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© 2014 John D. Brey.

The prophet Isaiah declared: כי ביה הי צור עולמים, For with [His Name] YAH HASHEM is the Rock of the Universe (Isaiah 26:4). In a homiletical interpretation of this verse, the Sages interpret the word עור as derived from יצר, to form. Accordingly, the Talmud explains that God used the letters י and ה which form the Divine Name יה, YAH, to create the universe. With the letter י He created the World to Come, while with the ה He created this world (Menachos 29b).

Rabbi Michael L. Munk, The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet, p. 85.

It's not a typo when Rabbi Munk claims that with the י He created the World to Come. For of a truth, the World to Come was created simultaneous to the creation of this world. The World to Come is simply hidden in this world awaiting its glorious unveiling. And since the World to Come is created simultaneous with this world, which is created with the ה, it's significant that the ה contains within its structure the letters associated with both creations.

Without wanting to address the argument about the pictographic power of the Hebrew letters (as opposed to their utilitarian purpose in mundane communication) it's genuinely the case that the letter heh is constructed of a ד and a י forming the ligature ה.

The ligature ה is oddly appropriate to Rabbi Munk's recitation of the Talmud's dictum about the two letters used to create the universe (this world and the World to Come) since the ה is quite literally created by veiling the י (associated with the creation of the World to Come), with the letter representing a "veil" or "door" ד. If you take the letter used to create the World to Come י and "veil" it with the letter representing a "veil" (the dalet) ד you end up with the letter used to create this world ה.

The ה doesn't always appear to be constructed of a ד and a yod י since the ה is rounded on the right side and doesn't have a "heel" or "roof" (such that it looks more like a reish ר than a dalet ד). For whatever reason the typed script uses what looks more like a ר than a ד.

The Letter Heh is basically a Daled which has an upside down Yud at the lower left hand corner, at an equal distance away from the roof as from the leg. The heel that was found on the roof of the Daled isn't necessary on a Heh, as even if the body looked like a Reish it would be kosher, but most Sofrim put a heel on top anyway. (Emphasis mine.)

A letter ה with a rounded right side rather than a square one is still kosher. But on the actual hand-written scrolls the "heel" is usually there . . . while on typed text it's often omitted. Nevertheless the typed text without the "heel" is kosher.

These drawings of the letters, dalet and the heh, are from a website pointing out the rules of STA'M. ---- Notice how on the drawing of the ה a white line shows where the "heel" is sometimes cut off of the ד when forming the ה. There's a significance to the fact that sofers and sages call this little tittle a "heel" since many sages and sofer also use that word to describe the yod found beneath the dalet in the letter heh.

The practicing Jew, or better, the Jew who's moved beyond the practice phase, knows the statement above is discussing circumcision. The World to Come is created with God's circumcised (unveiled) creative organ, while this world was created with an uncircumcised (a veiled) organ of creation:

One is said to see the Holy One from the sign of the covenant inscribed in one's flesh, the letter yod. As we have seen, in the case of the Zohar the letter yod is not understood simply as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel but is the very sign of the Holy One himself. . . Here we meet a convergence of anthropomorphic and letter symbolism: the physical organ in its essential character is interchangeable with the letter, and the letter with the physical organ.

Professor Elliot R. Wolfson, Circumcision, Vision of God, and Textual Interpretation: From Midrashic Trope to Mystical Symbol.

Professor Wolfson's statement about the yod is reflective of the general understanding of letter symbolism found throughout the Jewish corpus. The same idea is found in Rabbis Munk, Ginsburgh, and Hirsch, et al. It's found in Midrash Rabbah, the Talmud, and most other forms of formative Jewish midrashim.

This is to say that the letter associated with the Holy One Himself (the Creator: Yah, Hashem) --- i.e. the the letter yod י --- which is the letter associated with the creation of the World to Come, is hidden beneath a veil in the veiling of the World to Come that's the most fundamental nature of the natural world.

The covenant to Abraham contains the symbols that reflect the coming of the World to Come in the ritual removal of the veil representing the creative force of procreation in this current world order. . . Which is to say that prior to the sign of the covenant between Hashem and Abraham, Abraham's creative organ was veiled in such a way that the divine element of the creative process, the yod, was covered up. Ishmael is born, like this whole creation, through a process that veils the true hand of God in Creation. 

It's almost too ironic to believe that once it's pointed out that the ה is a pictogram of the letter through which the World to Come is created, the י hidden inside (beneath) the letter through which this fallen world is created ד (forming a ה), we've only to take Rabbi Samson Hirsch at his word when he claims the letters "די" are the divine call "Enough" or "It is Finished!" (this fallen creation is finished and the World to Come has arrived) in order to appreciate that the letters "די" are the letter י "unveiled" (from under the ד) for the first time at the ritual representing the beginning of the Jewish new world order.

Rabbi Hirsch points out that the letters די are unveiled at ritual circumcision. Since the י is the "mark" of circumcision, ritually unveiled at the bris, the ד is the veil removed to reveal the י. ------- Pull the ד back from over the י and you have the letters די, the letters Rabbi Hirsch claims are the emblem of the arrival of the World to Come at the "It is Finished" the "Enough" which is ritualized at the ritual circumcision.

"Shaddai" ש–די is the divine Name pointing out that the "די" uncovered at the unveiling of the World to Come is produced when "El Seh" אל שה, the "Lamb of God," is bled to provide the blood of the covenant. Which is merely to point out that if the ד is pulled back to reveal the י in the Name אל שה (the Lamb of God) the Name "El Shaddai" is the result. El Shaddai is the Lamb of God.

But a greater revelation awaits the uncovering of the name Yahweh יהוה. The first two letters of Yahweh יה spell "Yah" (an abbreviation of "Yahweh"). The first three letters of Yahweh spell "Yaho," which is another pronunciation of "Yah." ----- The observant critic of these letter permutations will notice that if you separate "Yah" יה or "Yaho," יהו from "Yahweh" יהוה, you're left with the same ה that makes the ש into "Shaddai" ש–די when the ה is cut into two independent letters די.

Take the Name "Yaho-heh" יהו–ה---- as in "Shin-heh," ש-ה (the Lamb of God) and again cut the ד away from the י and you produce the Name "Yahodi" or "Yehudai": God the Jew (the Jew who is God); the God who in the act of circumcision becomes a Jew "Yehudai." Which is the God whose circumscribed birth, his emasculated birth, makes Him the world's first actual (as opposed to token) Jew.; the world's first actual, rather than token, Jewish flesh and blood.