The Origin of Letters and Numerals According to the Sefer Yetzirah

of Cyprus? The Book of Formation original: "Sefer Yetzirah," a foundational work of Jewish mysticism. answers: “From the Sefirot” 15). But what does it mean by Sefirot? Literally "countings" or "spheres," referring to the ten creative powers or emanations in Kabbalah. On this point endless discussions arose; and it has even been disputed whether they are designed to express theological, philosophical, or physical mysteries. Most of the writers, bent on explaining the Book of Formation in a philosophical way, maintain that by ten Sefirot of nothingness original: עשר ספירות בלימה (Eser Sefirot Belimah). The term "Belimah" is obscure, often interpreted as "closed," "ineffable," or "nothingness.", the Book of Formation meant the so-called Arabic numerals, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0. This view is shared by Dunash Ibn Tamim 16) A 10th-century Jewish philologist and philosopher from North Africa., who, however, admits that some people object to it, and maintain that if the Book of Formation had meant the Arabic numerals, it would have said nine Sefirot original: תשע ספירות (Tesha Sefirot): for as the cipher The number zero. is not a digit, there are only nine significant numbers. A much weightier reason for opposing the identification of the Sefirot with the Arabic numerals is the fact that the Book of Formation gives ten as the total number resulting from the addition of the numerals 1, 2, 3 and 4 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10. This mathematical sequence was also sacred to the Pythagoreans, known as the Tetraktys., and the total of the 9 Arabic numerals added together is 45.

However, there can be no doubt that the Sefirot philosophy of the Book of Formation rested on some system of numeral notation. I have studied various systems of antiquity and I have found that it harmonizes with a numeral system consisting of a series of strokes from one to four, amounting in all to ten | || ||| ||||, and the zero 0. Indeed, the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 were originally indicated by such a series of strokes, as is well known to all familiar with the old Roman, Greek, and South-Arabian systems of notation. The numeral

15) See text, § 14.

16) See Book of Formation (Sefer Yeṣirah), London 1902, 24, 25.