Making Hey

Remember the Hebrew letter Lamed that I created? Well, this time I made a Hey. The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the Hey has the sound of "h" as in "hay". Hey is know as a guttural letter since it is pronounced in the back of the throat. When Hey appears at the end of a word, it is normally silent.
In gematria (a mystical tradition that assigns a numerological value to Hebrew letters) Hey represents the number 5. According to Jewish mystics, the letter represents the divine breath, revelation, and light (the word "light" is mentioned five times on the first day of creation (Gen. 1:3-4), which is said to correspond to the letter Hey).

In the Modern Hebrew language, the letter Hey can be used for a variety of purposes. It functions as the definitive article in Hebrew, a sort of demonstrative that points to the object and make it concrete and definitive. Thus איש, a man, becomes האיש (ha-ish), the man. Adding a Hey at the end of a noun "feminises" it (although not always). The Hey can also change the meaning of a sentence into a question when attached to the beginning of certain words. For example, "yadata" (ידעת) means "you knew", but when we place a Hey in front, we get "hayadata" (הידעת), meaning "did you know?" It can also indicate movement towards something, such that "tzafon" (צפון) means "North", while "tzafona" (צפונה), with a Hey at the end of the word, changes the meaning to "towards the North".

In Kabbalah (the ancient Jewish tradition of mystical interpretation of the Bible) Hey represents the five fingers, the five senses and the five dimensions, in addition to the five levels of the soul. There are five fingers on hamsa amulets, a very common talismanic symbol. Many Jews believe that the five fingers of the hamsa hand remind its wearer to use their five senses to praise G-d *.

The letter is also often used instead of writing out one of the most common names used for G-d. Hey is often used to represent the name of G-d as an abbreviation for Hashem, which means "The Name", and is a way of saying G-d without actually saying the name of G-d. In print, Hashem is usually written as Hey with a geresh (an apostrophe-like sign placed after a letter): ה׳‬.

I drew a sans-serif letter Hey and filled it with flowers, leaves and one of my signature little birds.
My letters are available unframed. They measure 12x17cm and fit perfectly into the mount of an IKEA 18x24cm RIBBA frame. This letter Hey was created as a Bat Mitzvah gift for a young lady called Hadar. Do you have someone you would like me to cut a papercut initial for?

* Jewish people do not write G‑d's name in a place where it may be discarded or erased. Treating G‑d's name with reverence is a way to give respect to G‑d.

** This post has been shared on {wow me} wednesday, Wow Us Wednesdays, Wednesday around the World, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop, Share Your Cup Thursday, The Happy Now Blog Link- Up, Artsy-Fartsy Link Party, Encouraging Hearts & Home Blog Hop, The Creative Circle, Little Things Thursday, Happiness is Homemade, Monday Morning Blog Club and Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday).