Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL"):
138 Openings
of Wisdom
Opening 20
The letters are different combinations of Kindness, Judgment and Mercy -- lines and dots, signifying opening and closure.
The entire key to the organization of the various different orders or arrangements constituted by the letters lies in the secret of Kindness, Judgment and Mercy -- right, left and center -- which join together in different combinations, varying in terms of closure and compression or opening and unfolding: the line and the dot.
Having explained that the letters are orders or arrangements, we will now explain the basis on which they are organized.
The entire key to the organization of the various different orders or arrangements constituted by the letters... Each of the letters is a particular arrangement or order of lights based on a specific organizational law whereby the lights operate together for one purpose, in order to ensure that the intended effect emerges in the proper way. It is necessary to understand the foundation on what this organizational law depends. It lies in the secret of Kindness, Judgment and Mercy. For every effect comes about as a result of the force produced by a particlar combination of the three fundamental qualities of Kindness, Judgment and Mercy. These join together in different combinations varying in terms of closure and opening, as discussed below. These three qualities correspond to right, left and center -- namely the sides of the letters.
...which join together in different combinations, varying in terms of closure and compression... In this case the lights shine in a mode of concealment, radiating only as a source -- or opening and unfolding: In the latter case, the lights shine in such a way that the radiation spreads. Sometimes the closure or compression may be in the middle, while the opening may be on the right or the left, and so on.
Opening and closure are signified respectively by the line and the dot: these are the fundamental components of all the letters. The letter Yud is a dot, while the letter Vav is a line. For example the letter Aleph has closure on the right and the left (the two Yud's), and extension in the middle (the diagonal Vav).