The Complete Book of Hebrew Baby Names.

The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary.

The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary.

Variant spelling - LIAV

Hebrew Bible sources - And the Gibeonites said to him, not to me [li], We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us will you kill any man in Israel (Chronicles 17:25).
So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God and he hath made me a father [av] to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt (Genesis 45:8).

The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are Lamed Yud Aleph Beit. Taken together, and reading from right to left, they spell LEEAV. 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.

LAMED is the 12th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 30. Lamed makes a sound like the L in Like. Lamed means both TO LEARN and TO TEACH. The Lamed is the tallest and most majestic of all the letters. Indeed Rashi interprets A TOWER FLYING IN THE AIR (Hagigah 15b) - as applying to the upper stroke of the Lamed.
The Lamed is generally considered to be constructed of a Caf (20) with a Vav (6). In this configuration the LAMED has a GEMATRIA of 26 - the same as that of the Yud (10) Hey (5) Vav (6) Hey (5) name of God (Haralick, Robert M. 1995. The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters. Northvale: Jason Aronson. 180).
Since LAMED means LEARNING, it would seem that this would constitute a direct connection between LAMED, LEARNING and God.
The ziz [The headplate worn by the High Priest, (Exodus 28:36). ]was a kind of golden plate two fingerbreadths broad, and it stretched round [the forehead] from ear to ear, and upon it was written in two lines Yod He above and Holy Lamed below (Shabbat 63b).
[Zayyin Heth Teth Yod KafLamed: [this sequence teaches], and if thou doest thus, the Holy One, blessed be He [haKadosh barochu] , 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).
R. Nehemiah said, In the case of every word which requires a Lamed at the beginning [to indicate direction] Scripture has placed a Hey at the end (Yevamot 13b).
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.
Lamed 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 Lamed King over sex. And He bound a crown to it and He combined one with another and with them He formed Libra in the Universe, Tishrei in the Year, and the gall bladder in the soul male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 197, 209, 217).

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).
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 (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).

ALEPH is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of one. The meanings of Aleph are: THOUSAND, MASTER, TEACHING, OX. The Aleph makes no sound. The Aleph is composed of a Vav (6) and 2 Yuds (20). Their combined value is 26 which is the numerical value of the name of God - Yud (10) Hey (5) Vav (6) Hey (5) (Chefitz, Mitchell. 2001. The Seventh Telling. New York: St. Martins Press. 219).
[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the Aleph as an Ayin, the Ayin as an Aleph, (Shabbat 103b).
Alef Beth [means] learn wisdom [Alef Binah] (Shabbat 104a).
The Holy One, blessed be He [ haKadosh barochu], said: I am not called as I am written: I am written with Yud Hey, but I am read, Aleph Dalet (Kiddushim 71a).
There are Names which may be erased [Because they are not used solely of the Deity, and are therefore not sacred]; and there are Names which may not be erased. These are the Names which may not be erased, such as: El [God], Eloha, Elohim, your God, I am that I am [ehyeh asher ehyeh - Aleph Hey Yud Hey - Aleph Shin Resh - Aleph HeyYud Hey], Alef Daleth; Yod He; Shaddai; Zebaoth - these may not be erased. but the Great, the Mighty, the Revered, the Majestic, the Strong, the Powerful, the Potent, the Merciful and Gracious, the Long Suffering, the One Abounding in Kindness these may be erased! (Shauvot 35a).
The Lord said to her: Aleph, Aleph, although I will begin the creation of the world with the Beit, thou wilt remain the first of the letters. My unity shall not be expressed except through thee, on thee shall be based all calculations and operations of the world (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:3b).
Beit is female, Aleph, male. As Beit created, so Aleph, produced letters (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).
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 Aleph 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).

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] (Shabbat104a).
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).

*

*

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:: brown