This version includes corrections and new materials that do not appear on the printed version
Let us now "read backwards", and see the middle field of the star as beth, house, or Creation, and א, aleph, as the original, continuous force which operates from beyond the visible world, and permeates it. It particularly permeates Man who, although part of the visible world, is created in God's image, whether or not he is aware of it. This causes in him a deep longing for the higher realities, a drive to attain his birthright and become true Man. This mutual attraction, described as "God in Search of Man" and "Man in Search of God" [...]
This primal, creative and permeating force is, as mentioned, not limited to the God-Man relationship. It is everywhere, so we can place aleph in all the triangles beyond the middle field.
It is important to realize that aleph and beth are not separate or opposing entities; we should not fix our eyes on only one of them. Gazing solely at aleph while neglecting beth draws us into a "spirituality" with no ground under our feet; reckoning only with beth leads us to an existentialist view of the world, without purpose beyond the gratification of physical needs and desires. Man's true calling is to unite beth and aleph, to raise the mundane into the Divine.
This unification of ב, beth, with ,אaleph, forms the Hebrew word ,אב av, father. And it is these two letters, taken together, that describe the Hebrew alphabet, the vehicle of language and revelation. Indeed, this unification of Man with God is the essence of the Aleph-Beth; the other characters –otiot- in their many arrangements serve to provide background, details and instruction on the way.
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