THE HEBREW LANGUAGE IS AMAZING!

This morning, my husband, Tom, and I somehow landed on the subject of the Hebrew letter “Yud” (also spelled as “Yod”) – the tenth, and smallest, letter of the Hebrew alef-beit (alphabet). The Yud resembles an apostrophe, but there is so much more to it, as show below in part of an article I borrowed from Chabad.org. 

Anyway, Tom and I got on this subject because it seems that YHWH has a certain affinity to the Yud, as many Hebrew names (including His own Name and that of His Messiah) begin with a Yud. For instance, YHWH (Yahweh), Yeshua, Yehuda (Judah), Ya’akov (Jacob), Yisrael (Israel), Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), etc.

Curious, I began to do some research on this tiny, little Hebrew letter, and found some amazing insight at Chabad.org.

Here’s an excerpt:

The tenth letter of the alef-beis—and also the smallest—is the letter yud.

On the simplest level, the design of the yud is a point: a dot which represents G‑d’s essential power; the one G‑d Who is indivisible. Furthermore, the yud looks like a flame that soars ever higher, representing the soul of a Jew yearning to unite with G‑d.

Additionally, the yud represents the method by which the blessing descends from G‑d to His people. The letter yud when spelled out is י-ו-ד. (Yud-Vav-Dalet).

The yud represents a seminal drop, the concentrated power of G‑d. The vav represents a descent, for its form is that of a chute—and through this the bless­ings of G‑d travel downward to our world. The dalet, having height and width, represents the physical world, signifying how G‑d’s blessings are manifest in every aspect of nature.

This teaches us that G‑d’s blessings don’t only reside in heaven. They flow down to this corporeal world and endow us with physical health, sustenance and success.

Perhaps this is why the first letter of each of the three pas­sages of the Priestly Blessing begins with the yud:

יברכך ה' וישמרך—May G‑d bless you and guard you.

יאר ה' פניו אליך ויחנך—May G‑d shine His countenance upon you and be gracious to you.

ישא ה' פניו אליך וישם לך שלום—May G‑d turn His countenance toward you and grant you peace.

TO LEARN MORE, AND GO REALLY DEEP, please check out the full article Chabad.org.