Letters of Light

The Power And Essence Of The Alef-Beis

In The Light Of Kabbalah And Chassidus

Letters of Light

By Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin

Published by Sichos In English at Smashwords

Copyright 2003 Sichos In English

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Chapter 1: Introduction

There are an estimated 3,000 languages (not counting dialects) and more than 66,000 letters which make up the alphabets for these languages. Only one language and one alphabet is Divinely created, the letters having been formed and shaped by G-d alone. That language is Lashon HaKodesh, biblical Hebrew.

It is no wonder, then, that the Hebrew letters are multifaceted. The letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the alef-beis, are so rich with meaning that even Judaism’s greatest scholars had to engage in lengthy study to understand why G-d made them as He did. Traditionally, Hebrew letters possess:

1) Design—the specific way each letter is formed. This form represents the Divine energy within each letter.

2) Gematria—each of the letters of the alef-beis represents a certain number, e.g., alef = 1, beis = 2, etc.

3) Meaning—each letter has many meanings, e.g., the letter alef stands for chief, to learn, wondrous, and much more. Beis means house, etc.

4) Nekudos (vowels)—most letters have a vowel that tells us how it is to be pronounced.

5) Crowns—some letters in the Torah have crowns—little lines drawn on the top of Hebrew letters—which add strength to the letters, e.g. . Rabbi Akiva was famous for his expositions upon them. The crowns have their own special meanings beyond the scope of this work.

6) Cantillation—each word in the Torah has a musical note.

In this book we will deal with the first four topics. The rest we will leave for another time and another book.

For grammatical reasons, certain Hebrew letters have two different pronunciations (e.g., beis and veis, kaf and chaf, pei and fei, shin and sin, tav and sav) as you will find throughout this book. Regardless of its pronunciation in a particular word, we will call the letter by its principal name (e.g., beis, kaf, pei, etc.)

It is important to note that many words in Hebrew, as in all Semitic languages,—though they sound phonetically different—share the same root and therefore are interrelated. For example, alef, aluf and ulfana all share the same common root of alef, lamed and pei, and so their meanings are connected.

Also, according to Kabbalah, when the same letters are transposed to form different words, they retain the common energy of their shared gematria. Because of this, the words maintain a connection in the different forms. We find a classic example of this with the words hatzar (troubles), ratzah (a desire to run passionately into the ark of Torah and prayer) and tzohar (a light that shines from within). All three words share the same three letters: tzaddik, reish and hei in different combinations. The Baal Shem Tov¹ explains² the connection between the words as follows: When one is experiencing troubles (hatzar), and one runs to study Torah and pray with great desire (ratzah), one is illuminated with a G-dly light from within (tzohar) that helps him transform his troubles into blessings.³

Because a Hebrew letter radiates light, insight and clarity, it is called an os, connected to the passage⁴ asa boker—morning will come. As such, we have chosen to call our book Letters of Light—the light of wisdom and understanding which emanates from the letters of the Torah.

Energy In The Letters

In addition to the light in the letters written on printed matter (e.g., the letters in a Torah scroll), there is intrinsic light within each letter independent of it being written down on paper. These are the letters of Creation.

The Mishnah states:⁵ With Ten Utterances G-d created the world.

As a carpenter employs tools to build a home, so G-d utilized the twenty-two letters⁶ of the alef-beis to form heaven and earth. They are the metaphorical wood, stone and nails, cornerposts and crossbeams of our earthly and spiritual existence.

G-d created the alef-beis before the creation of the world. The Maggid of Mezritch⁷ explains⁸ this on the basis of the first verse in the Book of Genesis: Bereishis bara Elokim es hashamayim v’es ha’aretz—In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth." The word es is spelled with an alef, the first letter of the alef-beis, and a tav, which is the last. The fact is, es, is generally considered to be a superfluous word. There is no literal translation for it, and its function is primarily as a grammatical device. So why is "es" present twice in the very first line of the Torah? It suggests that in the beginning, it was not the heavens and the earth that were created first. It was literally the alef-beis, alef through tav. Without these letters, the very Utterances with which G-d formed the universe would have been impossible.

Furthermore, Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov explains the verse:⁹ Forever the words of G-d are hanging in the heavens. The crucial thing to realize is that G-d did not merely create the world once. His words didn’t just emerge and then evaporate. Rather, G-d continues to create the world anew each and every moment. His words are there constantly, hanging in the heavens. And the alef-beis is the foundation of this ongoing process of creation.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, explains¹⁰ that the source of the twenty-two letters is even higher than that of the Ten Commandments. As it states:¹¹ With you (the essence of G-d), the Jews will be blessed. Bach means with you. The beis (which has a gematria of 2) and the kaf (= 20) added together equals 22. Through the twenty-two letters of the alef-beis, the Jewish people are connected to G-d and receive all of their blessings.

Essence Of This Work

The essence of this work—that which makes it both unique and weaves everything together—are the teachings of my holy teacher, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, whom we will address throughout this book as simply the Rebbe. It is my sincere hope that the ideas conveyed herein have neither diluted nor misconstrued the Rebbe’s true intention.

Acknowledgments

Blessed are You G-d, our L-rd, King of the universe, Who has given us life, sustained us and allowed us to reach this auspicious occasion.

To my wife, Shternie—you are a beacon of strength, wisdom and love. To my children Yankel, Eliyahu, Mendy, Chaya and Yehoshua Elimelech, you are my pride and joy.

Words cannot adequately express my gratitude to my parents, Reb BenZion and Bassie Raskin, for giving of themselves beyond the call of duty and for giving me everything a son could ask for; to my wife’s parents, Rabbi Shmuel and Devorah Plotkin (Spiritual Leaders of Zhitomer and Berditchev), for their encouragement and inspiration; and to my grandmother, Rebbetzin Chava Hecht, for her unconditional love and directives.

To my dear late grandfather Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht, o.b.m., whose remarkable vision continues to guide me through life.

I am grateful to everyone who helped make this book a reality. To Rabbi Yonah Avtzon, the publisher of Sichos In English, and Yosef Yitzchok Turner for layout and design. To my editors, Erik Anjou, who gave not only of his pen but also of his heart toward the success of this volume, and to Rochel Chana Schilder, whose wisdom, insights and tireless efforts brought much clarity to the text. To Rabbi Michoel Seligson for citing sources and reviewing the book. A special thanks to Shoshana Brombacher Miller for her beautiful artistic renderings, and to Shlomo Khayms for a great job on the cover design.

A special thanks to the following people for their valuable insights: Henry Bar-Levov, Michael Bast, Steven Cohn, Rabbi Mutty Fogelman, Mitchel Garbow, Jason Goldfarb, Rabbi Shimon Hecht, Blanca Madani, Lawrence Obstfeld, Rabbi DovBer Pinson, Stephen Rosen (President and Founder of Congregation B’nai Avraham), Aunt Fradie Sabol, Bella Schapiro, Sara Schmerler, Karen Sebiri, Reb Simcha Weinstein, and Ed Weintrob. Finally, thanks to my second family, the entire congregation of B’nai Avraham. Your commitment and passion for Torah learning constantly inspires me to study more.

It is my hope and prayer that this book will stimulate the reader’s interest to delve deeper into our holy Torah. Great is study for it brings about action.¹² Action tops the scales of salvation and brings about the revelation of our righteous Mashiach.

Rabbi Aaron Leib Raskin

15 Menachem Av, 5763

The 13th yartzeit of my illustrious grandfather,

Rabbi Jacob J.¹³ Hecht, of blessed memory

Terminology

For the benefit of our general audience, we present you with a list of commonly used words.

Torah—The Five Books of Moses. Can also refer to the entire Written and Oral Law.

Talmud—The primary book of the Oral Law. It is the basis for Halachah—Jewish law and customs.

There are five¹⁴ levels of interpretation in Jewish thought.

a) Pshat—basic understanding—the basis for the commentary of Rashi (an acronym of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki [1040-1105]). Rashi is the foremost commentator on the Five Books of Moses.

b) Remez—hint—one law may provide a hint and lead to another one. Generally found in the Talmud.

c) Drush—homiletics and exegesis defining and explaining the verses of the Torah. Found in the Midrash.

d) Sod—secrets—found in numerous texts, and in particular, the Zohar and the writings of the AriZal, Rabbi Isaac Luria, a 16th-century Kabbalist. Sod is primarily the body of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah.

e) Chassidus—essence—the fifth and highest dimension of Torah also referred to as the Teachings of Mashiach. Chassidus clarifies Kabbalah and imparts the underlying spiritual meaning behind the four above-mentioned levels.

Pronunciation

To aid the reader in pronouncing the transliterated Hebrew words that appear in this text, we have adopted the following rules:

a, e, o, u = the short pronunciation of the vowel

aa=ah-ah as in yaar, pronounced yah-ar

ai=long i as in zain, pronounced zine

ea=ay-ah as in the word meah, pronounced may-ah

ei=long a as in beis, pronounced base

i=long e as in min, pronounced mean

ch=a guttural sound made by forcing air through the closure formed by the back of the tongue against the palate, as in the words Chanukah and challah.

Alef-Beis Chart

Pronunciation and Gematria

1 Alef

2 Veis

2 Beis

3 Gimmel

4 Dalet

5 Hei

6 Vav

7 Zayin

8 Ches

9 Tes

10 Yud

20 Kaf

20 Chaf

20 Final Chaf

30 Lamed

40 Final Mem

40 Mem

50 Nun

50 Final Nun

60 Samech

70 Ayin

80 Pei

80 Fei

80 Final Fei

90 Tzaddik

90 Final Tzaddik

100 Kuf

200 Reish

300 Shin

300 Sin

400 Tav

400 Sav

Nekudos Chart

16 Cholam

20 Sh’va

30 Segol

20 Tzeireh

6 Patach

16 Kamatz

16 Milupim

30 Shuruk

10 Chirik

Chapter 2: Alef

Alef—The Difference Between Exile And Redemption

Design A dot on top and on bottom; a line in between

Gematria One and 26

Meaning 1. Master 2. teacher 3. wondrous

The Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi,¹⁵ wanted to teach his son the alef-beis. He called one of his disciples into his study to discuss the matter. The Rebbe said, "You have a mitzvah and I have a mitzvah. Your mitzvah is to support your own family. My mitzvah is to teach my son. Let’s trade mitzvos. You will teach my son, and I will pay you so that you can support your family. The Alter Rebbe went on to explain exactly how this instruction should proceed. You’ll begin with the letter alef. What is an alef?" The Alter Rebbe continued melodically in Yiddish: "A pintele fun oybin, a pintele fun untin, a kav b’emtza—[The alef is] a dot above, a dot below, and a diagonal line suspended in between."¹⁶

Design

What is an alef?

If it were only a random arrangement of pen strokes designed to prompt the reader to say the sound ah,¹⁷ this question would be irrelevant. Every aspect of the alef’s construction has been Divinely designed to teach us something. Contrast this with a child learning to read English for the first time. He is never taught why a capital A looks like a teepee and a small a looks like a soap bubble stuck to a wall.

But Hebrew is different. The design of an alef is actually made up of three different letters: the letter yud or dot above; a yud or dot below; and a diagonal vav, or line suspended in between.

The yud above represents G-d, Who is above (or beyond) our comprehension. In comparison to His true essence, our understanding is a mere dot.

The yud below represents a Yid or Yehudim—Jewish people who dwell here on earth. The only way that we can grasp G-d’s wisdom—to the extent that a person is capable—is by being humble. When we realize that we are but a dot or a speck compared to the All-Mighty and All-Powerful G-d, we become a vessel to receive His Divine wisdom.

The diagonal vav represents a Jew’s faith¹⁸—which unites him with G-d.

There is another teaching¹⁹ that posits that the suspended vav represents the Torah. Since the Torah is what unites a Jew and G-d, the alef represents this unity between mankind and G-d. This is the design, or form, of the alef.

We can see that every stroke of the alef (and every other letter as well) has a special purpose, and that there is much more to learning the alef-beis than just mastering its sounds.

Gematria

Every letter of the alef-beis has a numerical value, or gematria. The gematria of alef is one, representing the one (or oneness of) G-d, as we say in the famous prayer: "Hear, O Israel, G-d is our L-rd, G-d is One."

On a more complex level, we explained that the form of the alef comprises three letters: two yuds and a vav. The gematria of the yud is ten—two yuds being twenty. A vav is six; the sum of all three totaling twenty-six. One of the great names of G-d is the Four Letter Name Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei, the Tetragrammaton, or Ineffable Name. The gematria of the Yud (=10), the Hei (=5), the Vav (=6) and the Hei (=5) totals 26, the same as the yud-vav-yud of the alef. Through the connection of their respective gematrios, the alef represents G-d’s Ineffable Name.

Meaning

The Rebbe²⁰ explains that the alef has three different meanings. One is aluf, which means a master or a chief. The second is ulfana, a school of learning²¹ or teacher. The third meaning is reached by reading the letters of the word backwards—pela (pronounced peleh)—wondrous.²²

Aluf’s definition is master. This lets the world know that there is a Creator; that G-d is the Master of the universe, and that there is an Eye that sees, and an Ear that hears. The universe did not simply emerge by itself; there is an omnipotent Force that actually forged the firmaments ex nihilo, from nothing to something. Thus G-d is the Aluf, the Master of the universe.

Ulfana means school or teacher. Not only do we introduce G-d as the Creator of the universe, but also as the Teacher of all mankind. G-d’s role as teacher is revealed with His introduction of Torah to the Jewish people. The Torah, with