Dalet ~ ד
"BeGeD KeFeT and the Doors of Heaven"
The family of letters known as BeGeD KeFeT are the family of 6 letters within the Hebrew Alphabet that hold the dagesh. Dagesh means "to emphasise" and changes the sound of three of those letters [beit, chaf and pey].
- Sound = The letter ד Dalet will always have a 'd' sound
- Gematria Value = 4
- Pictorially = Door
- It is connected to the Hebrew word דל dal which means "poor." This links with the significance of the placement of the letter Dalet which we get to as we continue looking at the ethics (the Musar) of the letter.
- There is also significance in the letter in that when you turn one Dalet upside down and join it to another, joining them together creates the letter "Mem Sofit" or the "closed Mem." ם
- Why is this significant? The letter Mem is known as "the letter of Mashiach" and is central in the order of the Hebrew alphabet.
- This speaks to us about how we should be preparing ourselves for The Messiah and His return: "what is our role until The King comes" ... these are some of the secrets found in the letter Dalet.
We see a glimpse of the door and watching for His return in Proverbs 8:34
"Happy is the man that hearkeneth to Me, watching daily (Shoked) at my gates, waiting at the posts of My doors."
There are two conditions which speak of the coming of The King:
- The one who wants The King to return is the one who wants to listen to The King: "Guarding the doors has to do with listening to The King"
- He is watching daily: Shoked means to work diligently, to labour, to strive toward something. Some use the example of a woman going into labour to protect His doors: "in understanding how to protect His gates and doors, we will know how to labour and wait on the post of His door."
What does it mean to "guard the doors of G-D?"
Revelation 3:19-20 ~ "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous (shoked = going through things with great labour) Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
What should we be going through with great labour?
- Guarding the doors, opening the door to Mashiach ONLY!
- He does not want us to open the door to any other false Messiah's or false ideas
- We are to stand at the door and look for Him, looking for opportunities to see Messiah through the many things in the world - because He can speak through many different things in many different ways
Rav Joshua, son of Levi comments on what it means to guard the door:
The answer has to do with the specific positioning of the dalet and the gimel in the alphabet. This points to the principle of "gimilut chasidim" (undeserved acts of loving-kindness)
- The Gimel is right next to the dalet and the gimel does the undeserved deed The reason that the feet of the gimel is stretched toward the dalet is a picture for us: "we are to go to the dalet [the dal = the poor, the nobodies, the orphans, those who have nothing] and we are to stretch our "spiritual foot" toward them and that is how we bring the guardianship of the doors into action."
- And just as every relationship should be two-sided, the other side of this story is this: The reason the dalet is also next to the gimel is because the poor sees the good will of the gimel reaching out to him: "we should all be next to someone who wants to do something for us, BUT we should not take advantage of those who are wanting to do for us ~ every relationship is about giving and receiving."
* The gimel (our deeds that are to be done in secret) to those who are caught in their sin, the lepors, the sinners, those without hope - the dalet does not take advantage of this grace.
* When we do these things, we are protecting the gates ... we are keeping His reputation and the reputation of the gate of mercy ~ Shmirat HaShem (keeping G-D's reputation)
In conclusion:
For what is the man in Proverbs watching daily?
He is watching daily for the reputation of G-D and is doing this in great labour; that is the representation of the letter dalet and the ger working together.
Personal Application:
- What do we do in our lives to protect the reputation of HaShem? Do others see the dalet or the gimel in our lives? Do we draw others toward HaShem or cause them to want to run from Him?
- Do we act with G'milut Chasidim, giving to others what is undeserved?
- Do we bring the poor and the nobodies to hear the name of Mashiach?
- Have we become the guard at the doors of Mashiach, practising very carefully to make sure that the reputation of our G-D is not tarnished in any way through our speech, our thoughts or our actions?
