Your Name Matters

Volumes can be written about a person's name. The letters that represent a name each carry their own energy and importance. The arrangement of those letters forward and backward, can have significant definitions of the individual's temperament, talents and nature. Below there is the definition of one letter and it's relation to the elements, the heavens and what role they play in a person's life.

Kaph – The Crowning Achievement

She is the eleventh letter of the alphabet and her numerical value is 20.  She is an extension of the letter “bet” because bet’s number is 2, and therefore she represents the divine house or vessel that contains the partnership of male/female, above/below, dark/light except with the strength of ten. 

The word “kaph” means the hollow of the hand, the palm or a cupped vessel. In this sense, it represents the flow of spiritual energy into the container or vessel that we are.  The Hebrew word “keph” which is only different because of the vowel “e” means cliff, cape or highest rock.  It means a highpoint in the landscape overlooking the sea.

The role of “kaph” is as a container that holds, covers and lets light flow through from the spiritual or divine realms. The word “kippah” means cap, or cover and it is the name of the head cover for a Jewish man.  If we look at the root of the word “keefoof”, which means to bend over, we understand the meaning of the word “kipur“which means to atone”.  When we truly understand our mistakes and weaknesses we bend over with humility. We bend to atone for our failures in the path. However, the verb of the word “kifoof” also means to subdue or coerce in this case another force or energy. 

When the word “kaph” is numerically added (as in Gematria), it comes out to 185 which equals the number value of the word “lehakim” which means to build up, raise, set up.  Only when a human being is bent over with humility and resolution can he then “stand up” and build up a new path, a new person, a new way of being.

The greatest spiritual achievement is in the subduing of our own selfish desires and passions and placing our trust or “bending” to divine will.  That divine Will is compassion.  When we see ourselves as vessels of spiritual intelligence and grace, we serve as a container from which all others can draw nourishment.  We are a vessel or bowl, from which all blessings can flow from, however when we are placed faced down as in that same allegorical bowl; we become the cap or the crown because divinity always flows through us.  When we subdue the gross or material passions the refined qualities show through. We overcome our base self to become a greater soul.

The Spark of Divinity Inside of Us

It is written in the Zohar that “whoever has a knowledge of them (the Hebrew letters) and is observant of them is beloved both on high and below” since in Kabbalah it is believed that G-d creates the world through the power of the Hebrew letters.

It is impossible to know all the opportunities that we are presented with throughout our lifetime, but in the knowledge of what we represent or rather what the energies of our names reflect, we may be able to confront any and all possible relationships, challenges, hardships and endeavors with confidence and knowledge of those virtues that are part of us. It is this that will help us achieve our goals.

The summary or analysis of a name, unlike graphology which studies the tendencies of a person’s writing, reflects the most elevated at which we can raise our souls if we were to employ the spiritual powers of our name.

In every aspect, the study of our name paints a clear picture of what we are or what role we play in relation to other individuals be they family, relatives, friends, etc.

Every Hebrew letter channels a great strength and numerous attributes from on high and its purpose on Earth is revealed the moment we relate to ourselves and others in our everyday actions.  Every opportunity is a chance to emphasize those virtues.

It is written that when a mother chooses her child’s name, it has occurred through spiritual inspiration (even sub-consciously) by the child’s Guardian Angel for its purpose or mission.  The name sits on a mother’s lips though she is unaware of the nature of her certainty.

“The twenty two sacred letters are profound, primal spiritual forces. They are, in effect, the raw material of Creation.  When G-d combined them into words, phrases, commands they brought about Creation, translating His will into reality…….  Each rearrangement of the same letters results in a new blend of the cosmic spiritual forces represented by the letters (The Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet, p.19).

In knowing the hidden essence of the Hebrew letters associated with our names, we discover the driving force that has steered us in specific directions and have led our lives with particular tendencies.  The divine map of who we are is reflected in the “letters of fire” that make up our name.

M.B. Gollan