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The Alephbet



The 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, or, more properly the 22 consonants of the Hebrew Alphabet. For written Hebrew is an Abjad, there are no represented vowels whatsoever. Vowels are implied through determining the meaning of the word in context, and thus the pronunciation. With only 22 letters there are a lot of words that have different meanings depending on the pronunciation (and context). For instance AaRB ערב (272), depending on pronunciation and context, can mean evening, tonight, to grow dark, Arabia, to descend or wane, to be pleasant, woof (in the context of weaving), a guarantee, or to mix, mingle or include.

It is said in the Sefer Yetzirah, that the ten Sephiroth are 'belimah" BLIMH בלימה (87), that they are nothingness, or literally "without what". What, in Hebrew is MH מה (45), a term that is also one of the most common appellations of the Shekinah, the indwelling presence of the Divine, the Bride, that which was first in thought when it arose in the mind of the Most Hidden to create the Universe, his companion and pleasure. So, if the Sephiroth, are without "what", what is "what"? Where it it to be found?

In Medieval times, as the reading of the Torah became a critical part of the practice of Judaism, a system of diacritical marks was developed to aid the reader in the proper proninciation of the words (at the time, Hebrew was not a spoken language outside of liturgical usage). This was called Niqqud NIQVD ניקוד (170), "pointing" or "dotting" - those little dots often seen around letters in Hebrew. With the advent of Kabbalah, and the impetus to take absolutely everything as an aspect of the Divine, the Niqqud became thought of as the "soul" of the letters. And not any old soul, but the Neshamah NShMH נשמה (395), the breath of the Divine, the life force, that which God blew into the nostrils of his Golem, dust creature, man, art project; ADM אדמ (45), to give it a living soul. Neshamah in later Kabbalistic thought, was the level of the Soul directly associated with the world of Creation, Briah.

The letters then, like the Sephiroth themselves, can be thought of as empty vessels, Kelim - KLIM כלימ (100), waiting to be filled by the overflowing abundance of the Divine, the outpouring of Wisdom known as the Shefa ha-Chokmah, ShPAa HChKMH שפע החכמה (528) that sustains the universe. But letters, as opposed to numbers, are inextricably linked to their utterance... the letters, and their vowels, are one. That is, the letters, The Alphabet HALPBITh האלפבית (528) are the Shefa ha-Chokmah, and, as is reflected in the Baphometric Tree, are that which fill the the Kelim of the Sephiroth. In short, the Alphabet is what is "what". The Alphabet is the soul of the Tree.

In Hebrew, as it is noted, the 22 consonants are also numbers. They have value. Not as an aspect, or addition to their meaning, but intrinsically - that Kaph K כ is 20. It doesn't just have the value of twenty, it means twenty as well. It is how you would write the number (at least before the advent of Arabic numerals).

If you total the value of the entire alphabet, the numbers one through nine, the decads of ten through ninety, and the centuries of one hundred through four hundred - 22 letters - you get the value of 1495. As the letter Aleph does double duty as both the number 1 and 1000 (and indeed the word Aleph ALP אלפ (111) means "One Thousand"), that would be written out as AThTzH אתצה (Aleph 1000, Tav 400, Tzadde 90 and Heh 5). However, since Aleph can also be considered as 1, it could be construed that the value of AThTzH could be counted as 496. 496 is the value of Malkuth, the Kingdom, the name of the tenth and final Sephiroth, whose Partzufim, personification, is of course, the Shekinah.

Isn't that The Point HNQVDH הנקודה (170)?

The letters of the Hebrew Alphabet are:

Ord. Letter Heb. Eng. Value Full Value
1AlephאA1ALP111
2BethבB2BITh412
3GimelגG3GML73
4DalethדD4DLTh434
5HehהH5HH, HAH, HIH*10, 11, 20
6VavוV6VV, VAV*12, 13
7ZayinזZ7ZIN67
8ChethחCh8ChITh418
9TethטT9TITh419
10YodיI10YVD20
11Kaphך כK20, 500KP100
12LamedלL30LMD74
13Memם מM40, 600MIM, MM*90, 80
14Nunן נ N50, 700NVN106
15SamekhסS60SMK120
16AyinעAa70AaIN130
17Pehף פP80, 800PH, PA*85, 81
18Tzaddeץ צTz90, 900TzDI104
19QophקQ100QVP186
20ReshרR200RISh510
21ShinשSh300ShIN360
22TavתTh400ThV406

*Unless otherwise (and very rarely) noted, all transliterations and Gematria will use the first plene spelling and value.