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Dalet, the poor one

The twenty-two letters · article 5 of 23

Value four. Dalet makes itself available to Gimel, but turns its face away, so that the gift is given in secret.

Dalet is the fourth letter and has the value four. The children of the house of study read it as dal, the poor one, and Sefer HaBahir does the same. Its shape is a roof resting on one foot, and the Talmud looks carefully at which way this foot turns and which way its face turns. Sefer Yetzirah places it among the letters of the tongue, with Tet, Lamed, Nun and Tav.

In Sefer Yetzirah, Dalet is one of the seven doubles, with a hard or soft sound. G-d "made the letter Dalet reign and bound a crown to it," and through it formed Ma'adim, the planet we call Mars, in the world, the third day of the week in time and the right ear in the body. The book sets the seven doubles opposite the six directions of space, above and below, east and west, north and south, with the holy Temple in the middle, "which carries them all."

In tractate Shabbat, the children's reading continues that of Gimel: "gemol dalim," do good to the poor. "Why is the foot of Dalet stretched toward Gimel? So that it makes itself available to him." And: "Why is the face of Dalet turned away from Gimel? So that he gives to it in secret, so that it is not ashamed before him." Everything is said about how to give: the poor one does not hide, and the giver does not look him in the face.

Sefer HaBahir relates that the disciples asked the master what Dalet is. He answered with a parable: ten kings were in one place, all of them rich; one of them was rich, but not like the others. Although his wealth is great, he is called dal, poor, beside the rich ones. The Bahir does not say who this king is. It teaches only that the poverty of Dalet is relative: it is not an absolute lack, but a measure taken beside others. The Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva reads Dalet as "I have spoken to raise up the poor," and has G-d say that people do not love the poor: "no one loves him but Me alone."

Four, the poor one and dignity. The Talmud learns from Dalet how to receive without being humiliated, and from Gimel how to give without humiliating. The Bahir adds that the one called poor may be rich in himself. And Sefer Yetzirah places it among the doubles, the letters that each carry a good and its opposite.

Source text

שאלו לו תלמידיו מהו דלי"ת, א"ל מלה"ד לעשרה מלכים שהיו במקום אחד, וכלם עשירים, ואחד מהם עשיר אך לא כאחד מהם, אע"פ שעשרו גדול דל נקרא לגבי העשירים

His disciples asked him: what is Dalet? He said to them: to what may this be compared? To ten kings who were in one place, all of them rich; one of them was rich, but not like them. Although his wealth is great, he is called poor beside the rich.

Sefer HaBahir 27, Wikisource Sefer HaBahir, CC-BY-SA.

Key terms

HebrewTransliterationMeaning
דdaletfour; read dal, the poor one
דלdalpoor
בצינעהbetsinain secret, discreetly
מאדיםMaadimMars, which Sefer Yetzirah associates with it

Sources

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In the same section

The letters, stones of creationThree mothers, seven doubles, twelve simples. For Sefer Yetzirah, G-d formed the world by engraving and combining twenty-two letters.Alef, the first letterValue one, a breath. Alef complained that it did not open creation; G-d reserved for it the first word at Sinai.Bet, the houseValue two, the letter that opens the Torah. Closed on three sides, open to the front: a house, and a blessing.Gimel, the one who givesValue three. The foot of Gimel stretches toward Dalet, for the one who does good runs after the poor.Dalet, the poor oneValue four. Dalet makes itself available to Gimel, but turns its face away, so that the gift is given in secret.Heh, the open doorValue five. This world was created through Heh: open below for whoever wants to leave, with an opening above for whoever returns.Vav, the hook and six directionsValue six. A straight line that joins, the hook of the Tabernacle pillars, and the seal of the six directions of the world.Zayin, the crowned letterValue seven. Moses found G-d binding crowns to the letters, and Zayin is among those that carry three.Chet, life at the summitValue eight. Scribes draw a hump on the roof of Chet: He lives, at the height of the world.Tet, the letter of goodValue nine. The first Tet in the Torah is that of "it is good." Seeing a Tet in a dream is a good sign.Yod, the smallest letterValue ten. The world to come was created through Yod, for the righteous there are few, and their heads are bowed.Kaf, the palm and the crownValue twenty. Kaf is the palm and the pan of the scale; the children of the house of study read in it the crown promised in the world to come.Lamed, the heart that learnsThirty, the letter of Tishrei in Sefer Yetzirah. Rabbi Akiva reads its name as a heart that understands knowledge.Mem, water and the hidden wordForty, mother of water in Sefer Yetzirah. Open in the middle of a word, closed at the end: a revealed word, a hidden word.Nun, the faithful one bent, then uprightFifty. Bent in the middle of a word, straight at the end: the humble faithful one and the upright one. For Rabbi Akiva, the lamp of the soul.Samekh, support for those who fallSixty, a closed letter that stood by a miracle in the tablets. The children of the study hall read in it: support the poor.Ayin, the eye of the TorahSeventy, a letter of the throat. The children read in it the poor; Rabbi Akiva, the eye of the Torah, light of every light.Peh, the open and closed mouthEighty, bent in the middle of a word, straight at the end. The children of the study hall read in it: open mouth, closed mouth.Tzadi, the righteous one bent, then uprightNinety. The Talmud adds the bending of the righteous to that of the faithful: hence the Torah was given with bowed head.Kuf, holiness that waitsOne hundred. The Talmud reads in it the Holy One who turns His face from the wicked, yet turns His crown toward him and leaves him an open door.Reish, the head and the fallTwo hundred. Head of all things for Rabbi Akiva, the wicked for the children of the study hall: the same letter carries the beginning and the fall.Shin, the fire with three branchesThree hundred, mother of fire in Sefer Yetzirah. It opens the name Shaddai, but also the word sheker, and falsehood has no feet.Tav, the mark of truthFour hundred, the last letter. For the children of the study hall, truth on wide bases; for Rabbi Akiva, the first to come forward.

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