The Complete Book of Hebrew Baby Names.

The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names.

Variant spellings - LEA - LIA - LIAH - LAYA - LAYAH - LEIA - LAEH - LEIAH

Biblical name - Leah was the elder daughter of Laban, sister of Rachel,and the first wife of Jacob. She had six sons - Reuben, Simon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and a daughter, Dinah with Jacob and is one of the four matriarchs (Genesis 29: 16, Genesis 35: 23).

Talmud - R.Johanan further said in the name of R. Simeon b. Yochai: From the day that the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world there was no man that praised the Holy One, blessed be He, until Leah came and praised Him. For it is said: This time will I praise the Lord. (Genesis 29:35) (Berachot 7b).

Kabbalah - Zohar 1:158a teaches that Leah represents the upper world which is concealed and undisclosed.
Since Lamed can be translated as TO, Aleph signifies Keter - CROWN, and Hey denotes Binah - UNDERSTANDING, one could say that Leah can mean [one who inclines] TOWARD A CROWN OF UNDERSTANDING.

The Hebrew Letters featured in this work are Lamed Aleph Hey . Taken together, and reading from right to left, they spell LEAH.

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 Kaf Lamed : [this sequence teaches,] and if thou doest thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, 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 He 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).

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& 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, 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; (38) 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, (41) Alef Daleth,  Yod He,  Shaddai,  Zebaoth these may not be erased (38) Because they are not used solely of the Deity, and are therefore not sacred.
(41) ehyeh asher ehyeh - Aleph Hey Yud Hey  Aleph Shin Resh  Aleph Hey Yud Hey. (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 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. 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).

HEY is the 5th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 5. HEY means BEHOLD. The HEY is constructed of a Dalet and a Yud. Hey makes a sound like the H in Happy. HEY appears twice in the Yud Hey Vav Hey Name of God.
The word Behebaram in Genesis 2:4 is usually translated "When they were created." In the Torah scroll the Hey in this word drew attention to itself by being smaller than the rest of the letters in the scroll. What significance did this have for the word Behebaram? If this word could be translated WITH A Hey " HE CREATED THEM, then that would mean that God created this world by means of the Hey . God did this because the Hey is closed on 3 sides and open on the 4th. This allows those who wish to deviate from the right path to get out through the open 4th side. On the left there is a little space between the leg and the roof. That is there to allow anyone who wishes to repent, to return through that small (Menachot 29b).
When R. Johanan was once sitting [at his studies] and expounding that nothar at its proper time [on the third day] may be burned in the daytime only,and if not at its proper time, it may be burned either in the day or in the night. R. Eleazar raised an objection: I only know that a child whose circumcision takes place on the eighth day must be circumcised in the daytime only; whence, however, is it deduced that the case of a child whose circumcision takes place on the ninth, tenth, eleventh or twelfth is also included? Because it was expressly stated, And in the day; and even he [on the third day] who bases no expositions on a Vav does base his exposition on the basis of a Vav and a Hey!
The heavens are the totality of twenty-two letters. The letter Hey produced the heavens to give them life and to water them and the earth (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).
The numerical value of the HEY is five, alluding to the five names of the soul Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, Yechidah (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 19).
What is the purpose of the Hey? It is a throne for the Zayin, It is written for one above the other watches (Ecclesiastes 5:7) (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 19).
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. Hey 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 Hey king over speech. and He bound a crown to it and combined one with another and with them He formed Aries in the Universe, Nissan in the Year and the right foot in the Soul male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 209, 159, 215).

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This work is accompanied by the kabbalistic explanation printed above.

The original 5x7 watercolor painting of this image is available.

This is great Bat Mitzvah gift.

mat color:: purple

stock number:: nf23-96