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£The Paradoxical Nature of Names, The Paradoxical Nature of Names, mark” – a more literal translation of the Hebrew word for sin – is
££The Paradoxical Nature of Names,
healed. However, if one chooses to wallow in the pain and refuses
the Hebrew L to take advantage of the healing effects of teshuvah, depression and
the Hebrew L
the Hebrew Letters, and the Mitzvotetters, and the Mitzvotetters, and the Mitzvot
despair often follow. (See Cain’s case in “Cain and Abel” above.)
The exodus from Egypt, on both national and personal levels,
Just as God and His four-letter name are paradoxically revealed and entailed confronting the darkness and returning to the light, as the
concealed (as discussed in the previous section) so too the nature of Torah states in the continuation of the above verses: “but for all
any name is to reveal and conceal. The name of an object, entity, the children of Israel there was light in their dwellings.” Despite the
or person reveals it by identifying, quantifying, and defining it. slavery, oppression, and darkness all around them, the children of
Yet it also conceals it for in the process of naming, inevitably limits Israel held on to the light and the hope of salvation. Frustration and
of context and meaning are created, and the named item is boxed sadness only evolve into depression when people give up, relinquishing
in to neatly delineated boundaries. This process has both positive all hope for the future.
and negative consequences. Without names we lose the ability to Just as the plague of darkness immediately preceded the redemption
communicate, yet by giving names we risk falling into the traps of from Egypt, so too, the darkest hour always comes right before
small-mindedness or sterile and damaging stereotypes. the dawn. Knowing this secret and deciding never to give up are
In the Hebrew language, the paradox is even more pronounced, the greatest antidotes against the evil inclination’s ultimate secret
for the mystical tradition deems the Hebrew letters the basic weapon of depression.
building blocks of creation. Each letter channels Divine energy
into the worlds and is a creative conduit for Divine wisdom and
revelation; it is a concentrated packet of light and life that manifests
itself in all the realms of the physical world and at all the levels of
£Four Perspectives on Time Four Perspectives on Time
human consciousness. Just as scientists describe the building blocks ££Four Perspectives on Time
of creation as atoms, particles, molecules, and elements, the Sages and the Mastery of Time and the Mastery of Time
and the Mastery of Time
considered the building blocks of creation to be the Hebrew letters.
While science and Torah employ different terminology, they are in
essence describing the same reality.
The Jewish people receive their first mitzvah as a nation in this
Indeed, as the Torah related in Bereishit, God spoke and created portion – to designate the month of Nisan as the first of the months:
the world. The mystical tradition teaches that He continues to create “This month will be for you the beginning of the months, it will
through the Divine conduit of the Hebrew letters, which channel His be for you the first of the months of the year” (Exodus 12:1). This
energy into the world. Each letter’s form, name, and numerical value mitzvah involves as well the Jewish people’s initiation into the
allude to or reveal profound insights and wisdom ranging from the intricate calculations and the deep secrets of the Jewish calendar,
practical to the mystical. A Hebrew word is not merely a combination which God taught Moses. Along with a number of other instructions,
of phonetic symbols but the spiritual force animating and giving life this commandment was given to the Jewish people in preparation
to the object it denotes. The name is the actual essence of the object for their departure from Egypt.
or entity. Thus, a name, on the one hand, limits our understanding

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