The letter Aleph,
, is a silent letter. Its numerical value is one. It may also be decomposed into the letters Yud-Vav-Yud,
, which have a numerical value of twenty-six, the same as the most sacred Name for God (Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey). Consequently, the letter aleph symbolizes the One which is beyond form. As has been mentioned before, the creation of multiplicity out of Oneness is ultimately a kind of illusion. To create substance out of chaos, form out of formlessness, and existence out of nonexistence is much like carving pillars out of air. Our awareness can draw the lines of division, but no separation of air ever really takes place. For this reason, among others, the letter Aleph is also associated with air. Notice also that even though breath is silent, no sound can be made without the support of air.
To permute Aleph with all of them and all of them with Aleph is to toggle back and forth between Oneness and multiplicity. No matter what situation we are in, the Oneness is always there, and we can always switch our attention from the many to the One and back again. This Oneness observes the world of multiplicity, and when we become aware that the many are never separate from the One, that all that we observe occurs within one indivisible awareness, then we transform the many names into the one Name. A sign for this is the twenty-two objects in a single body because the unity of awareness unites the many objects of perception into the One. Where do we draw the line between our awareness and the object of which we are aware? In consciousness, the Knower, the Known, and the act of Knowing are all One.