The Letter 'Lamed' – Striving to Reach the Destination

The letter 'Lamed', taller than all the other letters and looking afar, expresses the aspiration to reach a certain destination. Whether it is a physical destination, such as arriving at a city or a specific place; or a spiritual destination such as acquiring wisdom, via learning. This aspiration, to reach any destination, usually requires measuring the distance from the target, to properly plan the arrival at the objective.

Thus, the power of mental activity that aspires to reach a certain target and measures the distance from the target because of the aspiration to get there, is embedded in the letter 'Lamed'.

Therefore, many words that start with the letter 'Lamed' express a destination, and the 'Lamed' at their beginning replaces the word 'to'. Similarly with words like: 'learn' instead of 'to learning', 'honor', 'measure', 'wander', 'dance', 'revolt', 'stumble'.

In the letter 'Lamed' lies also the power of exchange, as replacement is performed by aspiring to a new destination instead of the original one. Hence, the 'Lamed' serves also as the letter of exchange. As in: "...the water you shall take from the river, and it will become blood on the dry land."

The Talmud explains that the tall 'Lamed', serving as a transition letter instead of the word 'to', hints at the higher destination of the complete person, who merits reaching eternal life. The Talmud states: "And if you do this, Hashem nourishes you (Zayin), grants you grace (Chet), benefits you (Tet), gives you inheritance (Yud), and crowns you (Kaf) in the world to come (Lamed)." This means that although the letters 'Yud' and 'Kaf' also express the world to come, each embodies a different level of acquiring eternal life. The 'Yud' – a portion and place ('inheritance'), the 'Kaf' – kingdom ('crown'), while the 'Lamed' expresses the very reaching of eternal life, where the complete person has a share in that exalted place and holds a royal status, akin to the saying: "The righteous sit [place], with their crowns on their heads [crown], enjoying the radiance of the Shechina." This symbolizes the untold spiritual delight of the righteous, free from the constraints of their desires, thereby meriting closeness to their Creator, as a reward worthy of a mother's praise.

Nonetheless, at a simple level, the 'Lamed' hints at the internal motivating force that brings a person to aspire to any target, mainly to learning.

The letter 'Lamed' appears at the beginning of a word for the first time in the Torah in the verse: "And Hashem called the light day, and the darkness He called night." Because the material world, with its deceptions and desires, can – either elevate a person to eternal life created by the letter 'Yud', through the revelation of truth and overcoming impulses, or lower them to the baseness of this world's materialism, created by the letter 'Heh'. The choice is in the person's hands. This is the secret of darkness called 'Laila': to-Yud to-Heh. Meaning: either to-Yud, which is the world to come, or to-Heh, which is this world. This is the essence of the 'Lamed', the letter of inner drive and aspiration to reach a positive or negative goal, used in place of the word 'to'.

In a literal sense, 'Laila' derives from 'wailing', though both 'Lamed' letters merge into one in the word 'Laila'. Because the night brings an atmosphere of sorrow, and the wailing of the sufferers intensifies (and in this regard, this world, with all its desires and ensuing pain, resembles the night), and it is more audible due to the night's quiet. Also, the 'Lamed' at the beginning of the word serves instead of the word 'to'.

Form and Pronunciation

The shape of the 'Lamed', towering over all letters, resembles a tall person whose face looks far and aspires forward. By this, it expresses the human curiosity and inner drive to know much and reach various destinations in life, both materially and spiritually. Hence, 'Lamed' stems from the word 'learning', and it is taller than all the letters. For the elevated understanding, beyond apparent superficiality, is the essence of learning. Intellectual learning also straightens and elevates a person to his lofty levels and is one of the main distinctions between humans and animals.

Additionally, the tall 'Lamed' is the only letter pronounced by elevating the tongue's tip. That dominant and supreme organ by which life and death are dealt, as written: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," and upon it depends the ability to extract the most and best from learning and remember it for a long time, as explained in the Talmud about the importance of verbalizing learning aloud.

The shape of the 'Lamed' comprises the 'Kaf' (letter of form-giving), upon which stands the 'Vav' (letter of connection and knowledge). Since naturally, the details collected in a living person's brain are scattered and confused, rendering a chaotic thought process. Through learning, contradictions resolve and thoughts connect, thus granting the mind a structured cognitive framework, shaping one's spiritual perception and understanding of every detail of life and world. Consequently, the essence of learning signified by 'Lamed', is reflected in its shape: the 'Vav' atop (its head appearing like the human head), connects the various thoughts (in the head) and employs the 'Kaf' below to shape the person's learning understanding, representing the essence of the 'Lamed'.

Therefore, even though the 'Lamed' expresses the aspiration to reach various goals and not only learning, it is called 'Lamed' from the word learning. The strongest and most desired aspiration above all others is the quest for acquired wisdom.

Indeed, though all wisdom, like natural sciences and other disciplines a person learns, makes one wise, learning Torah not only makes one wise and understanding in all types of wisdom as the sages said in the Mishnah: "Turn it over and over, for everything is in it", but also ascends and elevates one's personality and the societal regard towards them, till they become like a king, adorned with the crown of Torah. This is explained in the Midrash "Otiyot d'Rabbi Akiva" that the shape of 'Lamed' resembles a person seated on a chair, and its placement in the letter order is between the letter 'Kaf', shaped like a chair, upon which the 'Lamed' seems to sit, and the letter 'Mem', symbolizing royalty. Signifying that the one who elevates themselves through proper Torah study, which is the high learning hinted at by the tall Lamed, earns royalty and sits upon the royal throne nearby.

Here is the language of the Midrash:

"Why is the 'Lamed' taller than all letters?

Because it is in the middle of the 22 letters, resembling a king [standing in the center of the royal entourage and towering over all], sitting on the throne of glory [the letter 'Kaf'], with royalty before him [the letter 'Mem']."

Remarkably, these three letters, positioned at the center of the alphabet, combine to form the word: 'Melach' (king).

A B G D H V Z Ch T Y K L M N S O P Tz Q R Sh T

However, their reading order is from end to beginning, in the secret of the Atbash order. An order rooted in the spiritual truth, as they imply by this combination on the true stature of the learned sage and his great reward akin to a 'king', in the world to come.

This person who earns the crown of Torah by engaging in the most precious wisdom, resembles their Creator to such an extent that the word "et" in the verse "Et Hashem your God you shall fear" (which like all 'et' in the Torah, invites additional interpretation) refers to him, the learned sage. As explained in the Talmud, "Et Hashem your God you shall fear, includes the Torah scholars". For he becomes similar to his Creator in the phrase "I shall be like the Most High." And merits foreseeing future events as the holy spirit rests upon him in the mystery of the 'Lamed', the letter looking to distances.

Though on a deeper level, the tall 'Lamed' hints at the King of the World, exalted above all forces indicated by the array of letters which 'Lamed' stands at their center, and they stand around as the king's mighty and expert warriors, each expert in their area and waiting for the king's command to fulfill it wholeheartedly.

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