleaned from her books and recent e-mail that I read on a four-sided monitor! But remember, we don't have to be "boxed in" by dalet because within it's physicality; four has a door to open! This teaches us that our physicality can lead us to our spirituality.
Personally speaking…
One day I was waiting in my car for my children. I decided that I would pass the time productively by meditating. I let my eyes wander until they settled on a beautiful, round, orange pumpkin. I looked at it and my mind started its "brilliant" chatter of observing its contours, color, etc. In that moment, I realized that everything that was going on in my mind was related to me, not the pumpkin-ness of the pumpkin. To enter the world of the pumpkin, I would lose my sense of self-- as if I could really lose myself! I sensed this momentary terror. I am so used to relating everything to myself, needing myself as a frame of reference that letting go of this was terrifying! That moment cracked the door of dalet just a smidge. What is so scary about pumpkin consciousness? It's not me. If I leave me to think only about the pumpkin, who will be here to think about Avigayil? I will disappear! I am ridiculously attached to myself! AND-in that moment, I was very humbled by my awareness that pumpkin and me weren't so different after all and maybe, since pumpkin sat out on a porch by a busy street, more folks looked at pumpkin than they did Avigayil who sits fretting in her car trying to meditate on pumpkin.
Jewish holidays and four
We celebrate the holiday of Sukkot, the harvest festival by shaking a lulav and etrog(citron) under a sukkah(booth). Historically, the sukkah represents the Hebrews' temporary dwelling used while wandering in the desert and points to our trust in the Divine for protection. The lulav consists of three branches tied together. It is held in one hand and the etrog is held in the other. Combined, they are a visual metaphor of the tetragrammaton, (spelled yud, hay, vav, hay) the holy, unpronounceable name of God: the myrtle and willow bend like the letter hay, the palm stands straight like the letter vav(stay tuned to the next issues to hear about these beautiful letters!) and the etrog stands for the yud. Each "ingredient" symbolizes a type of person based on the plant's physical characteristics. The etrog is very fragrant and comes from a tree that is always green and has fruit. This is like the divine essence, eternal and fragrant. The myrtle has no fruit, but is fragrant, the palm has no scent but gives fruit and the willow gives neither fruit nor scent. They represent people of learning without good deeds, people of deeds with no learning and the people who have neither deeds nor learning but are welcomed under the sukkah(booth) and in a larger sense, the community of Israel, nevertheless because, as my mother(and the rabbis) says, "it takes all kinds to make a world."
We celebrate the holiday of Pesach, Passover with a ritual meal called a seder. There are four kinds of children who are symbolically invited to ask the four questions about the Hebrews' liberation from slavery in Egypt. There is the wise, wicked, simple child and one who doesn't know to ask. These represent the learned, the skeptic, the childlike or concrete person and the very innocent person who has little awareness. All of these personalities are contained in us, inviting us to embrace all aspects of ourselves.
Into the mystic…
In Jewish mysticism, there are four worlds or dimensions of reality: assiyah, doing, corporeal existence, (ie. gimilut chasadim); yetzirah, formation: what we feel is a part of something much greater than we have been trained to know; briyah, creation: beliefs: disciplining the mind to penetrate the mysteries of life and atzilut, the world of emanation: pure being beyond the dualities of the mind and body, being at one with Spirit.
There are four levels to approach the Torah called Pardes. This acronym is a word that means garden or paradise, as in the Garden of Eden. The garden we enter when learning the Torah can be accessed through the p'shat, remez, drash or sod levels. The best way to describe each level is to see that the Torah is a story. The p'shat level is to simply read it for its own sake. The remez is making connections between various elements in the story. The drash is to think of more connections that aren't exactly spelled out but are hinted at and the sod level is to have so many connections that your awareness soars to a spiritual level beyond the story. The story and your life are one and through the story you have come closer to understanding the Divine. I thank Rabbi Jonathan Kligler of the Woodstock Jewish Congregation for this description
The form of dalet has a horizontal line over a diagonal line. The horizontal line extends beyond the diagonal to indicate that it is reaching back to the gimmel. Why? Because the dalet is the letter of humility. The Talmud says that the wealthy gimmel is running after the humble dalet to give tzedakah(righteous giving). As much as the humble person needs help, the rich person needs someone to give to. Just as a door hides the riches inside the palace, our bodies are the klipot(husks) of the divine spark. Reb Shlomo Carlebach said, "If your ears are not open to the crying of the poor, then your ears are deaf, and you will not hear God calling either." This quote speaks of the humilty of dalet. When someone asks you for something, it is an opportunity to do a mitzvah, a door that opens one to God. God gives us many opportunities to find those hidden sparks. The next time you are asked to give, instead of being annoyed, see it as an opportunity to meet the Divine.
The Talmud says that the diagonal line of dalet is a reminder of the prostrations in the Holy Temple. One bowed in humility to the Infinite Source of Creation. There was a mandated space of four cubits that each person had to have around him when they prayed. People stood for most of the service, but when they had to prostrate themselves, magically, there was the same amount of space around each person! The dalet is humbly bending down to HaShem, not showing his face, reaching back to the full and giving gimmel. Dalet is the first letter in the word daloot, leanness or poverty. The Talmud says that gimmel dalet stands for G'mol dalim, be generous to the poor.
The measurement of "dalet amot" is four cubits (a forearm's length, 4 amot equals about 6 feet). In the Talmud it says that after the destruction of the Temple all that is left us is the "dalet amot shel halakha" meaning that we've lost the dimension of sacred communal space and we are all in our personal space. The four amot comes into such halakhic considerations as determining the private space for Shabbat. If you don't have an eruv, you can't carry from a private space into a public space. So, sometimes in an emergency, a person carrying something on Shabbat will walk 4 amot, stop, 4 amot, stop, etc., in order to be walking in private spaces. Also a succah needs to be at least four amot by four amot (I think) because that's the size of a person's personal space. I thank my brilliant friend, Rabbi Natan Margalit for the above information.
…and back again
I was watching a movie where a woman was crying as a result of fighting with her lover. She was so sad that she couldn't look at him. She displayed her continued love for him by extending her hand behind herself. When she reached for him, he moved closer to her and took her hand in his. When he held her hand, the anger left his face and was replaced with compassion. That moment initiated healing. It was a dalet moment for me, the humbled woman reaching to the source of loving kindness.
Dalet in a reading
This column is due in November, my birthday month and my birthday is on the fourth, so I thought I'd do a little reading for myself. Dalet speaks of crossroads and my birthday is a kind of crossroads, bringing me into a new year. I can imagine myself standing at a big intersection. To my left and right I view the previous year with all it's ups and downs, challenges and triumphs; behind me is what I want to leave behind and in front of me is what's yet to be: the future articles for Meta Arts, new letter pictures, new friends, my movie contract (just want to see if you're paying attention!). There's a lot to think about, a lot to be excited about. Dalet is telling me also to focus on my physical health. What new health habits do I want to focus on? I need to exercise more, at least four times a week. Remember that dalet is a door and doors open to new adventures. Dalet begins the Yiddish word daven, which means pray. What do I pray for in the coming year? One thing I pray for is to meet my dodi, my beloved. My prayer is to fully step through the door leading to deeper understandings and new opportunities and to close old doors of disappointment and bad habits firmly behind me. I would love to close the door on eating junk food, for example. I'd love to close the door on procrastination-I'll save that one for later.
A Picture Paints a 1000 words
Recently, my furnace started leaking water in the basement where I store my unused belongings. Most of my boxes are up on pallets, except one and that was the one filled with papers. As I took out the contents from the soaked box, I found many sketchbooks that I used almost thirty years ago. I was wondering where I put them! They were all moldy, but not totally lost. My artist friend opened up each one, delicately turning over each pathetically limp page, examining each drawing with curiosity, journeying with me through a tour of my creative psyche. Six years of my life flipped past my eyes, reuniting me with a long-forgotten part of myself. Memories flooded my mind as if I was leafing through a photo album. Later that evening, the images merged with the various teachings I'd been writing on dalet and magically, the image of opening the door to one's inner light developed in my mind's eye! I've been trying to come up with an image for dalet for many years now. Little did I know that the key to open the door to my imagination was a leaky furnace!
A.E. Waite, creator of the Rider Tarot deck said, "pictures are like doors which open into unexpected chambers." Dalet is an entrance to the Divine name (yud, hay, vav, hay). Physical existence is the door to the transcendent. The left side of the dalet is open and the right side is complete because the physical is the hiding place of the spiritual. We see a woman's torso with an archway that reveals her heart, the fourth chakra inscribed with the four-letter name of God. The torso speaks of our physical presence on earth; the nakedness of her body speaks of throwing off all illusion and defenses. The opening symbolizes the path (derech) of the inner work that reveals our true essence. The level of awareness determines whether our door is open or not. This is the path to the Holy of Holies, the source of our creativity.
Dalet is the first letter in the word, d'var, meaning "word" or "thing". From this we learn that words create realities. God spoke the world into existence-- "…and God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light." (Genesis1:3) Our words reflect and create realities, which is why we must be very careful how we choose our words. The concept of lushan hara, lilterally evil tongue, or gossip is based on this. One can kill another with their hurtful words because lies destroy someone's reputation. May the words of our mouths create worlds worthy of housing the Holy Presence. Amen.
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Avigayil Landsman,
Torah Scholar, Caligrapher, Lecturer, 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 and Mount St. Alphonsus.
"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:
jewishwisdomandart@
hotmail.com
www.jewish-wisdom-and-art.4t.com |
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