Book of Formation - Sefer Yetzirah

Chapter II

[ II.1 – II.5 ]

Mishnah 1, part 1

Mishnah * II.1.1.  Twenty-two letters [consonants of the Hebrew alphabet],
a foundation —

three mothers,
seven doublets, and
twelve simple ones.

Companion

Mishnah II.1.1.  [II.1]  Twenty-two letters - consonants of the Hebrew alphabet,

Twenty-two letters - the Book of Formation does not distinguish between written forms of the letters.  Five Hebrew letters are written with a different form when they appear at the end of a word.  These letters are Mem, Nun, Tsadik, Peh, and Kaf.  A mnemonic device to remember these letters is min tsofach – from Your prophets (min TSOH fakh).  These final letters are related to prophecy but not to formation of the universe as such.  These final letters are pronounced the same as the forms of these letters when they appear written at the beginning or in the middle of a word.

The Book of Formation is concerned with G-d's creative speech.  "He spoke, and it was . . ." (Psalms 33:9).  The forms of the Hebrew final letters are in the mind's eye, the visual cortex.  These correspond to Divine thought and intention, elements of prophecy but not of formation.  "My thoughts are not your thoughts [says the L-rd]" (Isaiah 54:8).

a foundation - of creative speech.  Of course, G-d has no body and no mouth.  From human speech, though, we can deduce characteristics of the laws of nature and the formation of the universe through G-d's utterances.

three mothers - fundamental principles:  Alef, Mem, Shin

Alef = Avir - "atmosphere"
     This is the principle of all laws of conservation.  A well known conservation law is the conservation of matter and energy.  In a closed system, the totality of matter plus energy before a process begins is the same as afterwards.

Avir represents equilibrium. 

Mem = Mayim - "water"
     This is the principle of inertia.  Something, within a given frame of reference, that is at rest remains at rest unless a force is applied to it.  And something that is moving continues to move at the same velocity (speed and direction) unless acted upon by a new force.  Something that is at rest in one frame, though, may appear to be moving in another frame of reference.  However, the same principle of inertia also applies in this new frame.  Whatever is moving continues to move at the same velocity (speed and direction) unless acted upon by a new force.

Although standing water is subject to the force of gravity, it is also subject to the electrostatic forces which bind material (molecules) together to form a cup, bucket, shoreline, dike, dam, et cetera, which contain this water.  If a new force is applied to adjust or break open whatever contains this water, the water ceases to remain at rest but begins to flow downward in the direction of the pre-existing force of gravity.  Although the inertia of the water changes without a new force being applied to the water itself, the action of adjusting the water's container or forcing the container to open has introduced a new force to the system.  Both the water and its container were at rest until this new action was introduced into the system.

Shin = Eish - "fire"
     This is the principle of entropy – the degree of disorder in a system.  Molecules in the atmosphere, for example, tend to be disorganized, moving randomly in all directions (subject to gravity, the Earth's spin on its axis, and ionization).  Anything that is well-ordered becomes less ordered over time – more disordered – unless an effort is made to preserve the orderliness.

For example, written languages and numbers are meaningful when they are accurate.  These systems are also subject to the disorder of entropy – inaccuracy – when they are copied, for example.  In handwriting, a '3' may be confused for an '8'.  A '9' may be confused for a '4', and so on.

three mothers - In the classical thought that has been inherited from the Greeks, these three were confused to mean elements.  In this classical thought, the elements are earth, water, wind, and fire.  Of course, this approach has been outdated for generations since the discovery of atoms and photons.  Subsequently, it was discovered that atoms themselves are not elementary particles.

The Book of Formation has never become obsolete, though.  However, we humans have found it difficult to understand.  I, myself, understand little of this book except by standing on the shoulders of other people.

Also, the Book of Formation does not mention the fourth classical element – earth.  The three fundamentals are discussed in isolation here in this Mishnah.  In the actual world, they cannot be isolated.  What the ancients called "earth" is the totality of the three fundamentals as they exist and interact together.

Just as conservation, entropy, and inertia are the fundaments of the realm of space (Olam), they are also the fundaments of the realms of time (Shanah) and consciousness (Nefesh).  I am not ready to delve into this subject at this time, though, except for the next paragraph.

three mothers - The Hebrew letters Alef, Mem, Shin.  Voice and speech derive from air ("wind"), water, and heat (fire).  Heat is the body's warmth and represents life – the flow of blood to the lungs and up the arteries to the organs of speech.  The flow of blood to the speech centers of the brain must also be sufficient to master the complexities of speech.

Moisture – water – is a large component of the ability to speak.  One can hardly speak with a dry mouth.  While saliva is the primary source of the mouth's moisture, humidity from the lungs helps prevent the mouth from drying out by preserving moisture in the throat, mouth, and nose.

Air from breathing the atmosphere is the primary means for conveying vibrations from the vocal cords into the throat and mouth to the point of being expelled from the lips and nose.  The one letter 'h' is pure air with completely relaxed vocal cords.  In fact, when pronouncing /h/, all speech organs are relaxed.  If we expel air with relaxed speech organs and do not follow this air flow with a vowel, we are sighing voicelessly, not speaking.

We can see how these three Hebrew letters are the source for all the other letters and all speech sounds.
     (see Sefer Ho'Arochim Chabad (Chabad Encyclopedia). 1984. Brooklyn, NY: Kehot Publication Society. Vol. 5, column 46 and onward)

seven doublets - Sometimes, these seven letters are written once in a Hebrew word but represent a doubling of the letter.

Six of these letters, excluding Reish, represent the six spacial dimensions, and Reish represents the center between all the dimensions.  In terms of a physical object, this center is the center of gravity.  The letter Reish is doubled only once in Hebrew Scriptures (the Tanakh):  The Book of Samuel I, chapter 1, verse 6.  This singularity resembles an object's single center (center of gravity).

and twelve simple ones - the remaining twelve letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  In physical space, these twelve represent the twelve edges of a cube.  Also, they represent the sum of two diagonals on each face of a cube – designating the center of each face.

Each set of two lines also defines the vanishing point for drawing objects between a viewer and the horizon.  This viewer is looking outward and upward, toward the south, north, east, etc.

From the standpoint of time, these twelve letters represent the twelve lunar months of a typical year.  They also represent the twelve constellations along the ecliptic during the stellar year – the origin of the signs of the zodiac.

In human consciousness, these twelve correspond to:  the two hemispheres of the brain, the center of the brain that mediates between the two hemispheres (three, so far), the right arm, the left arm, the body, the right leg, the left leg, the genitals (another six), thought, speech and action – altogether twelve components which constitute consciousness, intentionality, and autonomy.

* Definitions and Pronunciation