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Letter symbolism concerns the symbolic meaning and value of letters (graphic signs representing a phoneme or group of phonemes in written language), whether read or written, in alphabetical script or elsewhere. While the meaning may not be immediately apparent, studying the symbols can reveal the significance of each letter.
Version B is a compilation of allegoric and mystic Aggadahs suggested by the names of the various letters, the component consonants being used as acrostics (). [1]Aleph (אלף = אמת למד פיך, "thy mouth learned truth") suggests truth, praise of God, faithfulness (אמונה = emunah), or the creative Word of God (אמרה = imrah) or God Himself as Aleph, Prince and Prime of all ...
Similarly, the Hebrew alphabet is used in Kabbalistic meditation and divination. The practice of gematria, where letters are assigned numerical values, allows Kabbalists to uncover hidden meanings in sacred texts and to explore the mystical connections between different concepts. By meditating on specific letter combinations or words ...
Unlike the Paleo-Hebrew writing script, the modern Hebrew script has five letters that have special final forms, called sofit (Hebrew: סופית, meaning in this context "final" or "ending") form, used only at the end of a word, somewhat as in the Greek or in the Arabic and Mandaic alphabets.
Gematria is form of cipher used to generate a numerical equivalent for a Hebrew word, which sometimes is invested with symbolic meaning. For example, the gematria of "chai" (the Hebrew word for life) is 18, and multiples of 18 are considered good luck and are often used in gift giving.
The verse contains seven (Hebrew) words, and each of the words except Hashamayim ("Heavens") contains the letter Aleph (the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, with a gematria value of 1). The name "Aleph" hints at its etymological variants "Aluph" ("Chief/Ruler", representing the one God ) and "Eleph" ("One Thousand", representing 1,000 years).
[6] [7] In esoteric Jewish mysticism , kavanah refers to the practice where the devotee concentrates on the secret meanings of prayer letters and words, [6] sometimes referring to the permutations of the divine name. [8] Some kavanot are particular to the tradition of Kabbalah during meditation. [9]
Ktav Stam (Hebrew: כְּתַב־סְתָ״ם ) is the specific Jewish traditional writing with which holy scrolls (Sifrei Kodesh), tefillin and mezuzot are written. Stam is a Hebrew acronym denoting these writings, as indicated by the gershayim (״ ) punctuation mark. One who writes such articles is called a sofer stam.