Notariken and the Hebrew Letters

The Greek word Notariken means Letter substitution. Letter Notariken is a well known method of revealing Torah Wisdom. There are many different alphabets within the Hebrew Aleph Bet. One of them is the well known regular order of the Hebrew Aleph Bet. One understanding is that when letters follow the normal pattern that is considered a Chesed relationship within the frame of the meaning of the word. When the letters follow the Reverse order, the Torah teaches that there is a Gevurah or Judgment relationship within the frame of the meaning of the word. Let me explain.

The word Av spelled Aleph Bet means father or dad. Also, the word Aba spelled Aleph Bet Aleph means father. The order of the letters in Av is the regular order. Dad generally implies the loving Kindness parent since He is the one who provides the Parnasa and the sharing aspect of housing and food for the children. Father implies a mixture of Loving Kindness and Judgment which are both necessary in the raising of children. Yet we can see that the rules as explained above do work.

Mother or Mom are also spelled in a similar way. Aleph Mem spells Mom and is pronounced Ehm and Aleph Mem Aleph spells Mother pronounced Emah. So we can see that the female is also included in these rules of Torah.

Albam א - ל: ב - ם:

The Naming of all the different methods follows, for the most part, the same pattern of naming. As you can see Al represents Aleph substitutes for a Lamed and Bam relates to a Bet substituting for a Mem.

Each transformation system of Notariken relates to a Partzuf and a Sefirah. The Albam system relates to the Partzuf of Abba and the Sefirah of Chochma. This is the teaching of the Modern Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg.

The Albam transformation is one of 11 possible transformations that divide the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet into two groups pairing them according to a particular method. In the case of Albam, the first letters in each group are paired (Aleph with Lamed); the second letters each group are paired (Beit with Mem), and so on. Hence, the name Albam is composed of the letters of the first two pairings in this transformation.

The Albam transformation forms a transformation ring with the At-bash and Ach-bi transformations. The transformation ring provides a sequence of transformations that returns the original letter. The transformation rings are an effect of the spiritual law of two vessels not three vessels. This law describes communication between vessels. In the case described above. An Aleph transforms by the Albam into a Lamed which transform by the atbash into a Caf which transforms by the Ach-bi returns to an Aleph.

The Albam transformation is called the wise transformation since using this pattern the word Albam transforms into Chochma which means Wisdom (please see below).

Now let's look at the Aleph Bet itself as it will help us relate to the Notariken. The first row is the regular order of the Aleph Bet. The second row is the regular order of the Aleph Bet for the first 1/2 of the Alef Bet, while the third row is also in the regular order of the Aleph Bet. Together they make up one of the Letter Substitution Methods called Albam. As we discussed above the regular order of the Aleph Bet indicates a connection to Chesed which is Loving Kindness. Thus, the Albam has a double connecton to the energy of Chesed.

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש ת

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ

ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש ת

The Albam transformation is known as the "Alphabet of the Torah." This is due to two facts. The first transformation (Aleph to Lamed) spells the Name of God (EL) wihich connects to Loving Kindness or Chesed. The second transformation (Bet to Mem) is the first letter of the Torah and the last letter of the Talmud. Together they represent the total energy of both the Written and Oral Torahs.

The last set of letters in the Albam method (Caf and Tav) form an acronym for the phrase Keter Torah which means "Crown of Torah." This is a way that is appropriate to complete the "Alphabet of the Torah."

In Aramaic the word Albam means "HaShem is with them." This implies that HaShem is with those who learn Torah as Torah study is considered the path to get closer to HaShem. The gematria of Albam is 73 which is equal to the gematria of the word Chochma which means Wisdom and also the word that translates as "and understanding" VeBinah.

The source in the Torah for the Albam method of transformation is Tehillim 111:10 which translates as "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of HaShem"... Using the Albam transformation the first two words become "Wisdom comes through the Albam."

As we have discussed over the past number of weeks some of the shapes of the letters are composed from other letters. Four of the letters are formed from letters that have a gematria of 26 the gematria of the Tetragrammaton. These letters are Aleph Lamed Sameck Mem. The first two spell a Name of God and are the first transformation in the Albam method. The last two spell the word Sam which means Drug. This gets interpreted "Torah is a drug to elevate to get closer to HaShem." These same 4 letters spell the name Samael, which is a name used for Satan. In that case we see how HaShem creates this against that. Torah will elevate you while Satan is the force to counter that process of elevation.

The fulfillment of the Name El is אלף למד. The gematria of this is 185. The word Hakaf הקף is also 185 in gematria. Hakaf translates as fence. It is from this that the Gemara teaches that Torah study is a protection shield for the person doing the study. The gematria of all 27 letters (which include the Final Letters) is 4995. The average is then 185. This teaches that every letter of Torah study has this protection shield associated with it. The verse in Devarim 33:4 makes an acronym from the first 4 words that mans the word "saves." The 4 words translates as Moshe instructed us with the Torah. This reinforces the concept that Torah Study protects one from Death and all other chaos. This needs to be brought home to each of us in our hearts especially with the news during this period of Mars being in retrograde.

Words that transform using the Albam method

חנוך = קגפת

The gematria of this transformation is 583 which connects to one phrase; "song of life." This implies i have a tendency to be happy which is true. The other word is Masetguf. This word means hermit; literally it is "concealed body." I can assure you the way i live by myself can be looked upon as a city dwelling hermit, except for the phone calls from students.

The Atbach א ט ב ח method

There are two forms of the Atback transformation method. The Atback transformation method consists of 11 pairs of letters. Four have a gematria that totals 10. Four have a gematria that totals 100. Two have a gematria that totals 500. The last pair has a relationship to the number 5 (see below).

The first row represents one part of the pair while the second row represents the other part of the pair. The third row shows the gematria of each section.

א ב ג ד י כ ל מ ק ר ה

ט ח ז ו צ פ ע ס ת ש נ

5 500 100 10

The above is the method suggested by the Sage Rabbenu Chananel. The method below is suggested by the Sage The Aruch.

It is similar to the above with the addition of the final letters and a change from 500 to 1000.

א ב ג ד י כ ל מ ק ר ש ת

ט ח ז ו צ פ ע ס ץ ף ן ם נ

1000 100 10

ה נ ך

These last three letters are considered interchangable.

The Atback transformation is used to interpret the Torah in the verse Mishlai (Proverbs) 29:21. The last word in the verse is Manon מנון. In Hebrew this means withered or degenerated. This word does not make sense in the verse. Along comes the Gemara which uses the Atback method to change the word Manon to Sehadah סהדה which is a word that means witness in Aramaic. Now the verse can be translated to mean "If one pampers the evil inclination from birth, it will later testify against him."

Words transformed by the Atback method

חנוך = בהדפ

Behadaf means to push or thrust. This is one character trait that i have worked upon for a number of years. I find it easy to push people and intimidate them. I do work on this character trait.