MEANING OF THE 22 LETTERS OF

HEBREW ALPHABET

ALEF
The Paradox: G-d and Man

The aleph is formed by two yud , one in the upper right part, and the other in the lower left,
joined by a diagonal vav . This represents the upper and lower waters with the firmament
between them, as taught by the Ari z"l ("Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, of blessed memory", who
received and revealed new knowledge of ancient Kabbalistic wisdom).

Water is mentioned for the first time in the Torah, in the account of the first day of Creation: "And the
spirit of G-d prowls above the surface of the waters." At that time, the upper and lower waters were
indistinguishable; Its state is called as "water in water." On the second day of Creation, G-d separated the
two waters by "extending" the firmament between them.

In the service of the soul, as Hasidism teaches, the upper water is the water of joy, the experience of being
close to G-d, while the lower water is the water of bitterness, the experience of being far from G-d.

BEIT
Purpose: A dwelling here below for G-d

The letter bet , the first of the word "house," refers to G-d's house: "My house will be called the
House of Prayer for all peoples." It is stated in the Midrash that the Divine Motivation for
Creation was that the Saint, Blessed Be He, desired to have a dwelling place in the lower
reality. The fulfillment of this desire begins with the creation of man, a Divine soul invested in
a physical body, and continues with the multiplication of man, the complete "conquest" of the world to
make it the kingdom of G-d.

T he Torah begins the detailed description of the Tabernacle and its utensils with the declaration of its
final purpose: "And they will build me a Temple and I will dwell in them." It does not say "in him", the
wise men explain, but "in them", in each and every one of the Jews. "Dwelling in them" is essentially the
revelation of Divinity in the people of Israel, always present, but sometimes "overshadowed", as at the
time of the exile and the destruction of the Temple. The innate holiness of the people of Israel causes the
Holy Land to expand and eventually encompass the entire earth (the lower reality), as it is said: "the land
of Israel will extend to all the lands of the world."

B et ( bet-yud-tav ) is numerically equivalent to the word " taava ", which means "desire" or "passion"
(412).

IUD
The Infinity Point

The letter yud , a small suspended dot, reveals the spark of essential goodness hidden in the
letter tet . Following the initial tzimtzum (the contraction of G-d's Infinite Light to make "room"
for Creation), an individual potential point or "impression" remained within the empty space.
The secret of this point is the power of the Infinite to contain the finite phenomenon within the
Self, and express it in the apparent external reality. A finite manifestation starts from a zero-dimensional
point, then develops into a one-dimensional line and a two-dimensional surface. This is hinted at in the full
writing of the letter i ud ( iud-vav-dalet ): "point" ( iud ), "line" ( vav ), "surface" ( dalet ). These three
stages correspond in Kabbalah to: "point ( necudá ), "spectrum" ( sefirá ), "figure" ( partzuf ). The starting
point, the essential power of the letter yud , is the "little that contains much." "Much" refers to the simple
Infiniteness of G-d, hidden within the initial point of revelation, which is reflected as the Infinite potential
that the point has, to develop and express itself throughout the manifold finite phenomenon of time and
space.

Before tzimtzum , the power of limitation was hidden, latent within the Infinite Essence of G-d. Following
the tzimtzum , this power of limitation was revealed, and paradoxically the Infinite Essence of G-d, which
originally "concealed" the power of limitation, now became Himself hidden (not in truth, but from our
limited human perspective). within the point of contracted light.

CAF

The Power to Realize Potential

T he two letters in the full spelling of the word coffee are the initials of two Hebrew words:
coach ("potential") and poel ("real"). Thus the coffee alludes to the latent power within the
spiritual realm, the potential to manifest completely in the physical sphere of the real. G-d
must continually create the world; Otherwise, Creation would cease to exist.
instantly. Its potential is then updated at every moment. This concept is known as "the power to reveal the
eternal potential within reality." In Hasidism we are taught that this should be the first perception upon
awakening. While the literal meaning of the letter caf is "palm" - the place in the body where potential is
put into practice - this perception is reflected in the custom of placing one palm on top of the other when
waking up, when reciting the prayer of Modé Aní : "I thank You, living and eternal King, because You
mercifully returned my soul within me; Great is Your faithfulness."

Placing one palm on the other is an act and sign of subjugation, similar to the act of bowing in front of a
king. When one bows down, completely nullifies consciousness in the presence of the King, by placing
one palm on the other, one enters a state of supplication and prayer to the King, in order to reveal a new
will in His supreme crown (desire) towards His subjects.

LAMED
Aspiration: Contemplation of the Heart

In the "Letters of Rabbi Akiva", the full writing of the letter lamed ( lamed-mem-dalet ) is the
acronym for the phrase: "a heart that understands knowledge" ( lev mevin daat ). The
numerical value of this phrase, (608), is equivalent to "heart" (32) times "Eve" (19), that is,
"Eve's heart."

In his commentary on the story of the Garden of Eden, the first episode of the human race, Rabbi
Avraham Ibn Ezra declares that Adam is the secret of the brain; Eve, the secret of the heart; the snake, the
secret of the liver. In Kabbalah and Hasidism, these fundamental correspondences are developed and
explained in depth.

Dan and Eve, man and woman, are the spiritual prototypes of the forces of giving and receiving. The
marital union and the giving of man to woman is related to the secret of knowledge, as it is said: "And
Adam knew his wife Eve." For this reason, they are often seen as representing the teacher and the student.
The teacher contracts his intellect to a point ( yud ), in order to transmit his teachings to his student, while
the disciple nullifies his previous levels of conception, to be a suitable vessel for the new and wonderful
teachings of his teacher.
 MEM
The Fountain of Wisdom

L a mem , the letter of "water" ( maim ), symbolizes the source of the Divine Wisdom of the
Torah. Just as the waters of a material source (spring) rise from their unknown underground
origin (the secret of the abyss in the Creation story) to reveal themselves above the earth, so
the fountain of wisdom expresses the power to flow from its superconscious origin. In
Kabbalah terminology, this flow is from keter ("crown") to chochma ("wisdom"). This stream is
symbolized in Proverbs as "the flowing stream, the fountain of wisdom."

In particular, we were taught that there are thirteen channels of flow, from its superconscious origin to the
beginning of consciousness. These channels correspond to the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy revealed on
Mount Sinai, as well as the thirteen principles of exegesis (interpretation) of the Torah, the (suprarational)
"logic of the Torah.

L a mem is the thirteenth letter of the alef-bet . In Kabbalah, we are taught that "thirteen mem," as it were,
appear in the "primordial air," the "outer space" in which the letter lamed rises. Each attribute of mercy is
in fact a contraction of a relatively Infinite wisdom, located at the level of superconsciousness ("endless
waters"), to channel and reveal a flash of wisdom on the "screen" of consciousness.

NUN
Mashiach: Heir to the Throne

In Aramaic, nun means "fish." The mem , the waters of the sea, is the natural environment of
the nun . She "swims" in the mem , covered by the waters of the "hidden world", there the
creatures are not aware of themselves. Unlike fish, terrestrial animals that are exposed on the
face of the earth do have self-awareness.

T he souls of Israel are divided into two general categories, symbolized by fish and land animals. The two
prototypes of these categories are the leviathan and the behemoth . At present, these two categories of
souls correspond to the two innate tendencies and attractions for the soul, to the two dimensions of the
Torah, one hidden and secret and the other legal and revealed. In the future, the two prototypes of
leviathan and behemoth will join in battle, each "killing" the ego of the other, and then uniting together in
true union. The "meat" of both will then be served at the banquet of the tzaddikim in the World to Come.
The souls of the tzaddikim "consume" the same root consciousness of our present soul level, to integrate
("digest") it to a totally new and higher level of consciousness.

SAMEJ
The infinite circle

T he circular shape of the samech symbolizes the fundamental faith reflected in all levels of
Torah and reality: "Its end is uncertain in the beginning, and the beginning in its end." This
understanding and perception of the inherent unity between beginning and end, which when
understood in depth implies equanimity in all stages of the "infinite cycle", is in fact the
manifestation of the Transcendent Light of G-d ( sovev kol almin ), that equally encompasses every point
of reality.

This Transcendental Light present at all times is called "He is equality and equalizes the small and the
great." In our service to G-d, this implies that in relation to the phenomena of the world, all things must be
related and accepted equally. This is the attribute of equanimity as taught by the Baal Shem Tov , in his
interpretation of the verse: "I always put [ shiviti , from the root shavé , 'equal'] G-d before me." "
 AIN
Divine Providence

" It [the land of Israel] is the land that G-d your G-d intends; the eyes of G-d your G-d are
always [looking] on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year ".

T he annual cycle, from beginning to end ("the end included in the beginning"), alludes to the
"infinite cycle," the secret of the letter samech , as explained above. Divine Providence, G-d's "eyes"
controlling the cycle, is the secret of the next letter ain , which means "eye." Although the primary
revelation of supernatural Providence is in the Land of Israel, the Jew in exile is commanded to create
something of the holiness existing in each one, at each of the scales of the diaspora, recognizing the
Divine Providence wherever you are.

Upon entering the Land of Israel, the second city to be conquered by Joshua was Ai , which is written ain-
yud , abbreviated form of ain ( ain-yud-nun , where the nun falls) "the Eye." Jericho, the first city to be
conquered, comes from the Hebrew word reach , the sense of smell. In Hasidism it was taught that the
origin of this sense is in keter , the superconscious sensitivity that directs the motivation of Desire or Will.
The Hebrew word for "land," eretz , derives from the word ratzón , "desire," as our sages teach: "Why is it
called eretz ? Because he desires to do the Will of his Creator."

PEI
Communication: The Oral Torah

The mouth, the letter pei , follows the eye, the letter ain . The five goodnesses and the five
powers of the left and right eyes referred to in the letter ain , are in fact the dual
manifestations of the sefirah of daat , - knowledge -, as taught in Kabbalah. Daat is the power
of union and communication. Providence is the power of daat as revealed through the eyes,
while the power of daat as revealed by the mouth, speech, is the most explicit form of contact and
communication between individuals. As expressed in the verse: "and Adam knew his wife Eve", "knew",
the power of daat , is related to the physical union of the husband and his wife, which is why the idiomatic
form "speak" is used by our wise when referring to that union. And so we are taught in the Zohar: "[the
power of] daat is hidden in the mouth."

D aat as contact at eye level is the secret of the written Torah. When reading it in the synagogue service,
the reader must see each letter of the Torah Scroll; Sometimes a "silver finger" is used to point and direct
our eyes to each word. Contact at the level of the mouth is the secret of the Oral Torah.

TZADIK
The Faith of the Righteous

" The tzadik lives in his faith." The shape of the letter tzadik, or tzadi , resembles the alef more
than any other letter. The twenty-two letters of the alef-bet are associated in pairs, forming
eleven "companion forms", according to which forms are most similar to each other, as taught
in Kabbalah. The "friend" of the aleph , the Master of the Universe, is the tzadik , "the
world stands, as it is said: "The tzadik is the foundation of the world."
righteous one" upon whom the
W ith the letter tzadik begins the word tzelem , the "Divine image" according to which G-d created man. It
is taught in Kabbalah that the tzadik of tzelem corresponds to the three conscious levels of the soul: mind,
heart and action, while the next two letters of tzelem ( lamed and mem ) correspond to the two transcendent
levels of the soul, "the living one" ( chaiá ) and "the only one" ( yechida ), respectively, as seen in the
letter hei ( tzadik in atbash ). These two levels become conscious, as two states of faith in the inner
perception of the tzadik : faith in the Transcendent Light of G-d, the maximum source of creation, and in
the Essence of G-d itself, the maximum source of revelation. of Torah and mitzvot . For this reason the
word tzadik (204) is numerically equivalent to twice emuna (102), "faith." Also in the verse "the tzadik
lives in his faith", the word " b'emunató ", "in his faith", can be read as " bet (2) emunató", "two levels of
his faith". "Living in one's faith" means experiencing the most immense joy in one's service to G-d, as
explained in the Tanya .

T he word etz , "tree" which was created on the third day, has the same gematria of tzelem , 160, the
"Divine image" with which man was created on the sixth day. "Man is the tree of the field." In Kabbalah,
the third day, tiferet ("beauty"), is the origin of the sixth day, yesod ("foundation"). Tiferet and yesod are
totally integrated into the secret of the "middle line" - "the body and the brit are considered one."

CUF
Omnipresence - Redemption of the Fallen Sparks

T wo letters, one reish and one zain , combine to form the letter cuf . The zain to the left,
descends below the line, the reish to the right, flies over it. The paradoxical union symbolized
by the two components of the cuf is the secret of "There is no one sacred like G-d." In general,
the cuf is "stopped" by kedusha , sacredness. The level of
unparalleled sacredness inherent in G-d, is expressed in the words of the Zohar in this way: "He is grasped
in all the worlds, therefore no one can grasp Him." The descending zain of the cuf symbolizes His being
grasped or included in all worlds, permeating all spheres of reality "below the line", that is, worlds
incompatible with those in which the Presence of G-d is revealed. . The reish , G-d's eternal transcendence,
remains "separate" and sacred ("sacred" means separate) in relation to His descending immanence.

The name of the letter tzadik , in its original way of reading, tzadi , refers to "hunting" the fallen sparks.
The sacred spark, captured "below the line" in physical matter ("antimatter", in relation to that of the
spiritual realms) is the secret of the next letter, the cuf , with which the tzadi connects to form the full and
rectified name - tzadik .

REISH
Process - The Art of Debugging

Although this letter is found near the end of the alef-bet , its primary meaning is "head" or
"beginning." There are four "beginnings" in the alef-bet (comparable to the four New Years
listed at the beginning of the Rosh Hashanah tractate) relating to four different categories of
phenomena. The ordinal beginning is the letter alef . Phonetically , steam or
amorphous "matter" from which the pronunciation of each letter is formed, is the secret of the letter hei .
According to its writing , each letter begins from a point, the secret of the letter yud . In relation to its
meaning , that is, cognitive intelligence or wisdom, the reish means "beginning." These four letters
combined form the word arié , "the lion," the first of the four "sacred animals" of Ezekiel's Divine chariot.
Another combination forms the word will , "fear" or "fear."

" The beginning of wisdom is the fear of G-d." We study in Hasidism, that the inner experience of the soul
that serves as the vessel to inspire and contain always new flashes of understanding and wisdom, is bitul ,
"self-nullification." Fear, the beginning of wisdom, corresponds to the source of this state of the soul. Fear
produces a "shock" in the ego, breaking the innate coarseness of the heart, that rudeness or egocentrism
that prevents us from being truly receptive and perceptive to external reality in general, and to the Divine
Essence of all reality, in particular.

SHIN
The Eternal Flame
 The letter shin appears in relief on both sides of the head tefillin . On the right side the shin
appears with three heads, while on the left it appears with four. In Kabbalah we study that the
three-headed shin is that of this world, and the four-headed shin is that of the World to Come.

T he secret of the shin is "the flame [Divine Revelation] united with the charcoal [Divine
Essence]." Coal has an invisible flame inside, which emerges and rises from its surface when it is lit. The
three levels: carbon, internal flame and external flame, correspond to the secret of jash-mal-mal , as will be
explained in the next letter, the tav .

One of the meanings of the word shin in Hebrew is shinui , "change." The carbon symbolizes the essence
of the changeable, the secret of the verse: "I am G-d, I have not changed", denoting that as for the Essence
of G-d, no change at all occurred since before the Creation. until after Creation. The internal flame is the
paradoxical latent presence of the power of change, within the immutable. The outer flame of the shin is in
a state of continuous movement and change.

TAV
Print - The Seal of Creation

The Zohar states: "the tav leaves an impression on the Ancient of Days." "The Ancient of
Days" refers to the sublime pleasure, innate in the "crown" (Will - Desire) of the Divine
Emanation. The letter tav (refers here to the "Kingdom of the Infinite, Blessed be He"), leaves
its imprint or stamp on the "Ancient of Days." That impression is the secret of simple faith in
the absolute omnipresence of G-d, the presence of the Infinite in the finite, because "there is nothing like
Him" (the conclusion of the quote from the Zohar).

This faith is transmitted as an inheritance from generation to generation, from world to world; malchut
("kingdom") of the upper world connected with keter ("crown") of the immediately lower world. The tav ,
the final letter of the alef-bet , corresponds to malchut ("kingdom"), the ultimate Divine power, the secret
of "Your Kingdom is the Kingdom of all worlds." The imprint of the tav is the secret of the power that
connects the worlds - generations.

GUIMEL
Reward and Punishment

Our Sages teach that the gimel symbolizes a rich man running after a poor man, the dalet , to
give him charity . The word gimel is derived from the word gemul , which in Hebrew means
both to give a reward and a punishment. In the Torah, reward and punishment have the same
ultimate goal, the rectification of the soul so that it is fit to receive
the light of G-d in its complete
expression.
Reward and punishment imply that man is free to choose between good and evil. (The teaching of the
gimel , as it relates to the open side of the bet , from which it was born, is explained in the previous letter).

DALET
Self-cancellation

The daleth , the poor man, receives charity from the rich man, the gimel . The word dalet
means "door." The door takes the place of the opening of the house, represented by the bet .

In the Zohar , dalet is read as "having nothing [ d'leit ] of herself." This expresses the
property of the lowest of divine emanations, the sefira of malchut , "kingdom",
which has no more light than that which it receives from the superior sefirot . In man's service to G-d,
dalet characterizes "shiflut," "humility," the consciousness of not possessing anything of one's own. Along
with the perception of
 own power of free will, one must be aware that He gives us the power to achieve success, and
not think, G-d forbid, that achievements and talents are "my power and the strength of my hand."

HEI
Expression - Thought, Speech, and Action

T he name of the letter hei appears in the verse: "Take [ hei ] for yourselves, seeds." "Take" (
hei ) expresses self-revelation in the act of giving of one's own to others. Giving to others in
the form of self-expression is the ultimate gift of being. In the secret of the letter gimel , the
rich man gives of himself to the poor in the form of charity . The highest form of charity is
when the giver completely hides himself from the recipient so as not to embarrass him, as it is said: "the
hidden gift subdues anger." Here, in the secret of the letter hei , the gift itself is the relationship and
expression of being, outlining the recipient in the essence of the giver. Yosef, the one who says the words
"take seeds for yourselves," corresponds to the sefirah of yesod , whose function is to express itself in the
form of giving seeds, as explained in Kabbalah. When Yosef first gave grain to his brothers, they could not
recognize it, like the dalet in relation to the gimel . In his revelation to his brothers (and consequently to all
of Egypt), his dedication became like that of the hei . Instead of grain, now he gives seed.

c
VAV
Conection

In the beginning of Creation, when infinite Light filled all reality, G-d contracted His Light to
create an empty hollow space, as it were, that was to be the "place" necessary for the existence of the finite
worlds. . Into this void, G-d drew a single line of light, figuratively speaking, from the Infinite Source.
This ray of light is the secret of the letter vav . Although the line is singular in appearance, it nevertheless
has two dimensions, an internal and an external force, which take part in the process of Creation, and in
the continuous interaction between creative power and created reality.

The external force of the line is the power to differentiate and separate the various aspects of reality,
establishing a hierarchical order, above and below in Creation. The internal force of the line is the power
to reveal the inherent interinclusion of the different aspects of reality, one in another, associating them
together into an organic whole. This property of the letter vav , as used in Hebrew, is known as vav
hajibur , the vav of "connection," which in English is "and."

ZAIN
The Virtuous Woman

The Maggid of Mezeritch , the successor of the Baal Shem Tov , teaches that the verse "A
virtuous woman is her husband's crown" alludes to the form of the letter zain . The previous
letter, vav , represents the or iashar ("direct light") of G-d descending into the world. The
zain , whose shape is similar to the vav , but with a crown on top, reflects the or iashar of the
vav as or hozer ("returning light"). Ohr Hozer ascends with such tremendous force that he reaches a state
of consciousness higher than that of the original revealed point of the
oriashar .
Upon reaching the preliminary superconscious realm of keter (the "crown"), perception expands to both
the left and the right. Truly, "There is no left in The Elder [the level of keter ], everything is right." This
means that the fear of G-d (left) is indistinguishable, at this preliminary level of the superconscious level,
from the other, higher manifestation: the love of G-d (right), in its nature of clinging to G-d. s.

The experience of or chozer , subsequent to the consummation of the creative process inherent in or
iashar , the creation of man on the sixth day, is the secret of the seventh day of Creation, Shabbat . The
Queen"
Shabbat , which generally means woman in relation to man, "the virtuous woman is the crown of her
husband," has the power to reveal in her husband her own superconscious crown, the experience of serene
pleasure and the sublime will innate in the Shabbat day.

JET
The Dynamics of Life, Running and Returning

" J et " is the letter of life ( chaim , from the root chaiá , whose most important letter is chet ).
We have explained in Hasidism that there are two levels of life, "essential life" and "vitalizing
life." G-d Himself, as it were, is in the state of "Essential Life." Its creative power, which
continually permeates all reality, is "life that vitalizes." Also in the Jewish soul: the essence of
its root, because it is one with G-d, possesses the state of "essential life." On the other hand, the reflection
of the light of the soul that shines below to give life to the body, is experienced physically at the level of
"vitalizing life." This second level, which is life as we know it in general, manifests as a pulsation, the
secret of "running and returning", " ratz vshuv ".

According to the Ari z"l ", the letter jet is constructed by combining the two previous letters, vav and
zain , with a thin line as a bridge, known as the jatoteret ("hump"). The new light that appears with the
union of the vav - or iashar - and the zain - or hozer - is the secret of "hovering" or "flying over", in the
manner of "touching without touching." The image of "flying over" appears at the very beginning of
Creation: "And the spirit of G-d flies over the waters." The word "flies over" ( merajefet ) is the eightieth
word in the Torah. It is the first word in the Torah that is numerically a multiple of twenty-six, the value of
the name Havayah ( merajefet = 728 = 26 times 28). Twenty-eight is the numerical value of coaj ,
"power." Thus, the ultimate secret implied in the numerical value of the word "fly over" is "the power of
G-d."

TET
Introversion - The Hidden Good

L a tet is the initial letter of the word tov , "good." The shape of the tet is "inverted",
symbolizing the hidden, inverted good - as expressed in the Zohar: "his good is hidden within
him." The shape of the letter jet symbolizes the union of the bride and groom, consummated at
conception. The secret of tet (which is numerically equivalent to nine, the nine months of
pregnancy), is the mother's power to carry her inner and hidden good (the fetus), during the period of
pregnancy.

Pregnancy is the power to bring potential to reality. The revelation of a new and current energy like the
revelation of birth is the secret of the next letter of the alef-bet , the yud . She reveals the point of the
"Essential Life", the secret of conception in the letter jet, pregnant and carried by the tet .

Of the eight synonyms of "beauty" in Hebrew, tov - "good" - refers to the most intimate, inverse and
"modest" state of beauty. This level of beauty is personified in the Torah by Rivka and Bat Sheva, who are
described as "very beautiful [good] in appearance."