The Letters האותיות

For when the world was created it was the supernal letters that brought into being all the works of the lower world, literally after their own pattern (Zohar I:159a).

Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia (c. 1240-1292) developed a meditative system based on the Hebrew alphabet. Believing that each of us can attain lofty spiritual states, Abulafia taught that the Hebrew letters are a key pathway, the means for “the soul to actualize its potential with much greater ease” than with any other method. He emphasized that through proper understanding and practice, any person can use the Hebrew language as a means to arouse tremendous, intuitive capabilities. “Look at these holy letters with truth and belief,” he advised, “[it] will awaken the heart to thoughts of godly and prophetic images.”

The crucial aspect of Abulafia’s system is the utilization of the Hebrew language as the vehicle by which we ascend into the transcendent world. He poetically referred to this process as “knowing God through the method of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.” Abulafia specifically advised his followers, “Cleanse your body, and choose a special place where none will hear you, and remain altogether by yourself in isolation. Sit in one place in a room, or in the attic … it is best to begin by night.”

In Abulafia’s approach, the individual “begins to combine letters, a few or many, reversing and rolling them around rapidly, until [one’s] heart feels warm.” Those who adhere diligently to this technique, Abulafia declared, will eventually experience “a plenitude of saintly spirit … wisdom, under­standing, good counsel and knowledge…. The spirit of the Lord will rest upon [them].”

-adapted from https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-hebrew-alphabet-a-mystical-journey/

According to legend, during the High Holy Days, Rabbi Luria felt that his prayers were especially effective, but an angel revealed to him that another’s prayers were even more potent. Quite intrigued, Rabbi Luria sought out and found the man, who seemed a most ordinary villager.

“What did you do on Rosh Hashanah?” the great rabbi asked. Apologetically, the man replied that he was unlearned and could not even read the entire Hebrew alphabet. So, when the Rosh Hashonah services began at his synagogue, he had recited the first 10 letters and said, “Please, O Master of the Universe, take my letters and form them into words that will please You.” And he had repeated this phrase all day long. Upon hear­ing the simple man’s account, Rabbi Luria then understood that the heartfelt prayers of the uneducated villager had been more exalted than all others.

-adapted from https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-hebrew-alphabet-a-mystical-journey/

"Why does Torah begin with a bet ?"

One of the answers given in Kabbalah is that we must always be aware that we are not starting Torah at the beginning, we always arrive at Bet, stage two. For there are two dimensions to the Torah: There is the Torah of logic and reason — and then there’s the Torah of transcendence where we mere mortals attempt to understand and integrate the will and reason of the creator of the world into our minds and hearts.

That is why the first page of every tractate of the Talmud begins with Daf Beit, page two; the first page is blank. If we believe we know how the beginning started, then we assume there has to be an end as well, for all beginnings have endings. However, the Torah reflects God himself, the Ein Sof, the Infinite. By starting with Bet, we are aware that there is a beginning that precedes us in time, space and consciousness.

-Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi| October 2016, https://www.jweekly.com/2016/10/28/why-the-torah-begins-with-a-bet-instead-of-aleph-and-the-one-time-it-didnt/

https://www.sofer.co.uk/alefbet

See self-drawing letters!

Beit is a house, set firmly on the ground. It is open on one side, so we are invited to enter. It has a holiness antennae, a crown or "tag" (plural, tagin) to gather revelation. God's houses are above and below, l'ma'aleh and l'tata. They sit on firm foundations.

Gimmel is the "gadol" the big , important one. Rich! See the three-pointed crown, the big head, the fancy boot, stepping forward. Gimmel is chasing after "dalet" to give tzedakah.

Dalet, the fourth letter, is a door to four stages of being:

1. The Dal דל, poor one, who is hurrying to make ends meet, but extends itself backwards towards Gimmel so it can accept Gimmel's generosity.

2. It is Dam דם, the blood of the plague that reminds us of the exodus from Egypt and the door to freedom and self-realization as a people

3. It is Dah דע, the higher knowing that leads us to revere the Divine

4. It is devekut דביקות, the holy velcro that binds us in unification with the Divine

Heh: The breath of the Divine blown into us. Dal, the poor one, elevated to devekut by proximity to Yud, the One.

Vav: the conjunction of Divine and human, joined, the holy "AND". Six letter reflecting six days of creation, the power of procreation and creativity!

Yud:The tenth letter. The smallest letter represents the biggest concept, Divine presence! Yud is all the powers of ten, beginning with ten to the first power, or One! Yud is a dot that expands to infinity. Yud is the condensation of holiness. Yud is the most dense condensation of Shekhina, the dark moon.

Mem is mayim, water, and mayan, spring. The 13th letter reflects the 13 midot (qualities) of the Divine. Mem's value is 40: 40 days of rain to produce the mabul, the great flood of Noah's time; 40 seahs of water required to constitute a mikveh, bathing in the Divine. Mem is the blessing of entering the Bet of the Divine, conjoined with a Vav of creativity, allowing flow and joy.

note: 1 seah = ~9 US quarts

A few additional resources:

http://www.otiyot.com/INDEX.HTM Yehudit Goldfarb, Otiyot (Hebrew letters) as Yoga

The Book of Letters, 1975 & 1990 Rabbi Lawrence Kushner