The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names.

The Complete Book of Hebrew Baby Names.

Variant spellings - YEHUDA, YEHUDAH

Hebrew Bible name - Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, brother of Reuben, Simon, Levi, Issachar , Zebulun, Dan, Naftali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin and Dinah and father of Er, Onan, Shela, Pharez, Zerah, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, Shoval (Genesis 35:23-26; Genesis 25:26-34; Genesis 29:35; Genesis 38:5-11; Genesis 46:12; Chronicles 4:1).
Later in life Judah married Tamar (Genesis 38:24-26).
The deathbed blessing Jacob gave Judah was - The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the staff of the ruler from between his feet, so that tribute shall come to him and the homage of peoples be his (Genesis 49:10).
Jacob refers to him as a whelp of a lion in Genesis 49:9.
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur (Joshua 15: 20-21).

Talmud - Rabbi Judah ha Nasi, a fifth generation tanna, was know as Rabbi or rebbi.
Rabbi was asked, Why were you called Our holy Teacher? (Shabbat 118b).
Reish Lakish retorted: Who is this Rab? Who is this Rab? I know him not. Said R. Johanan to him, Do you not remember that disciple who attended the lectures of the Great Rabbi and of R. Hiyya , and, by God! all the years during which that disciple sat before his teachers I remained standing! [an advanced student was permitted to sit]. And in what [do you think] he excelled? He excelled in everything! Immediately Reish Lakish exclaimed: Verily that man is to be remembered for good! (Chullin 54a)
[R. Johanan]. I remember when I was sitting before Rabbi, seventeen rows behind Rab , seeing sparks of fire leaping from the mouth of Rabbi into the mouth of Rab and from the mouth of Rab into the mouth of Rabbi, and I could not understand what they were saying; and you simply call him Abba (Chullin 137b).
To-day Rab Judah [ha Nasi] was born in Babylon. (For a Master said: When R. Akiba died, Rabbi was born; when Rabbi died, Judah [ha Nasi] was born; when Rab Judah [ha Nasi] died, Raba was born; when Raba died, R. Ashi was born [In all cases, on the same day]. This teaches that a righteous man does not depart from the world until [another] righteous man like himself is created, as it is said, the sun riseth and the sun goeth down (Ecclesiastes 1:5) (Kiddushin 72b).
R. Judah b. Bathyra was an eminent tanna. He must have lived before the destruction of the Temple, since he prevented a pagan in Jerusalem from partaking of the Paschal offering. Thereupon he received the message: Hail to thee, Rabbi Judah b. Bathyra! You live in Nisibis, but thy net is spread in Jerusalem (Pesachim 27a). Since R. Judah was not present himself at the Passover in Jerusalem, it may be concluded that he was far advanced in years, although as a citizen of a foreign land he was not bound by the law which demanded the celebration of the Passover at Jerusalem. At Nisibis in Mesopotamia he had a famous college, which is expressly recommended together with other famous schools (Sanhedrin 32b; www.jewishencyclopedia.com).
Once the wicked Government [of Hadrian] [as an act of religious persecution], decreed that whoever performed an ordination should be put to death, the city in which the ordination took place demolished, and the boundaries wherein it had been performed, uprooted. What did R. Judah b. Baba do? He went and sat between two great mountains, [that lay] between two large cities; between the Sabbath boundaries of the cities of Usha and Shefaram and there ordained five elders: viz., R. Meir, R. Judah, R. Simeon, R. Jose and R. Eliezer b. Shamua . R. Awia adds also R. Nehemiah in the list. As soon as their enemies discovered them he [R. Judah b. Baba] urged them: My children, flee. They said to him, What will become of thee, Rabbi? I lie before them like a stone which none [is concerned to] overturn, he replied. It was said that the enemy did not stir from the spot until they had driven three hundred iron spear-heads into his body, making it like a sieve. With R. Judah b. Baba were in fact some others, but in honor to him, they were not mentioned (Sanhedrin 14a).

Zohar - The letters Yud Hey Vav of the name of Judah are the impress of the name of God, and they were completed by a Dalet, which represents the second Hey, of the Sacred name, so that the name of God is found completely in name of Judah (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:6a).

The Hebrew Letters featured in this piece are Yud Hey Vav Dalet Hey. Taken together, and reading from right to left, they spell JUDAH.

.Each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet has a special meaning and a story to tell. Here a few brief ones about the letters on this painting.

YUD is the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 10, and means HAND. Yud makes a sound like the Y in Year. Yud is a simple point. It is the smallest letter in the alphabet and yet is frequently associated with the very large concept of EMANATION, the highest level in the Four World paradigm of Kabbalah.
[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the Vav as a Yud or the Yud as a Vav, (Shabbat 103b).
[Zayyin Heth Teth Yod KafLamed: [this sequence teaches,] and if thou doest thus, the Holy One, blessed be He [ haKadosh], will sustain [Zan] thee, be gracious [Hen] unto thee, show goodness [Metiv] to thee, give thee a heritage [Yerushah], and bind a crown [Keter] on thee in the world to come (Shabbat 104a ).
The letters of the word for husband are Aleph, Yud and Shin, and for wife Aleph Shin and Hey. The Yud and Hey form the Divine Name; but if omitted, only Aleph and Shin are left which form the word esh, meaning fire (Sotah 17a).
Yud has the important job of being the first letter of the Tetragrammaton - Yud Hey Vav Hey. Zohar states that, in this context, the Yud represents the head of all creatures (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. 3:130).
In the Sephrotic tree the Yud symbolizes WISDOM - the stage of concealment which precedes its development into a state of expansion in UNDERSTANDING. It is then contained and represented in the letter Hey (Zalman, Shneur. 1981. "Igeret Hateshuvah." Likkutei Amarim - Tanya. 359).
Menachot 29b teaches that the WORLD TO COME was created by use of the letter Yud Sefer Yetzirah divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin , 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
According to Sefer Yetzirah, God created the world by means of these letters. Yud is one of the Elementals. Twelve Elementals - their foundation is [that] He engraved them, and transformed them, and with them He formed 12 constellations in the Universe, 12 months in the Year and 12 directions in the soul, male and female. And God made the letter Yud, King over action and He bound a crown to it and combined one with another and with them He formed Virgo in the Universe, Elul in the Year and the left hand in the Soul male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 209, 159, 216).

HEY is the 5th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 5, means BEHOLD and is constructed of a Dalet and a Yud. Hey makes a sound like the H in Happy. Hey appears twice in the Yud Hey Vav Hey Name of God.
The word Behebaram in Genesis 2:4 is usually translated When they were created. In the Torah scroll the Hey in this word drew attention to itself by being smaller than the rest of the letters in the scroll. What significance did this have for the word Behebaram? If this word could be translated WITH A Hey HE CREATED THEM, then that would mean that God created this world by means of the Hey. God did this because the Hey is closed on 3 sides and open on the 4th. This allows those who wish to deviate from the right path to get out through the open 4th side. On the left there is a little space between the leg and the roof. That is there to allow anyone who wishes to repent, to return through that small (Menachot 29b).
When R. Johanan was once sitting [at his studies] and expounding that nothar at its proper time [on the third day] may be burned in the daytime only,and if not at its proper time, it may be burned either in the day or in the night. R. Eleazar raised an objection: I only know that a child whose circumcision takes place on the eighth day must be circumcised in the daytime only; whence, however, is it deduced that the case of a child whose circumcision takes place on the ninth, tenth, eleventh or twelfth is also included? Because it was expressly stated, And in the day; and even he [on the third day] who bases no expositions on a Vav does base his exposition on the basis of a Vav and a Hey! (Yevamot 72b).
The heavens are the totality of twenty-two letters. The letter Hey produced the heavens to give them life and to water them and the earth (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).
The numerical value of the Hey is five, alluding to the five names of the soul Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, Yechidah (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 19).
What is the purpose of the Hey? It is a throne for the Zayin, It is written for one above the other watches (Ecclesiastes 5:7) (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 19).
Sefer Yetzirah divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin , 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
According to Sefer Yetzirah, God created the world by means of these letters. Hey is one of the Elementals. Twelve Elementals, their foundation is [that] He engraved them, and transformed them, and with them He formed 12 constellations in the Universe, 12 months in the Year and 12 directions in the soul, male and female. And God made the letter Hey king over speech. and He bound a crown to it and combined one with another and with them He formed Aries in the Universe, Nissan in the Year and the right foot in the Soul male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 209, 159, 215).

VAV is the 6th letter, has a numerical value of 6, and is constructed of a single vertical line. Vav means HOOK and makes a sound like the V in Victory. When used as a vowel, Vav can sound like a long o or a long u. Translated it means AND. It is the GREAT CONNECTOR. Vav appears in the Four Letter name of God - Yud Hey Vav Hey.
[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the Vav as a Yud or the Yud as a Vav (Shabbat 103b).
He , Waw, that is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He; (14) These letters form part of the Tetragrammaton (Shabbat 104a).
The first word in Torah is Bereshit. It means IN A BEGINNING. If you divide Bereshit into bara and sheet, it means HE CREATED SIX (sheet is 6 in Aramaic) Six what? The 6 days in which creation was completed? (Zohar 1:3b. 13).
The 6 Sephirot represented by the Vav - Chesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod? Six directions - east, west, north south, up and down? The letter Vav itself? (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 30).
He , Waw, that is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He [ haKadosh barochu]; [These letters form part of the Tetragrammaton] (Shabbat 104a).
Sefer Yetzirah divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin , 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
According to Sefer Yetzirah, God created the world by means of these letters. Vav is one of the Elementals. Twelve Elementals,their foundation is [that] He engraved them, and transformed them, and with them He formed 12 constellations in the Universe, 12 months in the Year and 12 directions in the soul, male and female. And God made the letter Vav king over thought. and He bound a crown to it and combined one with another and with them He formed Taurus in the Universe, Iyar in the Year and the right kidney in the Soul male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser 5, 95, 209, 159, 215).

DALET is the 4th letter of the alphabet, has a numerical value of 4, means DOOR and makes a sound like the D in Delight. The Dalet has the shape of an open door.
The letter Dalet consists of two lines, one from right to left on top. And the other straight down on the right side. The first line connects Chochma - Wisdom to Chesed - Love while the second line connects Chochma - Wisdom to Chesed. The vowel associated with Chochma - Wisdom is a Petach, while Segol is associated with Chesed. The word Dalet means DOOR, while the word Petachmeans OPENING. Since Chochma-Wisdom represents our hight perception of the Divine, it is the opening of God that enables Him revealing Himself. Segol is related to the word Segula, a remedy that works for no apparent reason. Segol thus parallels the Sefirah of Chesed, which gives freely, even without reason (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 113).
Talmud - It has been taught: Symmachus says: Whoever prolongs the word Ehad [one]. has his days and years prolonged. R. Aha b. Jacob said: [He must dwell] on the Daleth [Because the word does not mean one till he comes to this letter]. R. Ashi said: Provided he does not slur over the Chet Omitting its vowel and so make the word meaningless]. R. Jeremiah was once sitting before R. Hiyya b. Abba, and the latter saw that he was prolonging [the word Ehad] very much (Berachot 13b).
Gimmel Daleth, show kindness to the Poor [Gemol Dallim]. Why is the foot of the Gimmel stretched toward the Daleth? Because it is fitting for the benevolent to run after [seek out] the poor. And why is the roof [foot] of the Daleth stretched out toward the Gimmel? Because he [the poor] must make himself available to him. And why is the face of the Daleth turned away from the Gimmel? Because he must give him [help] in secret, [As though with averted face] lest he be ashamed of him (Shabbat 104a).
The conjunction of the two letters Gimel and Dalet indicates issuing forth Gimel, giving and Dalet receiving (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:244b).
Four is a very important number in Kabbalah. There are four worlds - Asiyah - the World of Action, Yetzirah - the World of Feelings or Emotions, Beriyah - the World of Creation, Atzilut - the World of Emanation; four souls associated with the four worlds - Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya; four letters in the name of God - Yud Hey Vav Hey; and four cups of wine at the Passover Seder.
When he went before Hillel, he accepted him as a proselyte. On the first day, he taught him, Aleph Beit Gimel Dalet [The first four letters of the Hebrew alphabet]. The following day he reversed [them] to him. But yesterday you did not teach them to me thus, he protested. Must you then not rely upon me? [As to what the letters are]. Then rely upon me with respect to the Oral [Torah] too [There must be a certain reliance upon authority before anything can be learnt at all] (Berachot 31a).

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This work is accompanied by the kabbalistic explanation printed above.

The original 5x7 watercolor painting of this image is available.

This is great Bar Mitzvah gift.

mat color:: blue

stock number:: nm2-95