The Shield for the Sun

In  Kabbala, the name  Elo-him is generally associated with the  sefirot of  gevura , the power which complements  chesed, whose name E-l is composed of the first two letters of Elo-him.

In the idiom of the sages, G-d's name Elo-him corresponds to His "property of strict judgment". This is the only name explicit in the  Torah's initial account of Creation. The numerical value of Elo-him is 86, which also equals "hateva", the Hebrew word for "nature". Elo-him creates "nature" through the act of tzimtzum.

In particular, the name Elo-him manifests itself at three points of the sefirotic configuration: At the level of  bina, the four letter  Tetragrammaton is punctuated with the vowels of Elo-him and enunciated as "Elo-him". Here G-d is referred to as Elo-him Chaim ("the living G-d"), the ultimate source of all life-force which flows (as blood) through reality. At this level, even apparent contradictory opinions of our sages are understood as being "these and these are the words of the living G-d". G-d, in His strict judgment of Creation, corresponds to the manifestation of Elo-him at the level of gevura. G-d, as the inner essence of nature and its laws, is Elo-him at the level of  malchut.

" Elo-him is understood to be the vessel of  Havayah..."

Elo-him, 86 = 26 (Havayah) plus 60. 60 is the numerical value of "kli", the Hebrew word for "vessel". Thus Elo-him is understood to be the vessel of Havayah. This is alluded to in the verse "For [as the] sun and [its] shield are Havayah [and] Elo-him" (Psalms 84:12). Sun and shield are as light (source) and vessel. Likewise, 86 ("Elo-him") plus 60 ("vessel") equals 146, the numerical value of "olam", the Hebrew word for "world". This indicates that just as Elo-him is the vessel of Havayah (i.e. the level of Divinity whose ultimate intention is to serve to reveal Havayah to the world), so is the world itself the vessel of Elo-him (i.e. the divinely created context in which nature itself is experienced as a manifestation of G-d).

In  Atbash, the name Elo-him transforms to tav, kaf, tzadik, mem,  yud, which equals 560. 560 is also the value of the word "echad", meaning "one", when transformed by Atbash (to tav, samech, kuf). This teaches us that G-d's ultimate unity is manifest throughout creation by the power of His name Elo-him, as is indicated by the quintessential proclamation of Jewish faith: "Here O' Israel, Havayah is our Elo-him, Havayah is One." This means that by Havayah being "our Elo-him", Havayah becomes manifest throughout creation as One.

The name Elo-him possesses three miluim: 291, 295, 300, which together equal 886. Together with the four primary miluim of Havayah, which equal 232, we get 1118, the exact value of "Here O' Israel, Havayah is our Elo-him, Havayah is One", the least common multiple of the two names Havayah and Elo-him (1118 = 26 x 43; 1118 = 86 x 13)!

This is part 1 of a series, "The Names of G-d: Eleven Holy Names of G-d associated with the Sefirot," that appears on the Gal Einai website. Used here with permission.

For a schedule of Rabbi Ginsburgh's upcoming speaking tours in the Diaspora, his lectures and seminars in Israel, an order form for his publications in English and email subscriptions, see the Gal Einai website.

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh was born in S. Louis, Missour

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