Hebrew Symbolism
Hebrew Symbolism
« Hebrew letters are a burning fire as they allow
He who studies with a sincere heart
To awaken and to emerge from sleep.
Study is the source by which we can touch this fire. »
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
The tradition or Kabbalah
The alphabetby Shinta S. Zenker
The Kabbalah (Kabala/Cabala), from the root of the hebrew word «quebel» קבל, means to receive. But to receive what?
To receive the light and primordial wisdom from which ALL derives. The Kabbalah is the mystique of judaism.
This knowledge has been conveyed over thousands of years, from master to disciple, through the oral tradition, before being transcribed by the most famous kabbalists of Spain, Provence, Italy, Eastern Europe and Safed.
Amongst these writings,
the book of Splendour, «Sefer ha-Zohar», ספר הזהר,
the book of Creation, « Sepher Yetzirah», ספר יצירה
and the book of Brightness, « Sefer Ha-Bahir», ספר הבהיר remain key references.
These writings deal mostly with the origin of Creation according to the tree of the Sephirot, ספירות, receptacles of divine light. They open our mind to the mysteries of the soul and of man, as well as his relationship with the higher realm.
The 22 letters, the memory of the universe
The 22 letters of the hebrew alphabet are charged with meaning and multiple symbols, contained within their names, their shapes and numerical values «gematria», גמטריה. They carry the memory of the Universe, its resonance and vibration, since they are at the origin of Creation. To be connected to the letter is to be connected with the flux of this memory, since the letter is a movement of original Breath and Energy.
The letters are alive.
The tradition or the Kabbalah, קבלה, tells us that the word is like a safe. It is for us to open up the word and to penetrate its mystery. The kabbalist cautiously opens the word with precaution, stretches it, hears its intervals and silences and, little by little, discovers the treasure inside.
AlpehCalligraphy by Rivka Crémisi
The Symbol
It is not within man’s reach to have direct contact with the invisible world. Mysteries can only be examined through symbols and explored though metaphor. It is through these that we can gradually reveal what is hidden.
Symbols are a true means of communication between what is visible and invisible.
Symbols are not a convention but a path. The kabbalah gets man moving in the direction of what lies beyond his understanding.
« Go, go beyond »
In fundamental writings we are even invited to read what isn’t written: the spaces between two words or between two letters. Emptiness is the home of revelation, where breath and energy emerges. It is the space where transparency emerges.
Not only do we read the words but we open the doors that access deepest meaning. We get a reading of ourselves through the text. The translation of a fundamental text is indeed the art of decoding.
We enter into a range of interpretations of the biblical text through symbols.
The resulting understanding goes far beyond any literal sense.
These new readings are questioning, they transform us and invite us to contact our original essence.
And so the Kabbalah is a path that leads us to open our hearts and to consciousness-raising, a path of both personal and collective evolution.
