The Complete Book of Hebrew Baby Names.

The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names.

Hebrew Bible source - Behold, God is exalted [sagiv] in His power; Who is a teacher like Him? (Job 36:22).

The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are Shin Gimel Yud Beit. Taken together they spell SAGIV.

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.

SHIN is the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 300. Shin means TOOTH, YEAR, REPEAT, TEACH. SHIN makes the sound SHHHHHH when the DOT is on the right, and SSSS when the DOT is on he left.
There are differing opinions about which components make up the Shin . Kushner states that the Vav, each makes up the right arm, the Zayin the left, and Yud the middle. In the opinion of Haralick, the Yud the is on the right, the Zayin on the left and the Vav in the middle. It is the view of Ginsburgh that the SHIN is composed of 3 Vavs, each with a little Yud on its top. So, to make this letter your own, it will be necessary to take it into meditation and come to your own conclusion (Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters: Sefer Otiyot. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing. 72; Haralick, Robert M. 1995. The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters. Northvale: Jason Aronson. 299; Ginsburgh, Rabbi Yitzchak. 1992. The Hebrew Letters Jerusalem: Gal Einai. 313).
The Ancient Holy One is called Ayin (nothing) (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 3:158b).
Shin is one of 7 letters which may be adorned with Tagin, or little crowns, in the Torah, Tefillin or Mezzuzah scroll. These are called the SHAYNAYZ GAYTZ letters [Shin Ayin Tet Nun Zayin Gimel Tsade] Each one of these letters contains a Zayin. A TAG is composed of 3 strokes which themselves look like little Zayins. There is a wonderful story in Talmud, which describes Moses ascending to Heaven to find God occupied in affixing Taggin to the letters of Torah (Menachot 29b)
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. The Shin is one of the mothers- that group from which emanated AIR (from Aleph), WATER (from Mem) and FIRE (from Shin). The 3 mothers in the universe are AIR, WATER and FIRE...HEAVEN was created from FIRE, EARTH was created from WATER, and AIR from SPIRIT (WIND) balanced between them. Aleph and Shin spell AISH - FIRE. Aleph represents AIR and Shin - FIRE. FIRE cannot exist without AIR (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 145, 147, 159, 197).

GIMEL is the 3rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 3, and makes a sound like the G in Give. The Gimel is constructed of a Vav and a Yud. It means CAMEL or REWARD and is associated the phrase Gemilut Hasadim - ACTS OF LOVINGKINDNESS.
The The Bahir , which may be the oldest kabbalistic text, is attributed to R. Nehuniah Ben HaKana a first century kabbalist. In this text, R. Akiva states, the Gimel has three parts because it BESTOWS, GROWS AND SUSTAINS. The three parts are the head, the tail, and a pipe in the middle through which energy can pass. The GIMEL draws from above through its head and disperses through its tail (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir York Beach: Samuel Weiser. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. lx, 8).
Gimmel Daleth, show kindness to the Poor [Gemol Dallim]. Why is the foot of the Gimmel stretched toward the Daleth? Because it is fitting for10 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).
Gimel is one of 7 letters which may be adorned with Tagin, or little crowns, in the Torah, Tefillin or Mezzuzah scroll. These are called the SHAYNAYZ GAYTZ letters letters [Shin Ayin Tet Nun Zayin Gimel Tsade] Each one of these letters contains a Zayin. A tag is composed of 3 strokes which themselves look like little Zayins. There is a wonderful story in Talmud, which describes Moses ascending to Heaven to find God occupied in affixing TAGGIN to the letters of Torah (Menachot 29b).
[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the Gimel as a Tsade or the Tsade as a Gimel as an Aleph, (Shabbat 103b).
Sefer Yetzirah. divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin, 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Kuf 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.
According to Sefer Yetzirah, York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 159, 162, 174, 175), God created the world by means of these letters. Gimel is one of the Doubles. Seven Doubles: BGD KPHRT, Their foundation is Wisdom, Wealth, Seed, Life, Dominance, Peace and Grace. Seven Double, their foundation is [that] He engraved them, He cared them, He permuted them, He weighed the, He transform them, and with them He formed seven planets in the Universe, Seven days in the Year, Seven gates in the Soul, male and female: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and the mouth. And God made the letter Gimel King over Wealth and He bound a crown to it and combined one with another and with them He formed the Mars in the Universe, Wednesday in the Year, The left eye in the Soul, male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer YetzirahYork Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 159, 162, 174, 175).

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 (Shabbat103b).
Zayin Heth Teth Yod Kaf Lamed: [This sequence of letters teaches us that], 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 (Shabbat104a).
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).

BEIT is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet and its numerical value is 2. The meanings of Beit are HOUSE, HOME, CONTAINER. The Beit makes a sound like the B in Beautiful.
Torah begins with the letter Beit. It was chosen for this honor because it is closed on top, bottom and on the right. It is open on the left, the direction of the text, to teach us to look forward and not backward, in our daily lives (Freedman, H. and Simon Maurice Tr. 1983. Genesis Rabbah. New York: Soncino P. 9).
R. Hisda also said: The writing of the Tables could be read from within and without [from both sides], e.g., nebub [hollow] would be read buban; behar [in the mountain] [as] rahab; saru [they departed] [as] waras. The Rabbis told R. Joshua b. Levi : Children have come to the Beth Hamidrash and said things the like of which was not said even in the days of Joshua the son of Nun. [Thus:] Alef Beth [means] learn wisdom [Alef Binah] (Shabbat 104a).
Rab Hanuna the Venerable said: We find here a reversal of the order of the letters of the Alphabet, the first two words Bereshith bara - in-the-beginning He-created - commencing with Beit, whereas the two words following, Eloheim Et - God the - commence with Aleph (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:2b).
[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the Beit as a Caf, or the Caf as a Beit (Shabbat 103b).
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).
When the time came to create the world all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet presented themselves to God in reverse order. Each one requested that God place it first in creation. God rejected each one in turn. The Beit then entered and suggested that it be put first since it represented the blessings - Brachot. God agree and thus Beit was put first in the creation of the world (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 12).
He who wishes to enter into my presence must first of all pass through that gate. So here the first gate to super-Wisdom is the fear of God; and this is what is meant by reshith (beginning). The letter Beit (=2) indicates two things joined together, namely two points, one shrouded in mystery and one capable of being revealed; and as they are inseparable they therefore are both joined in the single term reshith (beginning), i.e. they are one and not two, and he who takes away the one takes away the other as well (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:7b).
We have been taught that wherever the name Solomon occurs in the Song of Songs, it refers to the king to whom peace belongs, while the term king, simply, refers to the Female. The lower is contained in the upper, and the mnemonic is that the lower is heir to the upper, so that both are as one, together constituting Beth (=bayith, house), as it is written, With wisdom a house (bayith) is built (Proverbs 24: 3) (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:29a).
Sefer Yetzirah. divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin, 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Kuf 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. Beit is one of the Doubles. Seven Doubles: BGD KPHRT, Their foundation is Wisdom, Wealth, Seed, Life, Dominance, Peace and Grace. Seven Doubles, their foundation is [that] He engraved them, He cared them, He permuted them, He weighed the, He transform them, and with them He formed seven planets in the Universe, Seven days in the Year, Seven gates in the Soul, male and female: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and the mouth. And God made the letter Beit King over Wisdom and He bound a crown to it and combined one with another and with them He formed the Moon in the Universe, Sunday in the Year, The right eye in the Soul, male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 159, 162, 174, 175).

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This painting 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:: orange, red, black

stock number:: nm8-92