It probably is. to a passage from the Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei_Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei Zohar, a profound and mystical commentary on the Zohar itself. This particular section, from Tikkunei Zohar 81, focuses on the significance of the five fingers – yes, your very own fingers! – as a measure of… well, pretty much everything.
The text starts with a quote from Isaiah 40:12, "Who has measured the waters with His step..." It's a verse brimming with imagery of God's vastness and power. But what does it have to do with our fingers? According to the Tikkunei Zohar, these five fingers correspond to five specific vowel points in Hebrew.
Now, if you're not familiar with Hebrew, don't worry! Each Hebrew letter is like a consonant, and these little marks—vowel points—tell us how to pronounce them. The five vowel points mentioned here are qametz (ָ), tzerei (ֵ), ḥolem (ֹ), ḥireq (ִ), and shureq (ֻ). Think of them as the secret sauce that brings the letters to life.
But here's where it gets really interesting. These five vowel points, represented by five forms of the letter Aleph (אָ אֵ אֹ אִ אֻ), are linked to the divine name Elohim (ELQYM). And not just linked – they are the mystery of Elohim! How so? The Tikkunei Zohar tells us that the numerical value (gematria) of the five vowel-points equals that of Elohim.
The text goes on to say that the mystery of Elohim is "full of" (MaLEi) and also equals the numerical value of QaH, which, in turn, represents Binah. Okay, deep breath! Binah, in Kabbalah, is one of the ten sefirot, or divine emanations, often associated with understanding and intuition. In other words, these seemingly simple vowel points connect us to something profoundly powerful and insightful.
Finally, the passage concludes by linking these five Alephs to the lower Hei (ה), the last letter of the divine name YHVH (often pronounced Adonai, HaShem, or simply "the Name"). The Hei is often associated with the feminine aspect of the divine, with creation and manifestation.
So, what does it all mean? Well, on one level, it's a beautiful example of how Kabbalah finds hidden connections between seemingly disparate elements of the Torah and the Hebrew language. It reveals the inherent divinity in the structure of the language itself.
But on a deeper level, it suggests that we, too, are connected to the divine. Our very bodies – represented by our five fingers – are a microcosm of the macrocosm, a reflection of the divine attributes. This passage, like so much of Jewish mysticism, invites us to look closer, to see the sacred in the everyday, and to recognize the spark of the divine within ourselves. It reminds us that even something as simple as the shape of a vowel point can be a gateway to profound understanding. What will you measure today?