Part 2
In our previous article we discussed the significance of the
order in which the letters of the Aleph Beis appear. When
they appear in an ascending order then they represent a
natural progression and the attribute of chesed,
kindness. When they appear in the reverse, descending
order then they represent the attribute of din, strict
judgment.
There is another type of Aleph Beis structure which combines
both the ascending and descending orders together, and is
commonly known as the At Bash alphabetic structure.
Here the final letter Tov is transformed to the
initial letter Aleph. The penultimate letter Shin,
is transformed to the second letter Beis, and so
on. The first two examples of Aleph and Beis
combine to produce the acronym At Bash.
In mathematical terms this alphabet could be classified as a
transformation of the letters. In this structure the first
half follows an ascending order, and the second half a
descending one.
This At Bash alphabetic structure is referred to as
the Alphabet of Repentance for the following reason: The
Rambam in Hilchos Dei'os advises a person who wants to
improve a bad character trait from which he suffers, to
follow the following method. As an example, assume that the
person wants to control his bad temper. The Rambam advises
him to go to the other extreme and never to become angry,
even if circumstances arise that would normally justify a
degree of anger.
After he manages to control himself to this extreme degree,
he can then slowly make his way towards the golden middle,
and learn to control his anger and only use it when
justified. This pattern can be followed to help improve any
bad character trait. This is represented in the At
Bash structure since it moves from the extreme ends
towards the center.
On Rosh Hashonoh we proclaim Hashem as the Universal King. We
are taught in Devorim 17 regarding the appointment of
a Jewish monarch, that there are three guidelines. The first
one is that this king that is chosen should be mikerev
achecho, from among your brethren. The king is advised
not to have too many wives, too many horses, nor too much
money. These limitations are to ensure that "his heart does
not become haughty."
The actual spelling of the word melech, portrays this
advice in a special way. The first letter, Mem, is a
central one in the Aleph Beis structure, just like the king
who has to be chosen from among the people. The Jewish
monarch is then the most influential and important person in
the entire nation and this is specified by the letter
Lamed, the tallest letter of all. This is followed by
the final letter Chof whose foot reaches the lowest of
all the letters. Although the king is the most powerful
person, he must nonetheless remember to remain humble.
These important lessons are all incorporated in the actual
shape of the letters that make up the word melech. The
letters form a reverse alphabetic order, as it is the
melech who judges his people.
This At Bash alphabetic structure can be visualized in
a pictorial manner, by writing the whole Aleph Beis on a
complete line and repeating this eleven times, one beneath
the other. If we then highlight each corresponding letter of
the At Bash starting with the letters Tov and
Aleph on the first line, Shin and Beis
on the second line, Reish and Gimmel on the
third line and so on, we will notice that the highlighted
At Bash letters will form a funnel shape, with the
wider opening formed at the top by the letters Aleph
and Tov and the narrow neck of the funnel being
made up by the letters Yud, Mem, Lamed and Chof.
These four letters spell out that ultimate aim of creation:
yimloch Hashem, the universal acknowledgment of Hashem
as the King of The Universe.
The opening four letters that form the wider mouth of the
funnel are the letters of At Bash. It is these four
letters, Aleph, Tov, Beis and Shin that spell
out the word Shabbato, that one single Shabbos that has to be
observed by the Jewish Nation in order to precipitate the
coming of Moshiach and the proclamation of yimloch
Hashem. Shabbos observance also halachically acts as the
litmus test of whether a Jew is observant or not.
It is the alphabet of At Bash that is referred to as
the alphabet of Repentance. This can be brought about by
blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashonoh as the universal
call for teshuvoh, or alternatively by the observance
of Shabbos. Both the shofar and the Shabbos produce
the same final results, that of Repentance and the
acknowledgment of yimloch Hashem.
The At Bash structure represents the unification of
the Jewish People in the correct observance of the Shabbos
that will precipitate the coming of Moshiach and the
universal proclamation of yimloch Hashem.
In the first major piyut that is said on Rosh Hashonoh
and Yom Kippur Shacharis we all proclaim aloud the verses of,
yimloch Hashem, which are immediately followed by the
verse, Ve'ato kodosh yosheiv Tehillos Yisroel. The
final letters of the phrase of kodosh yosheiv Tehillos
spell out the word Shabbos. It is through the observance of
Shabbos that we will merit to proclaim yimloch Hashem,
together with Moshiach. This corresponds to the funnel
pattern that is so vividly formed by the At Bash
alphabetic structure.
The source of the At Bash alphabet is to be found at
the end of the Torah, in Devorim 33:2. Here the verse
describes the events that led to Matan Torah. The
verse states: Miyemino eish dos lomo — from His
right hand He presented a law of fire to them. Rashi explains
that this Law of Fire was a law of contrasts — of black
fire written upon white fire.
The Rokeach points out that the numerical value of the words
eish dos equals be'At Bash — meaning
"through the use of the At Bash alphabetic
transformations."
We can therefore appreciate why on the termination of the
Shabbos we mention the contrasts between the lightness and
darkness, between the Jewish Nation and the heathens, and
between the Shabbos and weekdays. Just as the Shabbos is so
vividly displayed by the contrast of the At Bash
alphabetic structure, so too is its termination portrayed by
mentioning these contrasts that have their source in the
Torah that was given as a contrasting of black and white
fire.
This material is extracted from the unpublished book,
Understanding the Aleph Beis.
