The Letter Yud – The Foundation of Man

Previously, regarding the letter Hey, it was explained that while the letters of the word 'fire' appear in both 'man' and 'woman', the letter Yud appears only in 'man' and the letter Hey only in 'woman'. According to mystical tradition, the four elements of creation: 'inanimate, vegetable, animal, human', correspond to the four foundations of creation: 'earth, water, spirit, fire'. As Maharchu wrote, every detail in creation contains these four elements. The root of these four elements, as well as of every detail in creation composed of these four elements, is in the four letters of Hashem's name, which researchers in molecular genetics have identified in modern times as the genetic code, composed of four types of nucleotides represented by the nitrogenous bases labeled by researchers with four letters of the English alphabet: A (Adenine), G (Guanine), C (Cytosine), and U (Uracil). However, the true correct letters are the four letters of Hashem's name, not merely representing components for identification, but they compose every detail in creation. A deep exploration of the Book of Creation reveals an astonishing similarity between the genetic code combinations recently discovered and the letter combinations (revolving in the 231 gates) as the language of the Mishnah there: "One with all, and all with one, two with all, and all with two, and so on. Every creature and utterance goes by a single name." Additional data in the genetic code are explained by the fact that the letter Hey appears twice in Hashem's name, and various items embedded in this code, discovered so far, match or are close in number to the holy names embedded in the letters of Hashem's name in fulfillment (as known in Kabbalah), as well as to the number of the alphabetic letters - which are the entire code of existence. We must delicately add that certain differences between the conclusions of genetic code researchers and what is known to the Jewish people about the secret of the letters suggest that, as of today, not all researchers' conclusions are accurate. However, inanimate nature primarily belongs to earth, plants to water, animals to spirit, and humans primarily to fire. Therefore, since man and woman together are easily capable of heating up and arguing due to the fiery nature within them, the word fire appears in both 'man' and 'woman'. However, man has the letter Yud, and woman the letter Hey.

We’ll elaborate further. In the natural world, oxygen and hydrogen ignite quickly, and hydrogen even ignites faster than oxygen. Yet, when oxygen and hydrogen are combined, forming a single compound, they become water! A material opposite to fire, which extinguishes it.

Similarly, here in our matter. Man and woman, each with their own will and choice, are in their roots two 'combustible materials'. However, when they unite in holiness, as desired by their Creator, they become a single compound that extinguishes their inner fire and, like water, turn pure and fresh. At this point, they are both called by a single name: 'Adam'. As it is written, "He called their name Adam".

How do they unite in holiness? As is known, the completion of a man and a woman called together Adam occurs when the man, obliged to study Torah and accountable for neglecting it, dedicates every available moment from livelihood and other needs to Torah study, symbolized by the letter Yud. Meanwhile, the woman, who received special abilities and the capacity to conceive and give birth, along with raising the next generation with patience and gentle speech, is involved in building the world symbolized by the letter Hey. Together, they follow their Creator's guidance in all household matters and their relationship.

This is what the sages said in the Talmud: "A man and a woman, if they merit, the Divine Presence dwells between them. If not, fire consumes them." The letter Yud in a man and the letter Hey in a woman form together the word 'Yah', one of Hashem's names. If they merit to behave appropriately and base their home on the principles of the Creator's Torah, then the Divine Presence is among them: Yud in the man and Hey in the woman. If they do not merit, the Divine Presence withdraws from between them, leaving just fire and fire. Fire consumes them.

Moreover, in the verse "Therefore she shall be called woman because from man she was taken", the letters at the end of the four words "she shall be called woman because from man", form the word fire, with the letters Hey and Yud between the letters Alef and Shin.

At a deeper level, as explained in letter Bet, all creation consists of opposites, which are in the category of the granting giver of abundance and the recipient of abundance. One reason for this is that if the recipient lacked nothing, there could be no enjoyment and pleasure in the world. Since pleasure only occurs in fulfilling a lack, this filling creates a sense of completeness, which is the delight in the world, as people strive in the depths of their soul towards completeness to emulate, as much as they can, their Creator who is perfect in all completeness.

The source of all abundance is, of course, the great Giver, blessed be He. However, the abundance descends through ten different channels, different ways of governance called the ten Sefirot. They are, as a metaphor, like the rays of the sun emanating from it, containing different colors and components that unite in the world's atmosphere for one purpose - to illuminate the world. The spiritual abundance descending through the Sefirot signifies the holy Divine Presence, whose illumination to the world comes from receiving abundance from the Holy One, blessed be He. And this explains the prayer "For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechina." Through this unification, good abundance descends into the world via the holy Shechina.

Likewise, the letter Yud appears in "man" in the secret of the male, influencing in the image of the Holy One, and the letter Hey appears in "woman" in the secret of the receiver, representing the holy Shechina. In their holy union, they bring great abundance to their home and the entire world.

The Influencing Yud as Male, and the Receiving Hey as Female, According to the Secret

According to the secret, at the beginning of creation, the first spark of light from the letter Yud (at the top of the letter Alef, as previously explained) appeared. This point began to extend downward, forming the letter Vav, the second letter in the word Yo"d. Then it continued to spread from top to side, forming the letter Dalet in the word Yo"d. All three are included and contained in the letter Yud, written as Yud and pronounced Yo"d.

In this initial illumination, the spiritual world known as the World of Emanation was created, which is Yud from Hashem's name. From it, the World of Creation descended, where spiritual creation began to appear as something from nothing. This is the first letter Hey (the letter of bringing potential into action) in Hashem's name. From it, the World of Formation descended, where spiritual quantities and forms began to appear through the unity of the spiritual parts and particles created in the World of Creation. The World of Formation appeared through the power of the letter Vav (letter of connection and unity) from Hashem's name, from which the World of Action descended, containing at its base the material universe known to us, the last letter Hey (again the letter of bringing potential into action) in Hashem's name.

Thus, the letter Yud (and its continuation, the letter Vav) as the secret of the influencer, representing the masculine kindness, and the letter Hey as the secret of the receiver of the abundance, creating from this abundance a new embryo, indicated by the inverted Yud in the belly of the letter Hey, and bringing it into the world. Therefore, the letter Yud is in a man and the letter Hey in a woman.

This also clarifies what is brought in the holy Zohar, in the name of the young prodigy about whom the sages of the Zohar marveled at his wisdom, who stated about the verse "Mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, to hear the voice of his word", that when Israel lacks good deeds, the Sefira of Malchut, which is the crown of the foundation and comprised of ten sefiros, compresses all its nine sefiros, and they ascend and merge into its upper sefirah, the sefirah of Keter, so that only a small point remains visible, representing the letter Yud. She tells all her host armies under her protection who seek her abundance: "I am black", for I have no white space like other letters, therefore I have no room to shelter you under my wings, and no abundance of goodness can descend from me to the world. But when Israel awakens from their sleep and put on the tefillin on their hand (hand as in Yud. It is the letter Yud in their body and soul, as well as the knot of the hand tefillin, shaped like Yo"d) and pray the morning prayer with the tefillin, the voice of their prayer then works to raise sublime illuminations from world to world until they reach the pinnacle, which is the Amida prayer in the World of Emanation (each Kaddish between sections in the morning prayer acts as a barrier between a world and the world above it. Sacrifices – in the World of Action, Psalms – in the World of Formation, blessings of Shema – in the World of Creation. And the Kaddish acts as an elevator raising the prayer's illumination from world to world) and they are the mighty heroes about whom it is said in Psalms, "the young lions roar". Through their prayer voice, the beloved comes out of his hall with great illuminations, which are in the form of gifts and fragrant spices, finds her, the Sefira of Malchut, black and small, without any beauty or form at all. He then approaches her with his abundance in the form of an embrace and kiss, and the giving of abundance until she gradually awakens, builds and stands in her form and beauty, like the letter Hey at the beginning, when she stands in her splendor with all her ten sefiros. When the Sefira of Malchut is corrected in the form of the letter Hey, she joins the three letters Yah"V, corresponding to the higher sefiros, and Hashem's name becomes complete. At that moment, the abundance extends from the worlds of "Emanation Creation Formation" which are the letters Yah"V, to the World of Action, the last letter Hey which is the Sefira of Malchut, and descends to humans to strengthen them and provide for them and to benefit them in all their matters. Concerning those individuals who enable all this with their speech, the verse says "Mighty in strength who fulfill his word".

Also see more in the holy Zohar for additional wonderful secrets, for which the sages of the Zohar came and kissed the young prodigy, and Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, exclaimed about those secrets that even if the prophet Ezekiel had spoken them, it would have been a marvel in the world.

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