What Does the Letter Lamed Tell Us According to Torah and Kabbalah?

The letter Lamed is named thus because its shape resembles that of a cattle prod, and its meaning is learning. The physical tool used to guide cattle is a prod, and the content of the letter is learning in general. Learning is the direction of forces to the right place. Just like the ox, whose strength is immense and great, is directed by the prod for plowing, so learning directs all the forces a person has to the right goal.

The use of the letter Lamed is direction. Every direction teaches the listener what they should do: they need to go to the house, to the field, to go out, to come in. The direction of a person is physical, but it arises from mental understanding, and therefore it is interesting to see that in the Assyrian script the letter Lamed is made of a Kaf, upon which a Vav "rides." Kaf is the physical force to make changes in matter, and Vav is the power of understanding. Understanding directs a person's power to the right actions.

The Gemara in Tractate Shabbat describes the closeness of the letters Kaf to Lamed: "Hashem ties a crown for you in the world to come." The letter Lamed here serves as direction. The "world to come" begins with an Ayin; it is not symbolized by the letter Lamed, but the proximity of Kaf to Lamed means that a person should direct their power towards the right goal, and this will ultimately lead them to the world to come.

It has been explained that the placement of the letter Vav above the letter Kaf is an expression of the control of the power of understanding over human forces. However, there is another unique aspect here, and that is that the letter Vav extends above the top line of all the letters. This is because the study and use of the powers of the letter Lamed cause spiritual growth and elevation, and therefore in the Zohar (Yitro 91a) the letter Lamed is called a "tower flying in the air." A person, by the power of understanding, rises above their framework and rises above the ground. From this, we also understand the number of the letter Lamed, since the number three signifies growth, as we saw in the letter Gimel, and its multiplication by ten turns its meaning into spiritual growth.

The first word in the Torah that begins with the letter Lamed is "lailah" (night). The night is a time when it is difficult for a person to navigate, to know where to turn, but precisely because of this, at night, a person needs to use their power of understanding to act. To act at night, a person contemplates, checks, and thinks mainly with their power of understanding, and only then goes or acts. Also, in the spiritual realm, our Sages said (Eruvin 65): 'The night was created for learning.' At this time, when it is difficult to work in the field, a person enriches themselves and enriches their understanding, and thus knows how to manage their lives.

*Lamed* is the quest for purpose, and hence when one wants to understand the purpose of something, they ask "Why?" "What" is the essence of the thing, and together with *Lamed*, it is the question "Why?"

*Lamed* is a letter pronounced by the tongue. The tongue is the "manager" of the mouth: it moves food from place to place until swallowing; in speech, it directs the words; it has a special mechanism responsible for regulating between eating and breathing, and therefore, words related to mouth activities always use the letter Lamed. Thus, in many words describing the act of eating, the letter Lamed is found, such as in words: swallow, gulp, throat, jaws, lick, palate, *lahah* ('drink and gulp,' Obadiah 1:16), and in the language of the sages *lagam* and *la'as*.

Likewise, the letter Lamed can be found in words describing the act of speaking, such as in words: tongue, to talk, whisper, *loz* (deceitful lips), and combining with the letter Ayin, which here signifies distortion, creates words that express distorted speech, such as: *alag*, *la'az*, insult, and *la'av* ('be mocking,' Chronicles 2, 36:16, that is, speaking derogatory words).

From the meaning of the letter Lamed as expressing lack of progression, it appears in words whose meaning is mixing, because mixing is a state where one cannot grasp the situation clearly. Thus with words: knead, mix, fill (dough mix) and *tevel* ('It is tevel,' Leviticus 18:23, and also 'scum in his eye,' Leviticus 21:20).

This meaning of negating progress is an expression of absolute negation and cancellation. Therefore, the letter Lamed is used to express negation in general, as in words: not, without, unless, exclusion, ruin (a thing that is going and perishing), withered (plants which are drying up and disappearing), vanity (something that lacks (Lamed) reality and tangibility (Hei)), boundary (negating (Lamed) growth (Gimel)), exhausted (without (Lamed) strength (Aleph)) and cover (hides and conceals (Lamed) the shame (Bash)).