The AlefBeit

The Hebrew AlefBeit is a mystical one. Each letter has its own set of properties, which reveal the silent mysteries of the universe. It is through these letters that the universe was created. For God “spoke” and the universe came into being.

What God “spoke” was sound, and that sound was Hebrew.

Early and medieval mystics created alternate alphabets based upon the Hebrew AlefBeit. They did this to conceal the secrets they had gleaned. An example of an alternate alphabet is the Celestial Alphabet, which is a mapping of the Hebrew letters to the constellations in the night sky.

Breath from Breath.
With it One engraved and carved
22 Foundation Letters
Three Mothers
Seven Doubles
and Twelve Elementals
And one Breath is from them. ^[1]

Alef

Spiritual Representation: Air, Breath, Spirit (as in wind, Ruach)
Mundane Representation: Ox
Classification: One of the three mother letters
Association: The element of air

Alef is the first letter of the AlefBeit, yet it is silent. Its behavior as a letter alludes to its meeting. The Torah begins with a Beit….BeReishit. That is because before beginning, the earth was astonishingly empty. [2] The soundless alef alludes to this. It is the first letter of the word echad (singularity, unity) and also the first letter of many of God’s names.

Substance out of chaos
Nonexistence into existence
Great pillars carved from air
that cannot be grasped.
This is a sign
[Alef with them all and all of them with Alef]
all that is formed and all that is spoken:
one Name. [3]

Alef is a very holy letter because it not only represents one, but its form may be dissected into a Vav and two Yuds, which has the same numerical value as God’s sacred name.

The form of the letter is described as a Yud above and a Yud below with a Vav separating and uniting them simultaneously. Thus, the alef is symbolic of the division of the higher and lower waters with the firmament (also translated as sky.) God said, 'There shall be a firmament in the middle of the water and it shall divide between. [4]

Alef represents the element of air and signifies the Divine Breath (Spirit) of God that hovered above the waters of the deep before beginning while also representing the division of these waters.

On a more mundane level, Alef is thought to represent an ox (gross physical reality) as the lower animal soul.

Alef symbolizes a ladder that links the mundane to the spiritual and reaches heavenward.

Where is the Holy Palace? We would say that it is in thought and the alef. ^[5]

The Hebrew letter Aleph connects the path from Gevurah (courage) to Chesed (mercy) on the Tree of Life.

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[1] 1:10 Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Formation

[2] Genesis 1:2

[3] Sefer Yetzirah

[4] Genesis 1:6

[5] The Bahir

The Four Worlds

Isaiah 43:7: Even every one that is called by My Name (Atzilut): for I have created (Beriyah) them for my glory, I have formed them (Yetzirah); yea, I have made them (Asiyah).

Atzilut
The World of Emanation

This is the realm of pure spirit. The Universe of Atzilut represents a beginning. It is an abstract idea or desire not yet formulated. The process of emanation is one of concealment and revelation, i.e., the process of revealing the essence of that which had been concealed. The three lower worlds are all created realms.

Atzilut is derived from a word meaning "nearness". It is the nearest to Ein Sof, the Infinite Unknowable.

Fire is the element associated with Atzilut. White is the associated color. Atzilut is the pure garment of Being.

The soul of Chayah is associated with this world. Chayah, Living Soul, is beyond our grasp while we are alive. It surrounds us and influences us through our Neshamah (Higher Self).

Beriyah
The World of Creation

The Universe of Beriyah represents thought. This is a realm of distinctly willed creation. If the World of Emanation is Spiritual, then the World of Creation is cerebral. While in relation to its own state of reality the world of Atzilut is a world of "non-existence" (ayin), the world of Beriyah is one of "potential existence" (yesh). This is the world of yesh m'ayin, something from nothing.

This realm is associated with the color blue [indigo] and the element of air, the element most associated with the intellect.

This is the realm of the Throne-Chariot with its seven halls or palaces. The world of Beriyah is the realm of the archangels. It is also the spiritual abode of the seraphim ("fiery angels"). These are the angles that exclaim to God: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of God’s glory."

The neshamah soul-aspect is associated with this world. Neshamah, the Higher Self, is that part of us that is always spiritually connected. It is the source of inner wisdom. The Neshamah is the highest level that we can reach while in physical incarnation.

Yetzirah
The World of Formation

The third world is that of Formation, Yetzirah. Formation is a bringing together of elements, rather than a creation from out of nothing. This is the world of yesh m'yesh, something from something.

Yetzirah is the highly psychic and emotionally charged world immediately behind the veil of material existence. Yetzirah is the unconscious mind. It is associated with the element of water. Its color is royal blue, which also suggests the color of deep water.

Yetzirah is the dynamic world of transition with "lower angels" carrying out the will of God from Beriyah to Asiyah. It is the chief domain of the angels, the chayot hakodesh, the living creatures."

Yetzirah is the realm of the Ego, the personal self, the Ruach soul. Ruach, the Moral Soul, is concerned with more than just our own physical needs and wants. It is the ability to truly understand the difference between right and wrong.

Asiyah
The World of Action

The Universe of Asiyah is the abstract idea brought into manifestation. It is represented by the element of earth. Its color is red (scarlet), the color of earth (adama) and the color of blood.

Asiyah is enlivened by nefesh, the vital principle, a soul-element possessed by plants as well as animals. Nefesh, the Vital Soul, is the lowest level of the soul. It is that part which keeps the physical body animated and alive, and as a result, its main concern is only with one's physical needs.

Asiyah is the abode of Samael, the Blind One, the husband of Lilith. It is also the world of the Ophanim.

Four Worlds Comparative Table

World: Atzilut
Name: Emanation
Represents: Pure Will
Element: Fire
Color: White
Soul: Chayah

World: Beriyah
Name: Creation
Represents: Thought
Element: Air
Color: Light Blue
Soul: Neshamah

World: Yetzirah
Name: Formation
Represents: Emotion
Element: Water
Color: Royal Blue
Soul: Ruach

World: Asiyah
Name: Action
Represents: Physical Reality
Element: Earth
Color: Red
Soul: Nefesh

Kabbalah and the Nature of Creation

Preeminence

Yud

A spark of impenetrable darkness flashed within the concealed of the concealed from the mystery of Ein Sof, the Infinite, like a fog forming in formlessness, enclosed in the ring of that sphere - not white, not black, not red, not green – of no color whatever.

From the spark, a flame, which yielded radiant colors; from the innermost center of the flame sprang a well from which colors spread upon everything below concealed within the concealed of the mystery of Ein Sof.

The well broke through and did not break through. It split and did not split its aura. It was not known at all until a hidden, supernal point shone forth under the impact of the final breaking through.

And the secret is…In the beginning ----- created God.[1]

The Named was born from the unnamed ... the describable world emanates from an indescribable source.

Yud is the first letter of the most sacred name for God; YHVH. Its diminutiveness is representative of the Infinite Point; i.e. the concentration of the infinite within the finite.

It suggests the Unknowable attempting to become manifest through Divine Creation. The secret of this point is the power of the Infinite to contain finite phenomena and express them to apparent external reality. [2]

All that is formed and all that is spoken is One Name – YHVH.

Creation

Alef ----------> Beit

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and with the breath of God ^[3]

In the beginning is BeReishit. BeReishit is Beit Reishit.

How is this accomplished? With the Breath of God (Alef). Thus it is written that the Wind of God hovered over the deep…

Substance out of chaos
Nonexistence into existence
Great pillars carved from air
that cannot be grasped.
This is a sign
[Alef with them all and all of them with Alef] ^[4]

Heaven and Earth

Alef

Shin Mem

Now the earth was unformed and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. [5] And God said: 'Let there be a firmament [sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.' And God called the firmament Heaven [Shaymayim]. [6]

We are taught that heaven [Shaymayim] means Esh Mayim (fire water). [7] Further, we are taught that the alef is symbolic of the Breath of God.

From the spark, a flame, which yielded radiant colors; from the innermost center of the flame sprang a well from which colors spread upon everything below. [8]

The alef is the Holy Place, and the Holy Place is in thought and the alef. The alef reveals God as an absolute unity.[9]

The Mem exists as a bridge between Hod and Netzach [between the forms of prophecy] to bring forth knowledge. [10]

The Shin exists to bring about a single goal: the Rulership of God. The Shin reveals a multitude of God’s deeds with a unity of purpose.[11]

Three mothers: Alef Mem Shin

A great mystical secret

And from them emanated air, water and fire [12]

That which is above influences that which is below. That which is below influences that which is above.

What did he [Moses] do? He gathered all three together, and out of them he made a single house.^[13]

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[1] The Zohar – adapted from translations by Daniel C. Matt, Zohar: Annotated & Explained, Skylight Paths Publishing, 2002; Gershom Scholem, Zohar: The Book of Splendor: Basic Readings form the Kabbalah, Schocken Books, 1949; Rabbi Moshe Miller, Zohar: Bereishit I, Fiftieth Gate Publications and Seminars, 2000

[2] http://www.inner.org/hebleter/yud.htm

[3] Psalm 33:6

[4] Sefer Yetzirah

[5] Genesis 1:2

[6] Genesis 1:6

[7] The Bahir

[8] The Zohar – adapted from translations by Daniel C. Matt, Zohar: Annotated & Explained, Skylight Paths Publishing, 2002; Gershom Scholem, Zohar: The Book of Splendor: Basic Readings form the Kabbalah, Schocken Books, 1949; Rabbi Moshe Miller, Zohar: Bereishit I, Fiftieth Gate Publications and Seminars, 2000

[9] Rabbi ben haKana, The Bahir: Illumination, translated by Aryeh Kaplan, Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1979

[10] Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation: In Theory and Practice, Samuel Weiser, Inc, 1997

[11] Ibid

[12] Sefer Yetzirah 3:2

[13] The Bahir. Please note that in the Bahir [Moses] is Shin.