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Full manual adapted from Ophanim: Yoga of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet — A Practical Guide, Book One, with permission and attribution retained throughout.
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Elemental Letters · Tishrei
ל

Lamed — Monthly Letter, Tishrei (Standing Letter)

Attributes

The letter Lamed is the Hebrew “L”. As a word, Lamed means “learning” and relates to renewal of understanding. In the Hebrew language the letter Lamed indicates a connection to something.

In the Hebrew zodiac Lamed corresponds to Libra and is connected to the first month of autumn, the Hebrew month of Tishrei. Its element is the second level of Air.

How to do the letter

To do the Lamed, stand upright with both feet together, then bend forward at the waist to a 90 degree angle (“flat-backed”) while keeping the head upright looking straight ahead. Straighten your arms behind your back, and press your palms together, being careful not to interweave the fingers of the hands. Use the thumbs (crossing right over left) for the purpose of keeping the hands together. Raise your arms up with the aim of having them form a 90 degree angle with the back. While both hands are joined in that position, separate the two index fingers from the rest of the fingers as illustrated. In that position, do the inner exercise 3-5 times.

Additional Points to Note

As this is one of the most difficult letters please note the following points:

  1. Do a few breaths in the letter Vav before going into the Lamed to gain flexibility.
  2. As always, you should approach this letter staying on the side of comfort and not going for a too difficult stretch. Many people can not hold the ideal arm position in the Lamed unassisted. Do what you can and emphasize the inner exercise aspects.
  3. You can try having a partner gently hold and raise your arms to a closer approximation of the ideal form of the letter as you do the inner exercise.
  4. Since the letter is practiced daily for an entire month, there will be significant gains in flexibility for those who persevere.
Photograph of a practitioner performing the Lamed posture, bent forward at a right angle with arms raised behind the back, palms pressed together.
Lamed
Close-up photograph of the Lamed hand position, palms pressed together with index fingers separated.
Lamed — detail of hand position

Benefits

Doing the letter Lamed has these benefits: healing of gallbladder and stomach conditions and of all related ailments, increase of sexual potency, and renewed ability to concentrate and learn.

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Text and photographs adapted from Ophanim: Yoga of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet — A Practical Guide, Book One, compiled and edited by Zvi Zavidowsky, Nefesh Haya School of Ophanim and Jewish Prophetic Meditation, Jerusalem, Israel. © 2019, all rights reserved. Published here with permission.