The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names.

Variant spelling - DAVYD, DOVID

Hebrew Bible name - David, son of Jesse, was tending sheep when he was called to be anointed by Samuel to be the second King of Israel succeeding Saul to the throne. of King David was the father of Amnon, Daniel, Absalom, Adoniya Shephatiah, Ithream, Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and their sister Tamar (1 Chronicles 3:1-8; 1 Samuel 17:12).

Talmud - A prayer of David - Keep my soul, for I am pious (Psalms 86:1-2). Levi and R. Isaac: The one says, Thus spoke David before the Holy One, blessed be He [haKadosh]; Master of the world, am I not pious? All the kings of the East and the West sleep to the third hour [of the day], but I, at midnight I rise to give thanks unto Thee (Psalms 119:62). The other one says: Thus spoke David before the Holy One, blessed be He [haKadosh]; Master of the world, am I not pious? (Berachot 4a).
But how could David before call himself pious? It is not written: I am not sure to see the good reward of the Lord in the land of the living; and a tanna taught in the name of R. Jose: Why are there dots upon the world? [The dots are interpreted as meaning he was not quite sure] David spoke before the Holy One, blessed be He [haKadosh]: Master of the world, I am sure that you will pay a good reward to the righteous in the world to come, but I do not know whether I shall have a share in it? [Hence you see that he was not so sure of his piety] (Berachot 4a).
Who are the seven shepherds? David in the middle, Adam, Seth and Methuselah [non-jews] on his right, and Abraham, Jacob andMoses [jews] (Sukkah 52b).
(Sukkah 52b).
Seeing that this verse, Let the words of my mouth be acceptable etc. is suitable for recital either at the end or the beginning [of the tefila], why did the Rabbis institute it at the end of the eighteen benedictions? Let it be recited at the beginning? R. Judah the son of R. Simeon b. Pazzi said: Since David said it only after eighteen chapters [of the (Psalms] [The Rabbis too enacted that it should be said after eighteen blessings] (Berachot 9b).
If one sees David in a dream, he may hope for piety; if Solomon, he may hope for wisdom; if Ahab, let him fear for punishment (Berachot 57b).
To David, a psalm intimates that the Shechina rested upon him and then he uttered [that] song; a psalm of david intimates that he [first] uttered [that particular] psalm and then the Shechina rested upon him. This teaches you that the Shechina rests [upon man] neither in indolence nor in gloom nor in frivolity nor in levity, nor in vain pursuits [lit. idle words, chatter] but only in rejoicing connected with a religious act, for it is said, but now bring me a minstrel (Pesachim 117a).

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

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.

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, Yechidah; 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).

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).
Hey, 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).

*

*

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:: nm2-46