THE ALEPH-LAMED... What exactly is it
During his Yeshiva studies at Machon Meir in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), Yuval came across a commentary on Genesis that contained within the Hebrew text a very unique letter, or what would be better called a graphical representation of two letters, which he later discovered to be known as the Aleph-Lamed ligature. This unique combining of the letter Aleph with the letter Lamed to produce a printable version of one of HaShem's, (G-d’s), known names, the name (K)el, (pronounced with the “K” out of respect for the utterance of our Creators name), has very ancient roots. In addition, (K)el is the ultimate aim of creation as it combines HaShem’s aspect of divine mercy with His aspect of divine judgment. Yuval's (re)discovery of this ancient, and currently rarely used graphical character really intrigued Yuval and has since been at the forefront of his linguistic and artistic endeavors.
Hold on, the going gets complex but once understood is very pleasing. From the point of view of it’s mathematical value, (Gematria), when the letters Aleph and Lamed are written jointly they equal 90. How this is achieved is as follows.
Let’s start with the Lamed. The Lamed, (written out fully as Lamed-Mem-Dalet), has a numerical value of 74, (as Lamed = 30, Mem = 40 and Dalet = 4). The Aleph, (which is normally composed of two letter Yud’s and a diagonal Vav), can normally be considered as equalling 26 as Yud = 10 and Vav = 6 therefore 10 (x2) + 6 = 26). However in the case of our Aleph-Lamed, the bottom Yud is missing from the Aleph when the letters are combined in this unique graphical character, thus the gematria is reduced by 10 and therefore now equals 16, (26-10=16,). Adding the Aleph and Lamed together then equates to a grand total of 90, (74 from the Lamed spelled out and 16 from the unusual rendition of the Aleph).
What then is the significance of 90? 90 equates to the Hebrew word Melech, (King), as Mem =40, Lamed = 30 and Khaf = 20, (40+30+20=90). And this is by far the most appropriate way to represent HaShem’s Name,…as a conquering King.
From the artistic point of view, the silhouette of the Aleph and Lamed together, looks very similar to a horse and rider, when the horse lifts its front legs as when confronted with a panic situation; such as happened at Kriyat Yam Suf, (the crossing of the Red Sea), when the horse and rider were together thrown into the sea, (see the Song of Moses, Exodus 15). This could therefore represent Hashem’s ultimate punishment for the Nations when King Mashiach, (Messiah), comes in triumph over HaShem’s ememies.
For those who desire to know the ramifications in Jewish law of the use of this character to represent HaShem’s name we wish to allay any fears of doing so.
If a person wanted to write the Name Elokim, but stopped after two letters, he would have written the Name (K)el. As this Name is also Holy, it must be treated with due respect, although it was written unintentionally because his original intention was to write the full Name of Elokim.
However by combining the Aleph and the Lamed together as one letter/character one has circumvented this problem, as these two letters are not now written in their full format, as they would be in HaShems Name (K)el when it is fully spelled out. In fact it is a graphical representation of HaShem's name in much the same way as the double Yud is used (‘ ‘) to represent HaShem's divine four-letter name (Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei).
The first Yud in the double abbreviation Yud-Yud (‘ ‘) comes from the first letter in the divine name and the second Yud is actually a partial representation of the second letter Hei of the divine name. Since the Hei is composed of a Dalet and a Yud, when the Dalet is taken away only the Yud remains. The resulting combination is the history behind the use of the Double Yud in place of the divine name. This is amazingly similar to the Aleph-Lamed combination!
As the Double Yud is not intrinsically “Holy” in and of itself, so also the Aleph-Lamed bears no special halachic precedence against it’s use. For those that wish to research this further please see the Gemara (Shavuot 35) and Rambam Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah, chapter 6, Halacha 4.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Yuval has traveled a great deal across the world, and especially in Israel, in order to photograph the beauty of life itself. Even traveling, hiking and backpacking to remote areas to experience nature's raw splendor firsthand.
Yuval has traveled a great deal across the world, and especially in Israel, in order to photograph the beauty of life itself. Even traveling, hiking and backpacking to remote areas to experience nature's raw splendor firsthand.
He usually photograph each subject many times – like in a portrait session – using different angles and compositions, watching as the lighting and subject change, and often returning another day or season for better lighting conditions. After each major photographic expedition, Yuval sorts through hundreds of images and selects only a handful of outstanding images to utilize as texture maps within his 3D workflow.
Using Adobe Photoshop on a high end Macintosh computer, he fine tunes each image, staying true to the original scene while correcting the color balance, managing tonal ranges, and refining with subtle dodging and burning to create a more expressive image.
Yuval then imports the image(s) into a specialized 3D program. He then meticulously creates the geometry of each of the Hebrew letters and alters them to suit his taste. Next, he chooses a lighting setup to complement the mood he is trying to achieve much like in photography. Yuval then combines these elements into a scene structure, much as a Hollywood Director would, and manipulates the material elements of each object to achieve a unique look and feel. Often trying many variations of textures and positions until just the right “feel” is achieved. He then renders and prints the image in order to color proof the final result.
Finally, his skills in digital color management come into play and using accurate camera, display, and printer profiles Yuval tries to achieve the most excellent color reproduction possible. He then personally prepares each print using the finest digital printmaking techniques..