10 Names
of God
The Rabbis sought to understand the various names of G-d in the Torah from
their
context.
[783],[784]
Text
10-1: Midrash on the Names of God
AND G-D SAID UNTO MOSES (Exodus 3:14): R. Abba b. Mammel said: G-d
said to Moses: ‘Thou wishest to know My name. Well, I am called according
to My work; sometimes I am called “Almighty G-d”, “Lord of
Hosts”, “G-d”, “Lord”. When I am judging created
beings, I am called “G-d” (Elohim), and when I am waging war against
the wicked, I am called “El Shaddai” (Almighty G-d), and when I am
merciful towards My world, I am called “Adonai”, for
“Adonai” refers to the Attribute of Mercy, as it is said: The Lord,
the Lord (Adonai, Adonai), G-d, merciful and gracious. Hence I am that I am in
virtue of My deeds.’ R. Isaac said: G-d said to Moses: ‘Tell them
that I am now what I always was and always will be’; for this reason is
the word eheyeh written three times. Another explanation of I AM THAT I AM is
offered by R. Jacob b. Abina in the name of R. Huna of Sepphoris: G-d said to
Moses: ‘Tell them that I will be with them in this servitude, and in
servitude will they always continue, but I will be with them!’ Whereupon
Moses said to G-d: ‘Shall I tell them this? Is not this sufficient for
the hour the evil thereof?’ G-d replied: ‘NO: THUS SHALT THOU SAY
UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: “I AM HATH SENT ME UNTO YOU.” To thee
only do I reveal this but not to them.’ Another interpretation of I AM.
In addition to context, other texts refer to
names by their lengths.
Text
10-2: Talmud on the Forty-two Letter Name of
God
Rab Judah said in Rab's name: The forty-two lettered Name is entrusted
only to him who is pious, meek, middle-aged, free from bad temper, sober, and
not insistent on his rights. And he who knows it, is heedful thereof, and
observes it in purity, is beloved above and popular below, feared by man, and
inherits two worlds, this world and the future world.
[785]
R. Abin commented: He redeemed them by His name; for the name of the
Holy One, blessed be He, consists of seventy-two
letters.[786]
The Great Name of Creation has 42 letters and leans to the left and is
the source of creation. The Great Name of Redemption has 72 letters and leans
to the right and rescues us from oppression and returns us to God.
A
clue to the length of some divine names is in the triangle structure below.
From
Figure 10-1, the lengths of Divine
Names are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 letters corresponding to the
line lengths that are also the base numbers of the pyramid. There are also
those of 12, 23, 33, 42, 50, 57, 63, 68, 72, 75, 77, and 78 letters that
constitute increasing plateaus of sub-pyramids including all lines below. There
is also the Great Name of G-d, which is all 613 thousand letters of the Torah
corresponding to the 613 thousand souls of Israel. The Torah was originally
without spaces revealing that it is one long name of G-d in essence. This
chapter covers the bold-faced lengths of the Names of G-d in
[787].
787
Figure 10-1: The Lengths of Names of G-d
This chapter will cover many forms of the Name of G-d. Some have
significance according to their length in letters.
Table 10-1:
Powers of the Length Names of God
|
Name
|
Power
|
Source
|
|
4 Letter Name of God
|
Power to Bless, curse, or
kill. [788] |
(Tetragrammaton)
|
|
12 Letter Name of God
|
Power to Banish Depression
|
(Reverse Initials of Tribes)
|
|
22 Letter Name of God
|
Power of Endearment
|
(Tribes of Israel)
|
|
23 Letter Name of God
|
Power of Reward
|
(Tribes of Israel)
|
|
26 Letter Name of God
|
Power of Blessing
|
(“How goodly are the ...”)
|
|
33 Letter Name of God
|
Power to Open the Gates of Prayer
|
(Torah Name of G-d)
|
|
42 Letter Name of God
|
Power of Creation
|
(The most mysterious)
|
|
72 Letter Name of God
|
Power of Redemption
|
(Three verses of Torah)
|
|
216 Letter Name of God
|
Power of Revival of the Dead
|
(3x power of redemption)
|
Often a Name of G-d is composed of a supernal half matched with a
physical half. This applies to the first two letters and the last two letters
of the 4 Letter Name of God. Similarly, a Midrash hints at the 72 Letter Name
of God with bells and pomegranates alluding to the Name of G-d on high and
below.
[789]
Text
10-3: Thirty-six Bells and Thirty-six
Pomegranates
R. Judan expounded the texts as applying to the High Priest. When he
entered the interior of the Holy of Holies he had to his credit bundles upon
bundles of merits:
- He entered in the merit of the Torah, as may be inferred
from: “This is the Torah” (Deut. IV, 44);
- In the merit of circumcision, as is
proved by, “This is My covenant” (Gen. XVII, 10);
- In the merit of the observance of the Sabbath, as is
proved by, “Happy is the man that doeth this” (Isa. LVI,
2);
- In the merit of Jerusalem, as is proved by, “This is
Jerusalem” (Ezek. V, 5);
- In the merit of the tribes, as may be inferred from the
text, “This is it that their father spoke unto them” (Gen. XLIX,
28);
- In the merit of Judah, as is proved by, “And this
for Judah” (Deut. XXXIII, 7);
- In the merit of Israel, as is proved by, “This thy
stature is like to a palm-tree” (S.S. VII, 8);
- In the merit of the heave-offering (terumah) is proved by
the expression, “And this is the offering-terumah” (Ex. XXV, 3);
- In the merit of the tithes, as is proved by the text,
“Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house... and try Me now with
this” (Mal. III, 10);
- In the merit of the sacrifices, as is proved by the text,
“WITH THIS SHALL AARON COME INTO THE HOLY PLACE; WITH A YOUNG
BULLOCK”, etc. (XVI, 3)
...
R. Judah b. R. Eleazar said he must, when entering, wear thirty-six
bells and thirty-six pomegranates. Our Rabbis say: Seventy-two bells and
seventy-two
pomegranates.[790]
Alternatively, 72 bells and 72 pomegranates allude to the 72 powers of
the Name of G-d manifested above and reflected below.
The Mishnah in
Sanhedren warns about the pronouncement of the Name of G-d.
Text
10-4: Mishnah Sanhedren 90A: Chapter XI
ALL ISRAEL HAVE A PORTION IN THE WORLD TO COME, FOR IT IS WRITTEN, THY
PEOPLE ARE ALL RIGHTEOUS; THEY SHALL INHERIT THE LAND FOR EVER, THE BRANCH OF MY
PLANTING, THE WORK OF MY HANDS, THAT I MAY BE GLORIFIED.’ BUT THE
FOLLOWING HAVE NO PORTION THEREIN: HE WHO MAINTAINS THAT RESURRECTION IS NOT A
BIBLICAL DOCTRINE, THE TORAH WAS NOT DIVINELY REVEALED, AND AN EPIKOROS. R.
AKIBA ADDED: ONE WHO READS UNCANONICAL BOOKS. ALSO ONE WHO WHISPERS [A CHARM]
OVER A WOUND AND SAYS, I WILL BRING NONE OF THESE DISEASES UPON THEE, WHICH I
BROUGHT UPON THE EGYPTIANS: FOR I AM THE LORD THAT HEALETH THEE.’ ABBA
SAUL SAYS: ALSO ONE WHO PRONOUNCES THE DIVINE NAME AS IT IS
SPELT.
The Gemara explains in Sanhedren 101b:
Text
10-5: Gemara Sanhedren 101B on Pronouncing the Name of
God
ABBA SAUL SAID: ALSO HE WHO PRONOUNCES THE DIVINE NAME AS IT IS SPELT
etc. It has been taught: [This holds good] only in the country (as opposed to
the Temple) and in the sense of [the Samaritan] ‘aga’ [blaspheming]
(‘in a corrupt, barbarous language,’ debasing thereby the Holy Name;
cf. Rashi).
10.1 The
Pillar Names of God
The Shaarey Orah identifies all the names of G-d associated with the ten
sefirot. They break down according to the three pillars of the
tree.
For the Lord your G-d is a merciful G-d
(Deut. 4:31 – Gates of Light p. 167)
The name El associates with mercy from Exodus 34:6 where they are together
as El Rahum.
The Uneraseable Names
are:
[791] Ehye, Elohim, El,
Eloha, Shaddai – these are all attached to Hashem
Erasable names
associated with the above include:
El – Hesed gadol (big), rachum
(nurturing), chanun (gracious), chasin, erech apayim (patient),
rav chesed (plentiful in kindness), kadosh (holy), chasid (devout),
soleyach
Elohim adir (mighty), shofet (judger), dayyan (judge), chazak
(strong), kabir, koach (powerful)
ish miylchamah (man of war), gibor
(courageous), poked avon (exacts sin),
meshalem gemul (repays in
kind)
Hashem norah (awesome), noseh avon (carrier of sin), over al pesha
(overlooker of transgression)
emet (truth), marom (on high), ram (exalted),
notzar chesed (creator of compassion),
shochen ad (perpetual dweller)
kadosh (holy).
Table 10-2:
Pillar Names of G-d and Affinity Names
|
Elohim
|
Hashem
|
El
|
|
Adir
|
Norah
|
Gadol
|
|
Shofet
|
Noseh avon
|
Rachum
|
|
Dayyan
|
Over al pesha
|
Chanun
|
|
Chazak
|
Emet
|
Chasin
|
|
Kabir
|
Marom
|
Erech apayim – Long faced awaiting our
return.
|
|
Koach
|
Ram
|
Rav chesed
|
|
Ish miylchamah
|
Notzar chesed
|
Kadosh – “You shall be holy for I the Lord am
holy.” [792] This refers to
G-d removing himself from the world. We need to behave in the image of G-d
removing ourselves from over involvement in materialism or superficial
lusts. |
|
Gibor
|
Shochen ad
|
Hasid
|
|
Poked avon, meshalem gemul
|
Kadosh
|
Soleyach
|
The source names are the title row above. When we encounter the
affinity Names we know that they refer to the qualities of the source Names.
For Elohim, this is power, justice, and strength. For Hashem, his is truth,
beauty, and peace. For El, this is greatness, kindness, and
mercy.
Ramban – Nachmanides
comments:
[793]Text
10-6: Nachmanides on the Name—El Shaddai
Genesis 17:1 – “Avram was 99 years old. G-d appeared to him
and said, “I am El Shaddai (G-d Almighty) Walk before Me and be
perfect.” El Shaddai—Each of these Names stands for a
different Divine Attribute. El means “powerful,” as in, Exodos
15:15 “Trembling gripped the powers of Moav.”...
Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra, quoting Rabbi Shmuel Hanagid, explains that
Shaddai is related to the word shodeid, “to overpower.” Thus the
name Shaddai means, “He who controls and dominates the heavenly
hosts.” This is the correct interpretation, for the name Shaddai stands
for the Attribute of Power by which G-d runs the world. The sages call it
“the Attribute of Justice of the world below.”
The name Shaddai is appropriate here because with this name the hidden
miracles are performed for the righteous, to rescue their soul from death, and
to sustain them in famine, and to save them from being killed in war, like the
miracles that were done for Avraham and the other Patriarchs...
All miracles in the Torah whereby the natural order is overpowered
without causing noticeable change in the normal scheme of things are miracles
[using the name Shaddai]. However the miracles done by Moshe
Rabbeinu—such as the Ten Plagues, the parting of the sea, the manna, the
well—as well as others, were open miracles whereby nature was change for
all to see. They were performed with the Four-Letter Divine name, which G-d had
told him.
Therefore, G-d now told Avraham, that He is the Almighty, the One who
prevails and can overcome the signs of the stars [that predict he will be
childless]. He will indeed have a son and there will be an everlasting covenant
between Him and his offspring, meaning Hashem’s portion is His people, and
He Himself will lead them, not by a star, a constellation, or planetary
influences.The name Elohim is both masculine and
feminine.
[794]
Again, how could Adam be made in the image of the Elohim, male and
female, unless the Elohim were male and female also? The word Elohim is a plural
formed from the feminine singular ALH, Eloh, by adding IM to the word. But
inasmuch as IM is usually the termination of the masculine plural, and is here
added to a feminine noun, it gives to the word Elohim the sense of a female
potency united to a masculine idea, and thereby capable of producing an
offspring.A somewhat rare Chaldean version of the Name Elohim is
Elahin
[795] –
אלהין
deriving from the feminine form Eaela –
אלה. In Hebrew,
Eaela is the female form for an oak tree. Another word for an oak tree in
Hebrew is Elon –
אלון as in
Eaelon Moreh, where under an oak tree, students learned. Elon can refer to a
number of large Mediterranean trees, particularly the cashew tree or terebinth,
Pistacia Terebinthus. Turpentine is produced from this tree.
The king answered to Daniel, and said, It is true that your God is a God
of gods – אלה
אלהין, and a Lord of kings, and a
revealer of mysteries, seeing that you could reveal this mystery –
רזא.
Text
10-9: Daniel 3:24-26
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and
spoke, and said to his counselors, Did we not throw three men bound into the
midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king. He
answered and said, Behold, I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the
fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of
the gods – דמה
לבר-אלהין –
damai lvar’Elahin. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth
of the burning fiery furnace, and spoke, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-Nego, you servants of the most high God, come out, and come here. Then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, came out of the midst of the
fire.
10.2 The
Tetragrammaton
The truth of the name is
hidden.
[796]
Text
10-10: Midrash on the Ineffable Name of God
R. Ahwah b. R. Zera said: HA’ OLAM (THE WORLD) should be read as
hu'alam (concealed), i.e. the Ineffable Name was hidden from them. It may be
likened to a king who held a banquet to which he invited guests. After they had
eaten and drunk, they said to him, ‘Give us swords and spears to play
with’; but he gave them myrtle-branches, and they struck and wounded one
another with them. The king exclaimed,’ If you acted so when I gave you
myrtle-branches, how much damage would there have been had I given you swords
and spears! ' Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, said: ' If at a time when I
concealed the Ineffable Name, men slay by a substituted name of Mine, how much
more so had I given and revealed My Ineffable Name! ' A Persian woman once
cursed her son with one syllable of the Ineffable Name. Samuel heard her and
said to her, ‘Go, prepare shrouds for him.’ R. Hanina possessed the
secret of the Ineffable Name –
שם
המפורש
[797], and when his
time arrived to die, he said: ' Is there anybody here [who is worthy] that I
should transmit it to him?’ They answered, ‘Anini b. Nahshon is
here.’ He sent for him and he came, and Anini's son also entered and hid
under the bed. When R. Hanina was about to transmit the Name, the child sneezed,
and the father said, ‘Go out from here because he is not worthy to hear
it, nor you to receive it.’ A physician in Sepphoris possessed the secret
of the Ineffable Name. When he was about to die, he asked, ' Is there anybody
here [who is worthy] that I should transmit it to him? ' They answered, ' There
is R. Phinehas b. Hama.’ He sent for him, and when he came the physician
asked him, ‘Have you ever taken anything from a Jew?’ He replied,
‘I accepted ma'aser’; whereupon he refused to transmit the Name to
him, saying, ‘This man might want something from a person who declined to
give it to him, and he will kill him in his anger [by using the
Name].’
It has been taught: The Name may not be
transmitted to every man, nor to one who is not in his prime, but only to one
who has lived most of his
years.[798] It may
only be transmitted when the persons are standing, in a clean place and upon the
water. At first they used to transmit it to everyone [in the priesthood]; but
when sinners increased in number it was instituted that it should be transmitted
only to the well-conducted among the priests, and they used to muffle it amidst
the chanting of the other priests. R. Tarfon said: I once went up with my uncle
Samson upon the dais, and I inclined my ears towards the High Priest [to catch
the Name], but he muffled it amidst the chanting of the priests. R. Tarfon
further said: I once did hear it and fell upon my face [in awe]. Those who were
near [the High Priest], when they heard it, fell upon their faces and exclaimed,
‘Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.’
Neither these nor the others1 departed from there until it had become concealed
from them, as it is said, This is My name for ever-le'olam (Ex. III, 15). The
last word is written so that it can be read as le'elem (for concealment). Why
was all this precaution necessary? SO THAT MAN CANNOT FIND OUT THE WORK THAT GOD
HATH DONE FROM THE BEGINNING EVEN TO THE END.And that Moses applied
this name:
[799]
Text
10-11: Moshe’s knowledge of the Ineffable
Name
AND WHEN HE SAW THAT THERE WAS NO MAN (II, 12)-for he saw that the
smitten man would no longer live. R. Judah said: He saw THAT THERE WAS NO MAN
who would be zealous for God and slay him. R. Nehemiah says: He saw that there
was none who would mention over him God's name and slay him. The Sages said: He
saw that there was no hope that righteous persons would arise from him or his
offspring until the end of generations. When Moses saw this, he took counsel
with the angels and said to them: ‘This man deserves death.’ They
agreed; hence it says: AND WHEN HE SAW THAT THERE WAS NO MAN to say a good word
for him. AND HE SMOTE THE EGYPTIAN. With what did he slay him? R. Abyathar said:
With the fist; and others say that he took a clay shovel and cracked his skull.
The Rabbis say that he pronounced God's name against him and thus slew him, for
it is said: Sayest thou to kill me? (ib. 14).Today, we must avoid
cursing with G-d’s Name. Even Moses consulted angels before beseeching
Hashem’s will in this manner.
There is a teaching on the meaning of
the Hebrew names for man and woman. Man in Hebrew is ish –
איש
and woman is ishah –
אשה. As long as
G-d is between them they live as husband and wife. Nevertheless, if they remove
G-d from the relationship, i.e. the letters of the name of G-d –
יה, has vshalom, only
fire –
אש is
left and the relationship consumes itself. Similarly, the Zohar teaches that
the breastplate and ephod were two halves connected like the creation of Adam
and Eve as one connected body. The Name of God was in the fold between. Hence,
the breastplate and ephod symbolize the ideal relationship of man and woman with
God between
them.
[800]
Text
10-12: Zohar on the Breastplate and Ephod
Observe that at the creation of Adam the Holy One, blessed be He, made
him male and female together, female behind and male before... Observe that the
ephod and breastplate were “behind and before”, and so the Priest,
when clothed in them, resembled the supernal pattern. As has already been said,
when his face was illumined and the letters stood out brightly, then a message
was thereby conveyed to him. For this reason the breastplate and the ephod were
tied together; and although they had distinct functions, they had the same
symbolism... Now, it is written: “And thou shalt put in the breastplate of
judgment the Urim and the Thummim” (Ex. XXVIII, 30). The term
“Urim” (lit. Iight, illumination) signifies the luminous speculum,
which consisted of the engravure of the Divine Name composed of forty-two
letters by which the world was created; whereas the Thummim consisted of the
non-luminous speculum made of the Divine Name as manifested in the twenty-two
letter. The combination of the two is thus called Urim and Thummim. Observe
that by the power of these sunken letters were the other letters, namely, the
raised letters forming the names of the tribes, now illumined, now darkened. The
letters of the Divine Name embrace the mystery of the Torah, and all the worlds
are a projection of the mystery of those letters....
Linguistically, Albright says the Name is a verb meaning, “He
causes to be”.
[801] This
infers the Name is a reference to the creative action of God.
The name
Adonai is connected with the Tetragrammaton, for there is never one without the
other. For Hashem connects with his world and the world reaches back with the
name Adonai. Adonai is from Aden –
אדן meaning
foundation socket of a building. “It is the presence of God in all things
that joins them to one another, that lends coherence to Creation. This play is
on
‘adonay/’adanim.”
[802]God’s
glory, however, is manifest in His many garments; the whole earth is a garbing
of God. It is He who is within all the garments. This aspect of divinity is
called ‘adonai, related to the word for “socket by which the
tabernacle was held
together.[803]
10.3 The
12 Letter Name of God
There are two forms of this Name.
The first form of the twelve
letter Name is Havayah three times: YHVH YHVH YHVH. This comes from three
sources. The prayer liturgy says, “Adonai Melech, Adonai Malchah, Adonai
Ymloch L’Olam Va’ed” – “YHVH is King, YHVH was
King, YHVH will be King forever and
ever.”
[804] The second
source is from the priestly blessing, “Yvarecha Adonai vYismarecha, Yaaer
Adonai Panav Elecha vHonecha, Yisah Adonai Panav Elecha, vYasame Lcha
Shalom” – “May G-d bless you and Guard you, May G-d cause his
countenance to shine on you, and May G-d put in you
peace.”
[805] The third
source is a vision of Rabbi Isaac of
Acco:
[806]Text
10-13: Rabbi Isaac of Acco
sees the Twelve Letter Name
The young one, R. Isaac of Acco said, I woke up from my sleep and there
suddenly came before me three Tetragrammata, each one in its vocalization and
place in the secret of the ten sefirot of the void, in the middle line, on which
depends the entire mystery of [the four worlds] Atzulut, Beriyah, Yetzirah, and
Asiyah, via the simple and felt intellect, alluded to in the secret of their
vocalizations.[807]
And my soul rejoiced in them as one who had found a rare treasure, and they were
these: יהוה
יהוה יהוה, blessed
is the Name of the Glory of His kingdom forever and ever ... The
second form of the Twelve Letter Name consists of the initials of the twelve
tribes of Israel. Together the Twelve Letter Names of G-d suggest the
importance of G-d in the eyes of Israel and the importance of Israel in the eyes
of G-d.
Text
10-14: Twelve Letter Name of God, Above and
Below
יהוה
יהוה
יהוה
|
ר ש ל י י ו ד נ ג א
י ב
Reciting the names of the twelve tribes of Israel is a segulah, a remedy,
for depression. These names are the essence of our love for our ancestors and
G-d’s love for us. The segulah is to recite them in reverse order
according to the breastplate of the Urim and
Thumim:
[808]Benyamin, Yosef, Asher, Gad, Naftali, Dan, Zevulon,
Issachar, Yehudah, Levi, Shimeon, Reuven
10.4 The
22 Letter Name of God
This is a name of G-d that is part of a 72 Letter Name including the 12
tribes of Israel below.
אברהם
יצחק יעקב
שבטי
ישרוןAvraham, Yitzhak, and
Yaakov, the tribes of the righteous people.
This name provides the 72 Letter Name with all the distinct letters of
the Hebrew alphabet that were missing from the 50 letters of the twelve
tribes.
10.5 The
23 Letter Name of God
This name of G-d is based on the Papyrus triangle and includes up to the
second row. Yeshurun contains a vav instead of the Shurek vowel under the
shin.
אברהם
יצחק יעקב
שבטי
ישורון
10.6 The
26 Letter Name of God
The gematria of YHVH –
יהוה
is 26, which alludes to the 26 letter name of G-d containing praises of Israel.
This consists of the 26 letters in the verse,
“Mah
tovu ohalecha Ya’akov, mishknotecha Israel” – “How
goodly are your tents O’ Jacob, your sanctified places O’
Israel”.
[809] These 26
letters are always together on the top line of their respective Torah scroll
page.
[810] This verse corresponds
to Hashem’s name Havayah, which associates with Tiferet, the beauty and
splendor of Israel above. The verse elevates the tent to a dwelling place for
the Shechinah. The word Mishkan contains the same root as Shechinah denoting
the Presence of G-d. The verse also elevates Jacob’s name to Israel.
These elevations represent the path from Malchuts to Tiferet, from the physical
kingdom of this world to the upper Eden, the beautiful realm of G-d’s
Truth. Israel represents Tiferet as Abraham and Isaac represented Hesed and
Gevurah in this world. Finally, the name of G-d Havayah has gematria 26 and
corresponds to Tiferet the heart of the Tree of Life and
Truth.
[811]מה-תבו
אהליך יעקב
משכנתיך
ישראך
10.7 The
33 Letter Name of God
This is the name composed of G-d’s Names mentioned in the
Torah:
[812]אהיה
יה יהוה אדני
אל אלוה אלהים
שדי צבאות
These are Ehyeh, Yah, YHVH, Adonai, El, Elo’ah, Elohim, Shaddai, and
Tzevaot.
[813]
10.8 The
42 Letter Name of God
This is one of the most obscure names of
G-d.
[814] Rashi comments that
‘this name was not given over to
us’.
[815] Hence, the
derivation of the name is not well known. The name of Moses’s mother
Yocheved –
dbkwy has the gematria of 42. Since
Yocheved (Jochebed) was head midwife in Israel, she is considered the mother of
600,000 souls, symbolizing her relation to
creation.
[816] The gematria for
mother –
ama is also 42.
Also the phrase ‘my heart’ –
ybl
has a value of 42. This parallels the tzimtzum creation story where G-d
withdraws into himself leaving a space like His heart where creation begins.
Kabbalists teach this Name is from the first 42 letters of the Bible with each
portion, each line of 6 letters bearing the “magical potency” of the
entirety.
[817]The
Forty-two Letter Name associates with the seven days of creation. The
‘workings of creation’ – Ma’aseh Bereshis has the
initials Mem Bet in Hebrew. The gematria value of Mem Bet –
מב
is 42. The gematria value of the Name, Eloah
–
אל*וה
is also forty-two.
[818] The
prayer Nishmas Kol Chai contains the phrase “Eloah Kol Briyot – G-d
of all Creation”.
[819]
This phrase also teaches that the name, Eloah -
hwla
associates with creation. The 42 Letter Name is the force behind the mitzvah
for a man to marry and have children.
Text
10-15: Isaiah on the Repentance of King
Hezekiah
And Isaiah ... came to him and said unto
him:
‘Thou shalt die, and not live’
(Kings 2
20:1)
“Thou shalt die” in this world “and not
live” in the world-to-come.
When Hezekiah asked him, “Why
is the punishment so severe?” Isaiah replied,
“Because you
did not try to have children.” Hezekiah replied,
“because
it was shown to me by the holy spirit that children issuing from
me
will not be worthy.” Isaiah replied,
“What
have you to do with the secrets of the Holy One?
What you have been
commanded, you should have done,
and let God do what He
pleases.”
(Ber 10a. – Book of Legends
632:196)
The Forty-two Letter Name associates with the seven days of the
week, six letters for each
day.
[820] The letters on each
line correspond with the sefirot Hesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod
respectively with the whole line corresponding to
Malchut.
[821] The line for
Shabbat is
שקו צית.
Each line corresponds to a thousand years of creation. The last line refers to
the last 1000 years of creation. Each 1000 years is also associated with a
sefira and the last 1000 years for the age of moshiach that is kingship and
Malchuts. Since the name begins with Aleph –
א the first Hebrew
letter and ends with Tav –
ת, the last Hebrew
letter, we know that all creation is contained within this
Name.
[822] Table 10-3: The
42 Letter Name in the Days of the Week
|
Weekday
|
Hebrew
Gematria
|
Meaning
|
Sefira
|
Age Hebrew
|
Age
English
|
Historical Basis
|
|
Sunday
|
{ty gba
506
ad
ychola myn aretz
(Gen2:6)
|
The first line of Genesis.
Then a mist rose from the
land.
|
Hesed
|
0-999
|
3760-2761 BCE
|
The kindness of Eden and the sons of G-d and the sons of men.
“Longevity of early
generations” [823] |
|
Monday
|
}fc urq
|
Rent the adversary
|
Gevurah
|
1000-1999
|
2760-1761 BCE
|
The purification of mankind with the Flood. “The Flood 1656 (2104
BCE)” [824] |
|
Tuesday
|
cky dgn
|
|
Tiferets
|
2000-2999
|
1760-761 BCE
|
The splendor of Israel under the guidance of Moses and the period of the
Judges. “Sinai: Year 2448 (1312
BCE) ” [825] |
|
Wednesday
|
gtx rfb
|
|
Netzah
|
3000-3999
|
760 BCE-239 AD
|
The period of kings and the 2 nd Temple of Israel.
“1 st Temple: 2928-3338 (832-422 BCE). 2 nd
Temple: 3408-3328 (352 BCE-68
CE)” [826] |
|
Thursday
|
unf
bqj
241
Gazriel
larzg
|
|
Hod
|
4000-4999
|
240-1239
|
The age of trials and the acceptance of suffering (the dark and middle
ages). “Massacres, expulsions,
Crusades” [827] |
|
Friday
|
qzp lgy
|
If we are worthy, we will be redeemed now. Rejoicing leads to
redemption.
|
Yesod
|
5000-5999
|
1240-2239
|
The age of the Tzaddikim; the struggle for righteousness.
“Preparation for the era of
Mashiach” [828] |
|
Saturday
|
tyx wqc
|
The eternal Shabbat for the righteous in the world to come is the
end.
|
Malchuts
|
6000-6999
|
2240-3239
|
The new age of kingship.
|
One may study the 42 Letter Name according to the Seven
Weeks
[829] where the letters
divide on a daily basis and then collect in groups of six, providing the
sustaining energy to the physical world—the Shechinah that is the
collective nature of Malchuts. Zer Anpin sustains Nukva in this
manner.
On day 45, the letter vav denotes Tiferet in Malchuts. On day
46, the
tzaddik is in the place of Netzah in
Malchuts.
[830] Breslov Hasidim
interpret the vav as Moses and the tzaddik as the messiah.
Table 10-4: The
42 Letter Name in the Counting of the Omer
|
Day
|
Counting of the Sefirot
|
Corresponding letter of the 42
|
Letter Meaning
|
Meaning
|
|
1
|
Hesed in Hesed
|
a
|
Like the Aleph has two Yods so our acts of kindness bring kindness from
Hashem.
|
Hesed from below leads to Hesed from above. Ebullient kindness brings a
similar response from heaven.
|
|
2
|
Gevurah in Hesed
|
b
|
The Bet is the house which contains kindness.
|
Restraint in kindness. Focusing our attention on our family creates a
house of kindness.
|
|
3
|
Tiferet in Hesed
|
g
|
Gimmel is for G’mulus Hasidim.
|
Wealth in kindness. There is a true beauty in those
give money to help those in desperate need. |
|
4
|
Netzah in Hesed
|
y
|
Piercing kindness originating from wisdom that is the Yod.
|
Victory in kindness. This is the victory of overcoming the evil that would
refrain us from acts of Hesed.
|
|
5
|
Hod in Hesed
|
t
|
Tav is a cross that holds us to reflection.
|
Patience in kindness. Accepting the words of another and helping that
person with his/her true needs.
|
|
6
|
Yesod in Hesed
|
x
|
A Tzadik’s kindness is his way of life.
|
Righteousness in kindness. Doing kindness along a straight path without
selfish aversion.
|
|
7
|
Malchuts in Hesed
|
{ty gba
|
At the start, in the beginning, the expansion, G-d started
until the end in all righteousness.
Aleph is the
start
Bet is in the
beginning
Gimmel is gadol, greatness and
expansion
Yod is G-d
Tav is
until the end
Tzaddik is in righteousness
|
Malchuts gathers from reciprocity with G-d, her house, deeds for others, a
piercing deed, patience and righteousness. The energy of each of the six days
is received by Malchuts.
|
|
8
|
Hesed in Gevurah
|
q
|
Koof is laughter that alleviates the limitations of Gevurah.
|
Kindness manifests itself when one overcomes the limitations of Gevurah.
We overcome the limitations either by solution or recording them in a ‘to
do’ list to solve another day.
|
|
9
|
Gevurah in Gevurah
|
r
|
Resh is the energy of war. But even in war is the possibility of peace.
Resh is king over Peace. [831]
|
Restraint, judgment, strength. There is a strength in strength. This is
the calm exterior of a truly powerful warrior. Gevurah in Gevurah leads to this
peace.
|
|
10
|
Tiferet in Gevurah
|
u
|
Ayin is king over anger and thus may bring balance, truth, and beauty when
restrained.
|
Beauty in strength is the countenance of one confident and strong in
conviction and belief. This is a stoic person in control of anger. There is a
beauty in restrained character and there is strength.
|
|
11
|
Netzah in Gevurah
|
c
|
Shin is the elemental plane of fire, source of seraphim knowledge of past,
present, and future. This eternal prophecy is restricted from man.
|
Victory in strength. Physical strength brings spiritual insight. The
endorphins one experiences while conditioning attune to contemplation and
revelation.
|
|
12
|
Hod in Gevurah
|
f
|
Tet is the creative serpent which often stems away from the norms of
society in its search for new experiences.
|
The acceptance of judgment. Working within the framework of society.
Balancing life’s freedom and restraint is key here.
|
|
13
|
Yesod in Gevurah
|
}
|
Nun nullifies the desires restraining one from sin
|
Yesod is righteousness in restraint. This is when Joseph saw Isaac and
restrained himself from Potifer’s wife’s advances.
|
|
14
|
Malchut in Gevurah
|
}fc urq
|
Separate from the adversary.
|
Tearing oneself away from evil desires is the restraint of
Gevurah.
|
|
15
|
Hesed in Tiferet
|
n
|
|
|
|
16
|
Gevurah in Tiferet
|
g
|
|
|
|
17
|
Tiferet in Tiferet
|
d
|
|
|
|
18
|
Netzah in Tiferet
|
y
|
|
|
|
19
|
Hod in Tiferet
|
k
|
|
|
|
20
|
Yesod in Tiferet
|
c
|
|
|
|
21
|
Malchut in Tiferet
|
cky dgn
|
|
|
|
22
|
Hesed in Netzah
|
b
|
|
|
|
23
|
Gevurah in Netzah
|
f
|
|
|
|
24
|
Tiferet in Netzah
|
r
|
|
|
|
25
|
Netzah in Netzah
|
x
|
|
|
|
26
|
Hod in Netzah
|
t
|
|
|
|
27
|
Yesod in Netzah
|
g
|
|
|
|
28
|
Malchut in Netzah
|
gtx rfb
|
|
|
|
29
|
Hesed in Hod
|
j
|
|
|
|
30
|
Gevurah in Hod
|
q
|
|
|
|
31
|
Tiferet in Hod
|
b
|
|
|
|
32
|
Netzah in Hod
|
f
|
|
|
|
33
|
Hod in Hod
|
n
|
|
|
|
34
|
Yesod in Hod
|
u
|
|
|
|
35
|
Malchuts in Hod
|
unf bqj
|
|
|
|
36
|
Hesed in Yesod
|
y
|
Friday
|
|
|
37
|
Gevurah in Yesod
|
g
|
|
|
|
38
|
Tiferet in Yesod
|
l
|
|
|
|
39
|
Netzah in Yesod
|
p
|
|
|
|
40
|
Hod in Yesod
|
z
|
|
|
|
41
|
Yesod in Yesod
|
q
|
|
|
|
42
|
Malchut in Yesod
|
qzp lgy
|
Friday
|
The Shechinah is within the protection of Zer Anpin. She rejoices and He
bursts in love in return.
|
|
43
|
Hesed in Malchut
|
c
|
Shabbas
|
|
|
44
|
Gevurah in Malchut
|
q
|
|
|
|
45
|
Tiferet in Malchut
|
w
|
|
Moses
|
|
46
|
Netzah in Malchut
|
x
|
|
Messiah also the gematria Nachman
|
|
47
|
Hod in Malchut
|
y
|
|
|
|
48
|
Yesod in Malchut
|
t
|
|
Zer Anpin descends and joins with Nukva, his eternal love.
|
|
49
|
Malchut in Malchut
|
tyx wqc
|
|
In the letters {yq – end, this is the last
and highest state.
|
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov attempted to capture the secret of the
42-letter name in his fifth story,
“The Prince of
Precious Stones.”
[832] His
approach is to understand the name metaphorically. While not revealing the
origin of the individual letters, his insights add to the picture and help us on
our journey.
Text
10-16: Nachman's Prince of
Gems
The story begins with a king finding that he is not able to have
children with the queen. The king asks the Jews of his kingdom to pray on his
behalf that he may have a son to take over the kingdom. The Jews reply to the
king that he will need the prayer of a tzaddik to accomplish
this.[833] The king asks the
people to find a tzaddik. They search far and wide and finally discover a
hidden tzaddik. The king speaks gently with the tzaddik and he agrees to pray
on the king’s behalf for the sake of the Jews in the kingdom, that he will
have a child. The prayers work and the queen gives birth to a daughter. The
king finds that she is very beautiful and very talented. She is able to play
different musical instruments and by the age of four is versed in the knowledge
of the kingdom like someone of the age of thirty.
While the king is happy with his daughter, he feels that he still must
have a son to leave the kingdom to. The king learns however that the tzaddik
has died and is at a loss of what to do. He asks the Jews to search for another
tzaddik, which they do and they find another hidden tzaddik. Once again the
king speaks to him and the tzaddik says that he can do nothing. The king
encourages saying the fate of the Jews of the kingdom are in his hands. The
tzaddik asks the king if he is willing to do anything. The king says he is
willing to do anything to have a son.
The tzaddik says bring me every type of precious gem in the kingdom.
The king complies. (When a tzaddik asks that one does something if one complies
right away, his request will be answered) The tzaddik says to the king and
queen that they will have a very special son composed of all these gems. He
grinds the gems up into a powder and makes the king and queen drink the dust.
Soon the queen is pregnant again and has a son.
When the son is born, the king notices that he is ordinary looking with
flesh and he doesn’t see that he is made of gems, but since the king is
happy he has a son he soon forgets what the tzaddik told him. The princess is
upset that she is no longer the center of attention, but she is consoled that at
least the son is not made of gems.
One day the child prince is chopping wood and he cuts his finger and
cries out. The princess hears this and runs over to bandage the cut. However,
when she looks into the cut, she sees a shining diamond inside. This arouses
her jealousy and she feigns sickness. The king sends for different doctors to
try to cure his daughter, but none of them know what to do. Finally he sends
for a magician who talks with the girl.
When the princess sees the magician she decides to confide in him and
tells him that she was only feigning illness. She asks if he has a magic potion
that can make a person leprous? He said he does. She asked, “Can this
magic be refuted?” The magician said there is a way to guarantee that
the magic cannot be reversed. The magician says if the potion is thrown into a
river after its use it cannot be reversed. The daughter uses the potion and
causes her brother to become a leper and throws the potion into a place in the
river.
The king sees that the prince has acquired a disease. He decreed that
the Jews should daven for the sake of his son. Once again the Jews sought out
a tzaddik, the one that originally told the king that he would have a son. They
found the tzaddik who was still dismayed that G-d did not make the prince of
gems. The tzaddik comes to the king and davens with all his heart that the
prince be cured. Instead heaven reveals that the cause of the leprosy is
magic. The tzaddik tells the king that the only solution to reverse the magic
is to throw the magician who made the magic into the river
too.[834] The King said I will
give you all the magicians in the kingdom to do likewise.
When the princess heard this she became frantic and went to the water
where she had thrown the potion. There she slipped and fell into the river.
The tzaddik felt this and said now the prince will be cured. The skin of the
prince peeled off and he was revealed that all his body consisted of
gems.The prince in the story is
Moses.
[835] The precious stones
are the 600,000 souls of the Jewish people. “Precious stones that are
lying in the streets that are being ignored, that are being trampled
upon.”
[836] The term,
‘precious stones’ refers to the souls of Jewish people, though
trampled down will rise up
again.
[837] The Tikuney Zohar
teaches that before one can reveal his greatness, first there must be a descent
and then an ascent can follow. The Gemara teaches that Basya, the Egyptian
princess went down to the river to convert and purify herself. When she touched
the casket with Moses, he became a leper. When he came to Mt. Sinai and adopted
the mantle of leadership, then the brilliance of the 600,000 shown, and the
leprosy was removed.
The Midrash says that there
is a woman who gave birth to 600,000 souls at one time. This is Yocheved, the
mother of Moses. Breslov explains that she is also the mother of all Israel,
because Moses was equal to all the souls of Israel
combined.
[838]
Text
10-17: Midrash Rabbah Song of Songs 1:65 or
4:2
As Rabbi was once expounding the Scripture, the congregation became
drowsy. In order to rouse them he said: ‘One woman in Egypt brought forth
six hundred thousand at a birth’ There was a certain disciple there named
R. Ishmael son of R. Jose, who said to him: ‘Who can that have
been?’ He replied: ‘This was Jochebed who bore Moses who was
counted as equal to six hundred thousand of Israel’; for so it says, Then
sang Moses and the children of Israel (Ex. XV, I); And the children of Israel
did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses (Num. I, 54); And there hath
not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses (Deut. XXXIV,
10).[839]
The Breslov idea is that the Messiah encapsulates all the souls of the Jews
and Moses is equal to the Messiah. From here, we understand why the prince is
made entirely of gems. Thus, the prince possessed the qualities of all Jews.
The story revolves around the leader of the 600,000 souls. Every person
must know in order for a person to get to a state of purity, reveal his precious
soul, one must remove an outer shell of ‘tumah’ - impurity, that is
the ‘klipah’ (klipah kadma v-pri – the shell proceeds the
fruit).
[840] If one wants to eat
the fruit, one must first remove the rind. In order to remove this, one must be
willing to go through a descent and battle the evil forces and be willing to
attach to the - Tzaddik Emets, Moshe
Rabenu.
[841] If he resorts to the
origin of his neshamah who is Moshe Rabenu, the Tzaddik Emets, he will obtain
purity and the ‘klipah’, the impurity will come off.
Text
10-18: Zohar 2:233b
The same lesson is indicated in the words, “I went down into the
garden of nuts” (S.S. 6:11). For, as the nut has a shell surrounding and
protecting the kernel inside, so it is with everything sacred: the sacred
principle occupies the interior, whilst the “other side” encircles
it on the exterior. This is the inward meaning of “the wicked doth
surround the righteous” (Habakkuk 1:4). The same is indicated in the very
name EGVZ (nut) - zwga.
[Tr. note: The
numerical value of EGVZ (1+3+6+7)=17. Similarly, HT (sin) (9+8=17) and TVB (the
good) (9+6+2)=17.]
[842]As the fruit
contains both nourishment and a rind, we are both holy soul with impurity.
Similarly, the Hebrew word for fruit, ‘pri’, includes both the name
of G-d, Adonai, and the impure shell, the ‘klipah’, within its
numbers:
[843]
yrp = 290 =
hpylq ynda
Now we examine the Breslov understanding of the 42 Letter Name from the
Tikuney Zohar and the
“Prince of Gems” story
above.
[844]Table 10-5: The
Forty-Two Letter Name in Rabbi Nachman’s Prince of Gems
Forty-two Letter
Nameand Ana B’Coach
|
Breslov
MetaphorsMeditations
|
Story
|
|
{ty
gba
tldg jkb
ana
hrwrx rytt ]nymy
We pray Thee, G-d, free captive
Israel
Through Thy right hand’s mighty
power.
|
aygb
hnwpx
hrwt
hesed
meditate
on
this name
on Sunday
|
The Torah is hidden in the valley. [The
Torah alludes to Moshe Rabenu (his Torah).]Moshe
Rabenu was hidden in the valley.[BGAI alludes to Baal
GimmelYod[845] Aleph -
Hashem]Moshe Rabenu is master of the 13 midos of
Hashem. Torah is hidden within this master of the 13
qualities of Hashem.[Moshe Rabenu is the Vav of
Hashem’s Name.]
[846]
[This corresponds with the Name MH where Vav
is spelled waw which
is 13.][847]
Moshe is as master of the
Torah.
The Torah consists of 600,000 letters
corresponding to 600,000 Souls
Every word in the Torah
is a precious stone.
Hence, this refers to the Prince
of Gems.
|
|
}fc
urq
]mu tnr
lbq
arwn wnrhf
G-d of
awe, receive Thy people’s prayer;
Uplift us, make
us pure.
|
}fc
urq
gevurah
meditate on
this name
on Monday
|
He splintered or divided the Yam –
waters. [848]He divided, split or tore away the
Yam.If Moses divided the waters it wasn’t
sufficient, The satan came and said, “Why should
only the Egyptians die”,for the satan had a
claim against the Jews as being just as
guilty.Moses’s prayers tore away the satan from
the Yam.Dividing the waters of the
Yam-ChokmahLet the Jews enter and learn the depth of
wisdom and endless waters of the
Torah.Carry away and removing the
satan,which is the evil magic –
[wck in the
waters.[849]
In the Prince of Gems, the tzaddik and
princess
remove the evil magic in the waters, the
satan,
that caused the leprosy.
|
|
cky
dgn
rwbg
an
]dwjy ycrwd
\rmc
tbbk
Almighty G-d, we pray
Thee,
Guard as the apple of the eye
those who seek Thy unity.
|
cwalpynh
ta ]mak dgn
tiferet
meditate
on
this name
on Tuesday
|
I will make the miracles for you. Yod-shin
is yesh from the caph which is keter -
rtk.Keter
gives forth the reward for tzaddikim which will be true for all
Jews.The Zohar says yod is
hochmah,[850] the shin is Moses,
tiferets, containing all three sefirot,
Shamayim.[851]
This is in the hands
of Moses who will lead the Jewsto ultimate victory and
even in the world to come,they will be there through
his zehus - merit.
|
|
gtx
rfb
\mjr \rhf
\krb
\lmg dymt
]tqdx
Bless us, cleanse
us,
And ever temper for us
Thy
justice with Thy Mercy
|
bfr
trapt
}g
qydx
netzah
meditate
on
this name
on Wednesday
|
The righteous nurturing souls in the Garden of
Eden Tzaddik is Moses and
AaronGimmel is gan or the lower Garden of
EdenTav is tiferets or the
higher Garden of EdenBets
tet resh is ratov –
bfrwhich means
moist, wet, and fertile where souls grow.This is the
special garden where the neshamah – the soul is
watered, in this fertile ground. This is dependent on
the faith that a Jew has in the Tzaddik Emets and in
the words of the
Torah.[852]
Moshe Rabbenu and Aaron are
the
caretakers of this garden nurturing souls to
grow.
|
|
unf
bqj
cwdq
}ysj
]tdu lhn ]bwf
brb
Almighty and
holy,
Lead on Thy flock in
Thy bountiful goodness.
|
\dab
ufn qj
hod
meditate on
this name
on Thursday
|
He planted a law for Adam
Natah is
planted.
The gematria for the name of G-d Anyin-Bet
– 72 - bu is
here.
This shows that Ayin Bet is the source for
netzah, hod, and yesod,
just as it is for hesed,
gevurah, and tiferets.
|
|
qzp
lgy
hag dyjy
hnp
]mul
]tcdq
yrkwz
Supreme and only
G-d,
Turn to Thy people
who
are mindful of Thy holiness.
|
hcdq
urz
\wydp lgy
yesod
meditate
on
this name on
Friday
|
In the 6000th year Hashem will reveal the
redemption
of his holy children
Hashem will reveal in the time of
Moshiah’s coming the redemption of his holy
children.
This being the sixth group alludes to the
6000th year.
The first word is from reveal -
galah - hlg where
y’galeh - lgy is
‘will reveal’.
Pidyom is
redemption.
Zerah is seed or children
here.
K’doshah is
holy.
Similarly, the word gelah –
hlyg means
rejoice.
We rejoice as the time for our redemption, our
return to Israel, approaches.
|
|
tyx
wqc
lbq
wntuwc
wntqux
umcw
twmlut
udwy
Accept out
prayer,
give ear to our
cry,
Thou who knowest our inward
thoughts.
|
{qw tyc
malchut
meditate on
this name
on
Saturday
|
The six and the end Shis is
‘six’. V’katz is ‘and
end’After the six above, there is the
end.It will all end happily when this end comes
through malchut which is Emunah – faith.The vav
and tzaddik are two letters Rabbi Nachman struggled to
understand.Vav is tiferets of
malchutsTzaddik is netzah of
malchuts.Tiferets alludes to the Tzadik
Emet.Netzah alludes to Moses and his prophecy and for
Breslov, the Messiah.Rabenuzal
said that he himself was the T’hiyas Moshiach ben
David,the living messiah son of
David.Tzaddik also alludes to Yesod since Joseph is
considered the righteous one.Yesod also alludes to
Messiah Son of Joseph.The shin is Shabbas. Kaitz
alludesto end of the week. Yod and Vav is
G-d’sextra connection on this day. Tav
indicatesthat all G-d’s creative force is
containedbetween the Alpeh and Tav of this
name. |
The 600,000 souls finally come forth in all their glory due to their
struggle and unwavering faith in the Tzaddik Emets and the Torah, knowing the
Moshiach will lead them to perfection.
Table 10-6:
Letter Chains of the Name of G-d above Keter
|
Place - \wqm
|
Expansion
|
|
72 – AV – bu
|
YOD HEH VYV HY – yh wyw yh dwy
|
|
63 – SaG – gs
|
YOD HY VAV HY – yh waw yh dwy
|
|
45 – MaH – hm
|
YOD HA VAV HA – ah waw ah dwy
|
|
52 – BeN –
בן
|
YOD HH VV HH – hh ww hh dwy
|
It is important to note that MaH corresponds to the Shechinah or
Malchut or the lowest of the sefirot. BeN is Zer Anpin that is the six sefirot
above closer to the Shefa. Why is MaH then listed above BeN? The Bahir hints
at an explanation where Malchut is seventh and Yesod is eighth in
position.
[853] Zer Anpin honors
the Shechinah by placing her before himself though in a meditation through the
chains one will encounter MaH before
BeN.
[854]Text
10-19: Zohar 1:1b on MaH:
This end of heaven is called Who. There is another below, called What
– MaH. What distinguishes the two? The first, concealed one—called
Who—can be questioned. Once a human being questions and searches,
contemplating and knowing rung after rung to the very last rung—once one
reaches there: What? What do you know? What have you contemplated? For what
have you searched? All is concealed, as
before.[855]Now, we
leave the Breslov interpretation and turn to the coding theory of the forty-two
letter Name. The first seven words in Genesis comprise 28
letters.
[856]
This alludes to the lunar month of four weeks that is the basis for the seasons
of the calendar. There is a teaching that the first forty-two letters of the
Torah contain the Forty-two Letter Name of G-d.
[857] There is also a teaching that
there are 42 letters between consecutive numbers in the beginning of the Torah
constituting a date for the creation of the world.
Text
10-20: Satinover on the Forty-Two Letter Name
"You should know a decryption [lit. kabbalah] of this second section in
Genesis has been passed down to us, beginning from the verse 'In the
beginning...' up to the letter b[beyt; the 42nd letter in Genesis] which
contains a name of 42 letters that hints at God's activities before the
creation—but only by means of 'many permutations.' Bachya was referring
to a little-known observation made two centuries earlier by another sage,
Rabbenu Tam (and even earlier by one Nechunya ben HaKanah, discussed below). Tam
had observed that encoded into the opening passages of Genesis was a 42-letter
name of God. But more than that, Bachya claimed, there lay within its compass
the necessary information for calculating the unfolding of the "days and
seasons," starting with the moment of the creation of the sun and moon and ever
after, according to the ancient tradition that "...the luminaries were created
on the fourth day, and by them we count the years of the world." Tam did not
commit the details of this calculation to writing, however. Two centuries
later, Rabbenu Bachya did so, by describing in one of his books what he called
"the date which is the true starting point of all calculations of the
astronomers" (hence the date to be used for "prophetic" calculations as well.)
He explained: "...if the eyes of your heart will be illumined, you will find
this date encoded in the text, such that between each of its numbers lies as
well 42 letters.[858] The
wise will understand that this is not by chance, but a clear sign involving the
very birth of the world."
Table 10-7: The
42 Letter Name and First 42 letters of Genesis
|
Forty-two Letter Name
|
Bereshis
|
|
{ty gba
|
tyc arb
|
|
}fc urq
|
hla arb
|
|
cky dgn
|
cht a\y
|
|
gtx rfb
|
taw \ym
|
|
unf bqj
|
hw{ rah
|
|
qzp lgy
|
tyh {ra
|
|
tyx wqc
|
bww hth
|
During the fourteenth century, Rabbi Rabbenu Bachya identified patterns
of letters and numbers encoded within the Torah. He explained: "If the eyes of
your heart will be illuminated, you will find [the starting date of the world]
encoded in the text, such that between each of its numbers lies [the 42-letter
name of God]. The wise will understand that this is not by chance, but a clear
sign involving the very birth of the world."
[859]
A 13th-century Cabalistic rabbi, Bachya ben Asher of Saragossa, Spain,
wrote of certain hidden information that was revealed to him by reading every
42nd letter in a portion of Genesis. This method of skipping over letters
according to a particular sequence in an attempt to discover hidden messages is
the basis for the modern Bible-code
concept.[860]Here is a
discussion on the 42 Letter Name brought down from Rabbenu
Bachya:
[861]
Text
10-21: Rabbi Bachya on the Forty-Two Letter
Name
The book was written by a thirteenth-century sage, Rabbenu ("Our Rabbi")
Bachya ben Asher of Saragossa, in Spain. Rabbenu Bachya's more general
writings are widely taught today, especially because of the clarity and
simplicity of his style. His teachings in "Kabbalah"—the Jewish mystical
tradition, combining contemplative prayer with a variety of
mathematically-influenced methods for studying Torah—were highly respected
at the time, and until today. Yet his commentaries contain some unusual and
cryptic asides.
For example, at the very beginning of his major work (the one Weissmandl
was given by his grandfather), Bachya makes a remark that clearly must have
electrified the young Weissmandl when he first came upon it. Indeed, he would
return again and again throughout his life to the principles therein hinted at,
especially during the dreadful days in the bunker. Bachya introduced the subject
as follows:
"You should know a decryption [lit. kabbalah] of this
second section in Genesis has been passed down to us, beginning from the verse
'In the beginning...' up to the letter b[beyt; the 42nd letter in Genesis] which
contains a name of 42 letters that hints at God's activities before the
creation—but only by means of 'many permutations.'
Bachya was referring to a little-known observation made two centuries
earlier by another sage, Rabbenu Tam (and even earlier by one Nechunya ben
HaKanah, discussed below). Tam had observed that encoded into the opening
passages of Genesis was a 42-letter name of God. But more than that, Bachya
claimed, there lay within its compass the necessary information for calculating
the unfolding of the "days and seasons," starting with the moment of the
creation of the sun and moon and ever after, according to the ancient tradition
that "...the luminaries were created on the fourth day, and by them we count the
years of the world." Tam did not commit the details of this calculation to
writing, however.
Two centuries later, Rabbenu Bachya did so, by describing in one of his
books what he called "the date which is the true starting point of all
calculations of the astronomers" (hence the date to be used for "prophetic"
calculations as well.) He explained:
"...if the eyes of your heart will be illumined, you
will find this date encoded in the text, such that between each of its
numbers lies as well 42 letters. The wise will understand that this is not
by chance, but a clear sign involving the very birth of the world."
The calculations Bachya was talking about are extremely complicated. But
even as a boy, Rabbi Weissmandl had mastered them and confirmed for himself that
the critical number was indeed encoded precisely as Bachya said it was. Later,
while a still a student, Rabbi Weissmandl became an expert in the equally
complicated rules that govern the construction of the mikveh, or ritual bath
(from which, incidentally, the tradition of Baptism evolved). And in 1931 he
published his first book, a volume that hearkened back to his earliest
discoveries in Bachya's text: Hilchot haChodesh: "The Laws for Fixing the New
Moon."
Throughout his life, Rabbi Weissmandl remained certain that there was
embedded within the Torah, via Bachya's description of the skipping of equal
intervals of letters, divinely ordained information. Bachya was not the first to
point to the existence of encrypted information in the Torah. Hints were
scattered throughout the vast store of Jewish literature. Indeed, the ancient
belief that God had created the world via combinations of letters was directly
linked to the mysterious ideas concerning the various "names of God." It was
said, for example, that the Torah consists entirely of permutations of the names
of God. And of Bezalel, the craftsman who constructed in the desert the movable
Tabernacle that housed the Ark—containing within it the Tablets of the Law
and the original Torah scrolls (following the escape from Egypt)—it was
said, "he knew how to combine the letters of the Divine Names with which heaven
and earth were created."
His imagination fired, Weissmandl took an extraordinary step as a youth:
he wrote out on white cards, in ten by ten arrays, the entire
304,805-letter text of the Torah. This formalized the method hinted at by
Bachya's statement; and it facilitated the discovery of at least those codes
encrypted at intervals and multiples of ten letters, of which Weissmandl
believed there were many. There are 42 places where Israel
camped on their journey from Egypt to Israel. These rest stops represent a
ladder of cleansing within the context of the Forty-Two Letter Name of G-d.
There are 42 days between the end of Passover and
Shavuot.
Some consider that
the name derives from the initial letters of Nehunia ben Hakanah’s
“Anah B’Coach” sung before L’chai Dodi. Nehunia still
practiced his simple prayers as he received those
greater:
[862]
I heard from my master [the Baal Shem Tov] that even after Rabbi Nehunia
ben HaKaneh knew all the [Kabbalistic] meditations associated with prayer, he
would still pray like a small
child,[863]The Hai
Gaon says that each of the individual six letter names is significant in its own
right. The fifth has the gematria 241 equating to the angel
Gazerael.
[864] “Speaking
this Name in its entirety counteracts an evil decree issued against one in
Heaven.”
[865]The 42
Letter Name begins with Av –
ba – Father,
associating with the sefira of Hochmah and Partzuf Abba. Rav in Tractate
Kiddushin, 71a had the following comments on the 42 Letter Name:
Text
10-22: Tractate Kiddushin on the Forty-Two Letter
Name
That this Name is to be revealed only to a man who stands in the middle
of his life, who is pious and modest, who never gives way to anger and to drink,
who is not obstinate. Whoever knows that Name and preserves it in purity is
beloved in heaven and beloved upon earth; is well considered by man and inherits
both worlds.[866]
From this point onwards bara shith, “he created six”, from
the end of heaven to the end thereof, six sides which extend from the supernal
mystic essence, through the expansion of creative force from a primal point.
Here has been inscribed the mystery of the name of forty-two
letters.
The mystery of the 42 Letter Name is related again in the
Zohar to creation. Here the name is separated into six groups of seven letters
each for the six walls of creation. These are the four directions, north,
south, east, and west as well as up and down.
AND THE EARTH WAS VOID AND WITHOUT FORM. This describes the original
state-as it were, the dregs of ink clinging to the point of the pen-in which
there was no subsistence, until the world was graven with 42 letters, all of
which are the ornamentation of the Holy Name. When they are joined, letters
ascend and descend, and form crowns for themselves in all four quarters of the
world, so that the world is established through them and they through it. A
mould was formed for them like the seal of a ring; when they went in and issued,
and the world was created, and when they were joined together in the seal, the
world was established. They struck against the great serpent, and penetrated
under the chasms of the dust fifteen hundred cubits. Afterwards the great deep
arose in darkness, and darkness covered all, until light emerged and cleft the
darkness and came forth and shone, as it is written, “He uncovers deep
things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death” (Job
XII, 22).[868] Waite
mentions from the Zohar in “The Holy
Kabbalah”:
[869]
Text
10-23: The Personification of Evil
From the kind of union which is predicated concerning SM and the evil
serpent, they seem to pass easily one into another, and it is presumably in this
way that we hear of a great serpent – the dragon of later Kabbalism
– which was cast into the abyss with his legions when the Sacred Name of
42 letters was first graven upon the seal of G-d. But the abyss subsequently
gave up the demons and the surface of the earth was covered with darkness till
celestial light illuminated the world.
[870]This is
based on the Zohar and illustrates numerous ideas that entered Judaism during
the Persian exile. Herein is the concept of fallen angels and the concept that
the serpent in the Garden of Eden was one of them. The personified evil who was
the Serpent in the Garden of Eden was not mainstream Judaism, but became
mainstream in Christianity. The five sects were the
Pharisees
expounding the law and accepting the Prophets; the
Sadducees or high priests holding only to the Five
Books of Moses which they required for the priestly law; the
Essenes with their eschatology of wars between
angels of light and darkness; the
Samaritans of
the North who maintained the non-Davidic or Israelite form of the religion
constituted of Assyrian relocated peoples intermarried with Israelites; and
finally the
Christians with the belief in the suffering
messiah
who came, redeemed, and died. The Sadducees
were descendents of Tsadok, one of the two priests serving King
David.
[871] David
said:
[872]
And let Tsadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint
him there king over Israel;
and blow with the trumpet, and say, Long
live king Solomon!
The vowel groups, which are the souls of the letters, the tools of
creation, together add to 42.
[873]
Table 10-8:
Vowel Groups of the 42 Letter Name
|
Vowel
|
Symbol
|
Sound
|
Phonetic
|
Written Form
|
Value
|
|
Cholam
|
|
Oh
|
AoO
|
אוֹ
|
7
|
|
Kametz & Patach
|
|
Ah
|
AaH
|
אָה
|
6
|
|
Tzere
|
|
Aae
|
AeY
|
אֵי
|
11
|
|
Chirek
|
ִ
|
Eee
|
AiY
|
אִי
|
11
|
|
