Meaning: 1. Poor 2. door 3. lift up
The meaning of dalet is delet, a “door.” It also means dal, a poor person. Finally the word dalet represents dilisoni, which means “to lift me up.” How do these three definitions work together? The convergence occurs when every individual realizes that he or she is poor. This poverty doesn’t necessarily denote a state of financial want. Rather it means that everything a person “owns” in fact belongs to G‑d. G‑d has been kind enough to give us life. G‑d has been kind enough to give us sustenance. Without G‑d, we have nothing. The acknowledgment of this is the door into G‑d’s chamber. And once we enter that chamber G‑d will lift us up — dilisoni — to bless us with life, health, sustenance and success.
dalet represents the poor person. Thus the phrase gomel dalim: the benefactor who gives to the beneficiary.
The Talmud also tells us that when we observe the shape of the dalet, its single leg stretches toward the right — in the direction of the gimmel. This teaches the poor person that he has to make himself available to receive the charity of the benefactor. Similarly, the small extension on the right-hand side of the dalet’s horizontal bar looks like an ear, for the pauper must always be listening for the presence of the wealthy man. However the left side of this bar doesn’t confront the gimmel, the giver, but faces left, toward the letter hei, which represents G‑d. This instructs us that we must give charity discretely and not embarrass the poor person. The pauper must put his faith in G‑d, Who is the ultimate Giver of the universe.
Gematria
The gematria of dalet is four. Four represents the Matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. It also represents the four created worlds as explained in Kabbalah: Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. In addition, dalet signifies the four basic elements of Creation: fire (energy), air (gas), water (liquid) and earth (solid). Four also represents the holiday of Passover: the four cups of wine, the four children, the four questions.
