Mishnah * II.1.3. (continued) And all of them are engraved in
the voice, drilled into the spirit, attached to the mouth in
five
as a flame is attached to a coal.
"And all of them are engraved in the voice, drilled into the spirit, attached to the mouth in five locations" - I've repeated this phrase from the previous part of this mishnah. That part of the mishnah teaches us the associations of all twenty-two consonants with the five locations in the mouth. The next part of this mishnah teaches specifically where the five locations are.
as a flame is attached to a coal - This expression already appeared in the first chapter in connection to the ten vowels – Mishnah 5, part 3.
a flame - shahl HEH vett
Lahav (LAH hahv) means flame in Hebrew.
shahl HEH vett: 'Flame' as explained in the Milon Ivri Dictionary - by Yehudah Gur, entry "Shin" (as the letter) –
"Sometimes the letter Shin is added at the beginning of a word for a special purpose."
ett - When this syllable is added at the end of a noun, it enters the feminine class of words.
a flame is attached to a coal - Coal, for instance, contains the potential for giving off light and heat. Light and heat are the outcome of the burning coal's flame. Coal, burning as a flame, and heat and light are a triad of Potential, Actualizing, and Result. I also use the triad of words Beginning, Middle, and End. The wedging of end and beginning is a lesson about how a result is a new potential. In fact, this is unavoidable. It is as if the Book of Formation is saying, "An end urges on a new beginning."
In this mishnah, each consonant is attached to its location like a flame. The flame is the process of pronouncing the consonants – pushing warm air outward to become signals. Speaking produces signals and messages – Results / Outcomes. The Divine Statements result in creation and formation.
Divine creation is a new potential for us to form, fashion, and refashion the world. Our process of formation in the world includes our own speech, our own new messages and signals. Messages breed messages as a flame ignites new flames without being diminished itself.
In the dimension of Consciousness, an original message can be preserved as the original flame can be maintained by stoking it with new fuel. This original flame takes on the quality of Potential – a kind of eternal flame.
In the Book of Formation's
system of a Book, and so on (the first mishnah), the Book remains intact as
a potential for consultation. At a remove, when leaders arise, we
can compare their directives with the original Divine Book. Are
these leaders legitimately guiding civilization's development or
are they leading us astray with false teachings?