The Hebrew word for "wonder" or "sign" is "ot". Significantly, the same word also means "letter". In Jewish thought, the aleph-beis is a Divinely ordered set of symbols. The letters making up the name for the first Hebrew letter, aleph, also spell "peleh" meaning "wonder". Their name, form, size, spelling, position, meaning, and numerology are all the subject of extensive commentary by the sages. Every letter in a mezuzah and tefillin must be written perfectly. A single letter added, omitted, distorted, or coming into contact with another letter, makes the entire scroll invalid.

The Torah begins with "In the beginning God created (alef-tov)" This is the alpha and omega of the Hebrew alphabet. The 22 sacred letters are the raw material of creation that translate the will of God into reality. God spoke words to create the world; "Let there be..." Psalms 33:6 explains, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth, all their host."

The most divine group of letters would be the name God gives to Himself. In Exodus 3, Moses ascends Mount Horeb, and God speaks from the burning bush, "Tell your people Jehovah (YHVH) has sent me." YHVH adds, "This is my Name forever, and My title from gereration to generation." In Exodus 6:3 YHVH explains to Moses, "I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, (El Shaddai) but by My Name, Jehovah (YHVH) I did not make Myself known to them." YHVH tells Moses, in Numbers 6:27, "Put My Name on the sons of Israel and I will bless them."

The name YHVH is called the “Shem HaMeforesh” or “Brilliant Name of Fire.” It is often simply referred to as “HaShem” (lit. “The Name”), reflecting its principality. Some regard the Word as a composite of the past, present, and future tense forms of the verb root, “to be” hayah.

Orthodoxy has proclaimed the pronunciation, of the letter-formula YHVH as a name, to be blasphemous. When the name YHVH is encountered in the Torah, or when chanting prayers, pious Jews will either pause in silence, out of respect, or substitute “Adonai” (lit. my Master). Jerome changed the Yod to “J,” for the Latin Vulgate edition of the Tanakh, and used the vowels from Adonai, to make the now often used “Jehovah.” Jehovah is the way most contemporary non-Jews pronounce the name YHVH, but is translated in some scriptures as “Lord.” The Name: YHVH is sometimes pronounced “Yahweh.” The High Priest in the Temple of Jerusalem made a one-syllable, awe-filled whisper of the “YHVH” in the holy of holies, once a year on Yom Kippur. There are differing opinions on the true, powerful Sound.

Halachic prohibition specifies the four letters of YHVH cannot be spoken in the form of a word, but allows spelling it out. In contrast to the rabbinical prohibition against pronouncing the letter-formula YHVH in any way, there are a number of instances in the Torah where it specifically states, the Lord YHVH was invoked by name. Before Horeb, He was known as “El” as Beth-El (Bethel) means house of God. Afterwards, you notice the ancient use of “YHVH” as a venerated title, and the basis of many Hebrew-originated pronouns.

The first part of the first of the Ten Commandments: “Anokhi Yod Heh Vav Heh Elohekha” (lit. I AM YHVH your God) can be used as a Torah mantra, along with the following. In Torah Shmoth 20:2, “Ani Yod Heh Vav Heh (lit. I AM YHVH). Torah Shmoth 15:26 and many other places, The Shema: “Shem AYN Yisroel Yod Heh Vav Heh Elohenu Yod Heh Vav Heh EchaD” (lit. Name Ayn Israel YHVH our Elohim YHVH One). Also in Torah Doverim 6:4, His Name is on His People, He is the one We worship Forever, and He is one.

The gematria of the word for "one," echad, is aleph (1) + chet (8) + dalet (4) = 13. Thirteen is the number of God's qualities of mercy recounted in the covenant with Moses, the one which we recite on Yom Kippur: "Hashem, Hashem, El rachum v'chanun...". Incidentally, it is also the number of attributes of God spelled out in Maimonides' famous prayer Ani Ma'amin. Thus, when we say "Hashem echad" in the Sh'ma, we proclaim at the same time these additional Divine qualities.

"The Amalekites are the archenemy of the Jewish people" AMaLeK in gematria is ayin = 70, mem = 40, lamed = 30, kof = 100; totaling 420. That is identical to the gematria of the word SaFeK, doubt: samekh = 60, fe = 80, kof = 100. Amalek cast doubt on the Jews' total trust in God. That is the sin for which the Amalekites must be remembered. The second is to demonstrate that the sum of two words, phrases, or concepts equals a third, expressing the relativity of the three.

For example: The Torah contains 613 mitzvot, but the word Torah = tav (400) + vav (6) + resh (200) + hey (5) = only 611. Why? The answer lies in the phrase "Torah tziva lanu Moshe." Only 611 of the mitzvot were commanded to us through Moses. The first two came directly from God: "I am the Lord your God" and "You shall have no other gods before me." Reading the phrase literally as "Moses commanded us 611" reminds us that those first two mitzvot are uniquely primary.

The name of each letter has at least one literal meaning. The Hebrew words: bet = "house"; vav = "hook"; ayin = "eye"; peh = "mouth". Additionally, each name is connected to a family of several other Hebrew words, by changing the vowels applied to it's root consonants. Thus, aleph becomes elef = one thousand as described above, or aluf = master, teacher.

The shape of a printed letter can be viewed as its physical manifestation, structural composition, or character. The aleph consists of a central vav with two yuds attached to it, one above and one below. This suggests the bringing together of two opposites uniformly, as a Jewish yin/yang: The Divine power to exhibit dipolarity. The aleph's yud, vav and yud add up to a gematria of 10 + 6 + 10 = 26. The letters of the Tetragrammaton have the same total: yud (10) + hey (5) + vav (6) + hey (5) = 26. This too makes Aleph a symbol for God's unity. For more on YHVH see GEN 1:1-6:8 Part II, EX 18:1-20:23 Part I, EX 27:20-30:10, LEV 25:1-26:2 Part I - Part II, and the Gematria discussions. Alternative spellings of YHVH include: UHVH - IHVH - JHVH - YHWH - YHV"H - HVH - YHV - YHVV - HWH - JWH - YHW - YHH - YWH.

Bet is a square with the left side open. Consider the word beit (house), these strokes can easily be viewed as a floor, wall, ceiling, and open door. You can walk into a beit, and you are at home. The Holy One - YHVH - wants us to be at home in his world, so the Torah begins with a beit. Welcome, sign in or join YHVH.

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