The Hebrew letter א Aleph is the first letter in the Hebrew aleph-beyt. In gematria, Aleph has a value of 1, but when used at the beginning of Hebrew years, it means 1000. ("With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.")
Adonia's name Elohim אֱלהִיים begins with Aleph. The name El Shaddai (אל שַׁדַּי) "God Almighty" begins with Aleph. אֶחָד ECHad One/United and אָחַד ACHad to Unify, both begin with Aleph.
Aleph also begins the three words that make up God's name in Exodus: I Am who I Am. In Hebrew it is אהיה אשר אהיה Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh.
Aleph is also the first letter of the Hebrew word for Truth: אֶמֶת Emet. The prophet Jonah's father is named Emet.
The first word in the Ten Commandments is אָנֹכִי Anokhi, meaning "I and no one else."
Below is the verse Genesis 1.1 in an ancient Torah scroll. א Aleph in the third position from the right in the Hebrew word בְּרֵאשִׁית (bereshit) which means "In beginning."
The Torah begins with the second letter of the alphabet, Bet. The first two letters in (bereshit) בְּרֵאשִׁית are ב (bet) and ר (resh). Bet ב, the first letter in the Torah, has a meaning/shape of a house (beyt). The second letter ר (resh) means "head or authority." The head of the house is the Father.
The first three letters in בְּרֵאשִׁית spell the Hebrew word ברא (bra) which means create. You will see that the next word after בְּרֵאשִׁית is also ברא (create). So "create" appears twice in the first two words about the story of creation in the Torah. (First creation and second creation.)
Bereshit בְּרֵאשִׁית ends with the letter Tav. Tav is also the last letter of the 22-letter Hebrew Aleph-beyt. Ancient Tav was shaped like an "X" or cross symbolizes a mark or sign or agreement.
The form of Hebrew letters has changed over the millennium. The letter א aleph shown above is the shape of the letter Aleph in the Torah.
The shape of the letter Aleph evolved from the shape on the left into the paleo form below.
You can make out the jaw bone with the two horns coming out of the top of it's head.
Interestingly, in the ancient world a jaw bone was a weapon and a symbol of violence. Samson slew a thousand with a jawbone in Judges 15.15. If we strip away the jawbone in the primitive Aleph, we are left with the elements of the modern Aleph in the Torah -- the two horns and the line.
Luke 1:68-69 -- Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
It seems to me that "The Horn of Salvation" is represented by Yod in the Aleph--the horns caught in the thorns that was the substitute for Isaac.
Mystical Judaism
In mystical Judaism we go deeper for meaning. Letters are made up of other letters, so there is a composite meaning in every letter. You might think of it a bit like a word having a root meaning or a meta meaning.
The form the Aleph in the Torah is comprised of two Yod's (10) separated by that larger line which is the letter Vav (6).
The Letters that Make up the Letter Aleph
YOD
There are two symbolic Yods in the Aleph. One is above the line and the other is below the line.
Note: The title of the book of Acts, in the Christian bible comes from the Greek word "praxis." That word was often used in early Christian literature to describe the great deeds of the apostles or other significant believers.
A person reading the Torah in a temple will use a " yad" יד (hand) rather than their finger as a guide. The yad is made of sterling silver and has a hand with a pointing finger at the end. The yad aids with keeping place and prevents fingers from smearing the ink.
The Jewish sages say the Aleph is an image of what is being done in the heavens (the supernatural realm) and what is being done on earth (the physical realm). There is a separation and a connection.
A person seeks change his intention from wanting to receive for himself to wanting to receive in order to bring pleasure to the Creator by blessing others. this new and revolutionary intent is called a “screen.” Kabbalahist teaches how to acquire the spiritual Vessel for progress they call the “screen.”
Ein-Sof אֵין סוֹף meaning "The Infinite - that which is Boundless" is the name given in Kabbalah to God transcendent, in His pure essence: God in Himself, apart from His relationship to the created world. Again, it begins with the Hebrew Aleph.
VAV
The longer line between the two Yods depicts the Hebrew letter Vav. aleph-beyt. Vav has a value of 6.
Creation took 6 days. At Sundown of the 6th day, God rested. Sundown on the 6th day is when the 7th day, the Sabbath begins.
Note: Luke 23:44-46 (KJV) - And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
Like a nail, the Vav is a connecting force. Here you see a paleo version of the letter Vav and the version in the Torah side-by-side. The ancient
symbol for a vav is a nail. The vav is symbolic of connecting or adding to.
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| Vav (6) - A nail |
symbol for a vav is a nail. The vav is symbolic of connecting or adding to.
The Vav, the nail (VAV) connects the upper supernatural realm (the upper Yod) to the lower earthly realm (the lower Yod). The Vav brings down the heavens.
Matthew 27.45-46 --
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
There is a famous Yiddish song "Eli Eli" (My God My God) Eli begins with Aleph.
Gematria
I already pointed out that Aleph has a value of 1, but when used at the beginning of Hebrew years, it means 1000.
As illustrated above, Aleph is comprised of two Yods which each have a value of 10. Plus a Vav (6). Therefore, א Aleph is (10+10+6=26.)
26 is also the gematric number, being the sum of the Hebrew characters (Hebrew: יהוה) being the name of the god of Israel – YHWH (Yahweh). The unspoken name of God.
The Hebrew word for Love (Hava אהבה) has a value of 13. The two most important commandments are:
(13 - Love our God) + (13 Love our Fellow) = 26
Are you amazed at how much is in the Hebrew letter Aleph? I AM! God is Amazing!
Psalm 26.2-3
Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.
MORE BIBLE REFERENCES:
Here are a few occurrences of the number 10 that are significant.
- There were 10 recorded creation of God statements in Genesis 1. Each statement was God revealing a place where, “God said” something and that which was spoken was then manifested and God calls these types of things the works of His hands (Isa 45:12).
- God creates Adam forming his body with His hands from the dirt of the ground and places on him 2 hands, one left and one right and having 10 total fingers (Gen 2, Ps 119:73).
- There were 10 generations from Adam to Noah when God’s flood judgment came upon the earth (Gen 5).
- Abraham pays tithes (10%) to Melchizedek in Genesis14:18-20.
- God agreed to not destroy Sodom if 10 righteous were found. (Gen 18:32)
- God Judges Egypt after 400 years of Israel’s bondage and uses 10 plagues in Egypt to free them (Gen 15:14, Exo 6:5-6).
- First Passover in Egypt was the 10th plague, and it began when the lamb was selected on the 10th day of the first month. (Exo 12:2)
- God gives Moses 10 commandments carved on two stone tablets by His finger on Mt. Sinai. (Exo 31:18, Deut 4:13). This is a repeat of the two hands of man containing 10 fingers pattern.
- Israel in the wilderness tempted God 10 times and were judged and did not enter the promised land. (Num 14:22)
- Boaz takes 10 men to witness and judge the purchase of Elimelech’s possessions and the taking of Ruth to be his wife (Ruth 4:2).
- Job rebukes his friends for vexing his soul and breaking him into pieces ten times, with their words (Job 19:1-2)
- Daniel and the 3 Israelites were tested for 10 days to see if God’s diet would be better than the King’s diet and were justified. (Dan 1:15).
- Daniel and the 3 Israelites, when tested by the King, were found 10 times wiser and more understanding than all his magicians. (Dan 1:20)
FUN REFERENCE:
This is not biblical!! It is just a funny reference to letter YOD.
The name Yoda is likely drawn from the Hebrew word Yodea, meaning one with knowledge.
Judaism teaches that the source of Light and Darkness are One and the same, as it says in the prayer book: “Blessed art You, Eternal One, our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates all things.” The source for this line of liturgy can be found in the Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 45:7: “Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates evil; I am the Eternal One, Who makes all these.”
The ever-present and overarching theme of Star Wars is that of the Force that endows these films with their undeniable spiritual orientation. The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It binds the galaxy together.
Both Judaism and Christianity are reflected in Star Wars, philosophically and historically. Particularly concerning the depiction of the eternal conflict between good and evil, students of Judaism will recognize the yetzer ha-tov vs. the yetzer ha-ra, the opposing human inclinations present in every person. There may even be a connection to the Dead Sea Scrolls, one of which is entitled “The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness.”
