For this particular Kabbalistic secret, you don't have to look much further than the Babylonian Talmud1. Here's how it goes:

Rabbi Joshua the son of Levi walked into the academy one day and the rabbis told him, "Some schoolchildren were here today in the study hall and they said things the like of which was not heard even in the days of Joshua the son of Nun."

"They said that alef bet means "learn understanding."" (Alef means learn; bina means understanding.)

"Then they said that gimmel daled means "give generously to the poor."" (Gemol means to give generously; dalim are poor people).

"They asked, "Why is the foot of the gimmel stretched toward the daled?" And they answered, "Because it is the way of the giving person to run after the poor.""

"And why is the leg of the daled slanted slightly back toward the gimmel? Because the poor person must make himself available to those who can give."

"And why is the face of the daled turned away from the gimmel? So he can give to him in secret, so the daled won't be embarrassed."


There's more there—those little kids covered the entire alef bet until the last letter. But you can already see that these kids were more than a step beyond Sesame Street. They tell us that the first step is to learn to understand. And then, as soon as you learn to understand, what's the first thing you will do? Acts of kindness.

But real kindness. Not the kindness where you need to wait for someone to ask. Not the kindness where you let the other guy know, "Hey, lookee here! I'm giving you something." But rather, the kindness where you feel indebted to the recipient for providing you the opportunity to help him out. And so, he gets his help with dignity and respect.

Which means that once you have learned understanding, you see that there really is no hierarchy of givers and getters in this world. It's only on the surface that it seems that way, but in the understanding view from within, no one gives without getting, no one gets without giving.

For more on this giving-getting idea, take a look at The Lunar Files. Now that's real kabbalistic.