The Letter Kaf (כ') – How to Avoid Confusion in Writing Between Kaf and Kof?

In the Hebrew language, there are words whose pronunciation is similar to one another, yet a difference of one letter leads to a significant change in their meaning. For instance: 'or' (light) and 'or' (skin). Correct pronunciation of these letters, as customary in the Mizrahi diaspora (wherein the Kaf is pronounced differently from the Chet, the Aleph differs from the softer He, and both differ from the deeper Ayin, and even the Kof is not similar to the dagesh'd Kaf), conveys the correct meaning of the words and assists children (and adults) from these families in writing words without spelling mistakes. It is remarkable that even those who pronounce the Chet like a Kaf, and the letters Aleph, He, Ayin as if they were all Aleph, mostly succeed in writing correctly – even without repeating every word listed in the Hebrew dictionary.

Apparently, this can be explained by the fact that over time, the brain learns or inherently knows to identify the essence and belonging of each letter, even without deeply studying the content hidden within each letter according to the secret of the letters. Thus, it associates each word with the correct letter that expresses its essence.

However, many do not intuitively feel the correct spelling, and writing causes them great discomfort, especially as adults.

It's important to know that even those who make many spelling mistakes can write many words correctly by learning the basic principles of the secret of the letters, even superficially, and the improvement will be immediately noticeable.

For example, a child who confuses the Kaf and the Kof in writing should be taught to remember that while the Kof appears spiky and puncturing, the form of the Kaf that looks like a tool lying on its side resembles a container, something that holds (and indeed this is the truth according to the secret of the letters).

Therefore, before writing each word, one should ponder momentarily where it belongs. If he wishes to write a word signifying piercing, such as: kots (thorn), kipod (hedgehog), kiduach (drilling), kilshon (pitchfork), makel (stick), mizrak (syringe), dokran (stabber), keren (horn) and the like, it should be written with a Kof; while if it signifies something containing, such as: keli (tool), kaf (spoon), kapith (teaspoon), kos (cup), kad (jug), kar (pillow), kluv (cage), kele (prison), kaveret (beehive), kiyor (sink), kamut (quantity), mikhamoret (trawl), mikreh (mine), beit-knesset (synagogue), mikhel (container), shekhunah (neighborhood), akhsanya (inn) and the like, it should be written with a Kaf. This rule is valid for words representing a tool containing within it, as well as those representing a tool that holds by imposing from above, like: sikkur (covering), kisuy (covering), smichah (reliance), kfiya (enforcement) and the like.

On a higher level: the letter Kaf signifies bending, and therefore also circling and surrounding, like a crown made by bending and turning. Hence the words: keter (crown), kadur (ball), keres (stomach), kruv (cabbage), ka'ag (pretzel), kippah (dome), kovah (hat), kumtah (beret) and the like, as well as any word belonging to the royal crown, such as: melech (king), malkah (queen), nasi (prince), nesichah (princess), are written with a Kaf. Similarly, the words kephifah (bending), keri'ah (kneeling), habracha (bending the knee), birkayim (knees), karaa'im (legs) and the like are of course written with a Kaf, expressing inherently bending.

Conversely, words like haluka (distribution), kabelah (acceptance), and lekicha (taking) are written with a Kof, penetrating and crossing the border of another. Thus words like kibetz (collected), liket (gathered), lakach (took), kanah (bought), chiylek (divided), sipak (provided), katav (picked) are written with a Kof. Likewise, the words kamtsan (stingy, only for himself), kavtsan (beggar, gathers and takes from others).

Thus also concerning the letters Aleph, He, Ayin.

The letter Aleph expresses the unity of the Creator and the spiritual soul that He infused within man. Therefore, any word expressing a person will not be written with the letters He or Ayin, only with Aleph. Such as: adam (man), anash (humankind), ish (man), isha (woman), av (father), em (mother), ach (brother), achot (sister).

By contrast, the letter Ayin deep and felt, which signifies depth perception (three dimensions), and appears like a bird spreading its wings, appears in words signifying depth or high flight. Such as: ha'amekah (deepening), te'ufa (flight), amidah (standing, rising high), arimah (pile), etz (tree), and so forth, and in words expressing tangible physicality like or versus or.

And the letter He expressing gentleness and emphasis, and serves as the definite article, will appear in words turning masculine into feminine, melech - malkah, amar - amrah, and the like, and in words pointing at someone with emphasis such as: hu, he, hem, hen.

Here is the language of Midrash "Otiot d'Rabbi Akiva":

"Kaf, why is it similar to a cup, with its face towards the Lamed?

Because 'kos' and 'kise' are of the same tongue. And every royal throne is perfected only for kings [it is the tall Lamed rising like a king] to sit upon."

Here we have a wonderful connection between the cup acting as a container shaping the form of the liquids that come within its domain, which can also be imposed as a cover, and the royal throne expressing the kingship of the king determining the conduct of the people within his realm, imposing above them like a cover, to guard and compel them to act properly, for their benefit. After all, "if not for the fear of kingship, people would swallow each other alive."

The letter Kaf is used as the 'Ke' of similarity, replacing the word 'like'. As it is written: "Ephraim and Manasseh will be like Reuben and Simeon to me." Since it is the letter of inclusion, containing within it the thing, as different concepts share something akin, the shared aspect within them (i.e., what is within them) is expressed by the letter Kaf.

In greater depth, as is known, the form of everything existing in this world is merely a replica similar to its spiritual root in the spiritual worlds. Since the cause of every form in the world is the letter Kaf, it turns out that the action of the letter Kaf here, in this world, is to give a similar form like its origin in the spiritual worlds. Therefore, the letter Kaf serves as the 'Ke' of similarity.

Since the letter Kaf is used as 'Ke' of similarity, even when the comparison is not entirely identical, as written "in our image, according to our likeness," it is also used as a word of estimation for time, number, or distance, such as: "around midnight," "about six hundred," "as long as for a day here, and as for a day there."

The letter Kaf is also used as a word of association linking to an event occurring close by, replacing the word 'when', such as: "when Esau heard."

The letter Kaf as a doubled letter

The letter Kaf is one of the seven doubled letters, meaning it has a hardened version and a soft version. As explained in the Book of Creation, the seven doubled letters are Bet, Gimmel, Dalet, Kaf, Pe, Resh, and Tav because they possess a structure of softness and hardness, strength and weakness. Because the duplications are transformations (opposites).

It is explained there that the foundation of wealth and poverty rests in the letter Kaf. The wealth is in the dagesh'd Kaf, and its transformation, the poverty, in the soft Kaf. For these two Kaf letters, the dagesh'd and the soft, stand like two scales of justice when determining a person's livelihood. The first dagesh'd receives from the line of the sefirot of kindness, and the second soft receives from the line of the sefirot of might. And the abundance descending into the world when the scale on the side of kindness opens up, with the secret of the open Kaf opening downward, depends on the person's actions according to the scales of justice leaning towards good, or heaven forbid, the opposite. For the letter Kaf expresses the King of the World sitting on the seat of justice and determining a person's fate according to his actions. As it is written: "A King establishes an order through justice."

It also mentions there: "He crowned the letter Kaf, and bestowed it a crown. And formed in it the sun in the world, and fourth day in the year, and left ear in the soul."

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