One Name to Rule Them All

 

"And the Lord (Elo-him) spoke to Moses and He said to him, I am G-d (Havayah)!" (Ex. 6:29)

All the miracles performed by G-d in Egypt which defied all known laws of nature, were invoked by the Ineffable Four-lettered Name yud-hei-vav-hei (known as Havayah), which symbolizes G-d as a composite of the Hebrew words for "He was, He is, He will be", the One who created the world ex nihilo and Who is eternal.  The name Elo-him, on the other hand, symbolizes nature, i.e. the laws of nature; we have repeatedly mentioned that the Hebrew word for "the nature", ha'teva, has the same numerical value as the word Elo-him.  According to the Zohar, that name represents a line, the rule of law and order, i.e. justice.  The characteristics of all living creatures were determined by G-d invoking His attribute Elo-him.

 

[In the words of the Arizal: "After G-d had created the 'place' for a universe, He created all that was to fill that 'place'.  This was accomplished by means of a "line" (a sort of pipeline).  The light G-d created entered and dissipated within the "place" designated for the universe by means of the "line". Ed.]

 

Havayah is greater than Elo-him…

 

The fact that Havayah is a "higher" attribute than that of Elo-him is documented in the verse "That Havayah is greater than [any] Elo-him " (Ex. 18:11), when Jethro acknowledges the superiority of that attribute of G-d over all others.  All other attributes (names) of G-d are derived from the name Havayah.  One of the allusions to this is found in Psalms 136, in which the Psalmist commences by calling upon us to praise (1) Praise Havayah because He is good, because His kindness is eternal; (2) Praise Elo-him of all lords, because His kindness is eternal; (3) Praise Ado-nai (Master) of all masters, because His kindness is eternal. G-d created the system of planets, which are referred to as ad-anim (masters).  Every Shabbat we read in a liturgical poem "G-d equipped them with might and power to rule in the midst of the world."  G-d, nonetheless, remains Master of all masters.  On a higher level than the planets are the Celestial Forces who are in charge of these various planets and basic forces of nature.  They are known as Elo-him (Lords).  Above those celestial forces is the attribute known to us as Lord of lords.  The name Havayah towers above the aforementioned three names for deity-like powers that operate in the universe.

It was the name Havayah and what it implies that G-d employed when performing supernatural miracles in Egypt. Whenever Moses appeared before Pharaoh he appeared as a messenger of that attribute. Pharaoh's reaction (Ex. 5:2) was that he had certainly never heard of such an attribute of any deity: "Who is Havayah that I should heed Him"?  Pharaoh had no difficulty in accepting G-d in His attribute as Elo-him, as we know from Gen. 41:38. 

 

The Zohar (Sullam edition, Miketz page 13) comments on the episode where Joseph says "G-d will provide a reply for the welfare of Pharaoh." (Gen. 41:16)

Rabbi Abba said: "Observe the wickedness of Pharaoh who claimed not to have heard of G-d.  He was extremely clever and exploited the fact that Moses had not presented himself as a messenger of Elo-him -  whom he could not have denied  -  but as a messenger of  Havayah.  He found it puzzling that Moses did not come in the name of the "same" G-d as the G-d of Joseph, whom he recognized.  He could not come to terms with that name of G-d.

 

When the Torah writes "And Havayah hardened Pharaoh's heart", the meaning is that it was the use of that name that made Pharaoh's heart become obstinate. This is the reason that Moses never used a different name for G-d when confronting Pharaoh. 

Thus far the Zohar. When we follow the approach taken by the Zohar we realize that G-d never interfered with Pharaoh's decision-making process at all.  Pharaoh duped himself. 

 

…that I am Havayah will harden his heart…

 

The cause of his obstinacy was G-d saying  "I am Havayah ".  When G-d said to Moses early on the verse "I shall make the heart of Pharaoh obstinate" (Ex. 7:3), the implied meaning is:  "My revelation to him that I am Havayah will harden his heart."

 

When the magicians acknowledged that the plague of lice was not the result of superior magic by Moses or Aaron (Ex. 8:15), they limited their acknowledgment of its origin to Elo-him, thereby excluding the name Havayah.

 

Pharaoh had learned the meaning of Elo-him from Joseph; he acknowledged this deity as superior to other deities.  His acknowledgment did not extend to such a deity's control of what he considered the laws of nature.  We have a rule in Berachot 48: "Since G-d has assigned sovereignty to a certain king, or kingdom, another king or kingdom must not infringe on the sovereignty of such." [The Talmud illustrates this principle by pointing out Saul's artificially delayed arrival in order that the commencement of his kingdom should not shorten by as much as a minute the period G-d had designated for the leadership of the prophet Samuel. Ed.]

 

Pharaoh understood that the existence of the kingdom of Elo-him, though presumably greater than that of his own or other kings, would not interfere with the sovereignty of other kingdoms.  There are many kingdoms in this world which co-exist although some are more powerful than others.

 

…philosophers conceive of G-d as inseparable from the world…

 

It is also possible that Pharaoh acknowledged G-d as the Master of the Universe, but did not consider the Universe as G-d's creation, but rather considered Him part of the Universe.  Other philosophers conceive of G-d as inseparable from the world, much as they view light as inseparable from the sun.  Pharaoh was angered when Moses pointed out that there was an added dimension to G-d.  Pharaoh reacted by increasing the workload of his Jewish slaves (Ex. 5:9).

 

When Moses observed this result of his first mission, he called out:  "Ever since I have come to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, i.e. Havayah, he has made the burdens of the Jewish people even harder to bear" (Ex. 5:23).  This was something like a challenge to G-d to demonstrate the full impact of His Four-lettered Ineffable Name.

 

At the beginning of parashat Vayera (see Ex. 6:2), G-d therefore responds to Moses by saying that what He will do will prove that "I am Havayah".  When Hillel (Avot l: 14) coined the phrase "If I do not do for me who will do for me?  And if I do only for myself what good am I?" this was a rhetorical question posed to describe man's inadequacy in this world when he acts only as an individual.  G-d posed a similar question concerning His position in the universe, by indicating that if He did not now demonstrate the true meaning of having described Himself as "I", then who else would do so on His behalf?  Pharaoh's comment "Who is Havayah?" would then be justified!  On the other hand, if I do reveal My Essence ("myself"), then "what good am I" - I can demonstrate the greatness of G-d's works, how they were all initiated with profound wisdom, a reference to creation ex nihilo.