Contemplating G-d's Names

 Sometimes when you read the Torah, you scratch your head and say “what?”  At the beginning of this week’s Parsha (Exodus 6:3),  Hashem says to Moshe:  “I appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov with my name Kel Shakai, but with my name Havaye (yud kei vav kei) I did not make myself known to them.”  

(Incidentally, if you look in the Torah, you will see that the names of G-d are different from how I just wrote them.  This is intentional.  There are seven names of Hashem that we are forbidden to destroy, or even to mention, unless it is part of a Torah verse or organized prayer.  We therefore pronounce and write them differently.  “Kel” is written alef lamed, Shakai is written shin dalet yud, and the name we call Havaye is written yud and hei and vav and hei, or yud kei vav kei.)

So Hashem is saying to Moshe that until now, the name Havaye was not revealed.  Only now, that the Jews have been slaves and mistreated in Egypt, Hashem says, it is time to let them know that “I am Havaye (Exodus 6:6).” But  the opening verse of Parshat Vayera (Genesis 18:1) states:  “And Havaye appeared to [Avraham]!”  

(Pardon the interruption… This Wednesday I am starting a wonderful JLI course, “Booksmart” which delves into the great books of Judaism throughout the millennia.  Among other things, we will discuss the relationship between the Written and Oral Torah, and how the great books of Talmud, Midrash, Halachah, Musar and philosophy, Kabbalah and Chassidus fit into the teaching of our heritage. You can sign up (for the entire course or the first class free) here.)

Instead of writing this off as some kind of questionable authorship, we look to the Oral Torah for explanation. In my studies I have found that there are two perspectives to the Exodus story.  The story as it happened 3,335 years ago, and the personal message that the Torah, literally translated as the guide of our life, is teaching us today.  

There is a natural order which includes the physical world, the laws of nature, and the divine Source that creates it all.  This Source is referred to with the name Havaye – meaning Creator (from the Hebrew Mehavve).  The way Hashem created nature, is that where there is more holiness there is more revelation of Divine light.  The path of revelation is through study of Torah and observance of Mitzvot.  Each Mitzvah strengthens our connection to Hashem.  In this natural order, if a day goes by without Mitzvot, we have a gap in our Divine connection.

However, Hashem gave us a gift  – the ability to do Teshuvah (repentance).  A person feels an intangible disconnection which, awakening a desire to get closer to Hashem, and bringing them to a more intense observance of Torah and Mitzvot.  This is the first step toward Teshuvah.  This awakening has the power to connect us to Hashem on a level that is above and beyond the “natural order.”  

In other words, there is the Divine energy that is limited and directed into the limited worlds, and there is the source of this energy – Hashem’s essential light – that is infinite and not subject to any of the limitations of creation.  When a person feels disconnected from Hashem and sets out to repair the relationship, he or she plugs directly into the source, and therefore attains a much deeper and more intense connection.  (Make sense?  Feel free to call me to discuss.)  

That infinite light is also referred to as Havaye. The letters of yud and hei and vav and hai are a conglomerate of the three words haya (was), hovve (is) and yiheye (will be).  This represents the Divine energy that is beyond space and time.  

Egyptian servitude is a metaphor in the Torah for limits and lack of freedom – a submission to a foreign power.  When a person goes through life following the Torah, that person is connected constantly to the Divine source of the world’s creation.  But what if a person has “descended” into Egypt through negative habits, environmental distractions or ego-driven negative behavior?  All is not lost!  We too can have an exodus from Egypt!  

Not only can we repair the past, but through Teshuvah – by resolving to create a stronger bond with Hashem – we tap into an even higher Divine energy than we ever had access to in the first place.

This is what Hashem is saying to Moshe: When I appeared to the forefathers it was as the Creator within the natural order (Havaye as Creator).  They were very holy people, tuned in to the life-source of the world.  But now that the Jews were enslaved in Egypt, unable to live a Torah life, I will free them from bondage and bring them close to Me.  Not only will they experience Divine revelation but they will also see that “I am Hashem” – and connect in a way that is beyond the natural order (Havaye as the infinite).

The nation saw this revelation at Sinai, and after the future Exodus from our current exile, with the coming of Moshiach, we will experience it forever.