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Va’eira א ָר ֵאָו
££Expansion and Contraction
£Expansion and Contraction Expansion and Contraction
as Reflected in God’s Names
as Reflected in God’s Names
as Reflected in God’s Names
“And God (Elokim) spoke to Moses and said to him ‘I am God
(Hashem, God’s four-letter name). I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob as El Shaddai, but my name Hashem I did not make known to
them” (Exodus 6:2-3). All the commentators point out that even a
superficial reading of Bereishit reveals that God appeared and spoke
with the patriarchs many times using the name “Hashem.” If so,
what does God mean when he states that he only spoke to them in
the guise of El Shaddai?
Rashi explains that the Torah often uses God’s four-letter name
to allude to the fact that He fulfills His promises. God explained to
Moses that He promised the Land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, but since they did not see this promise fulfilled, therefore to
them (it was as if) He had appeared in the aspect of El Shaddai. Now
that the promise is about to be fulfilled, He will now reveal Himself
to their descendants as Hashem.
From this distinction, we may infer that the name El Shaddai
connotes a certain level of constriction and restraint, whereas God’s
four-letter name represents His more expansive and giving side. The
Sages even teach that the second word in the name El Shaddai can
be read as an acronym: “She’amar le’olamo Dai.” Thus the name
El Shaddai could be translated as “The God Who said to His world
– ‘Enough!’” (Zohar 3:251). This acronym alludes to the fact that
after God created the world, He decided, at some point, to put a
stop to its continual expansion. This understanding of God’s actions
seems to contradict the contemporary scientific consensus that the
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bO אֹ ּב
£The Last Three Plagues: The Last Three Plagues:
££The Last Three Plagues:
Mind over Body
Mind over BodyMind over Body
As we mentioned in the previous portion, the last three plagues
occur in this portion. According to the Kabbalah, the ten plagues
correspond to the ten sefirot in ascending order. Since the sefirot
are associated with the human body’s form, the higher three sefirot
correspond to the head and the intellectual faculties, and the lower
sefirot correspond to the body – the torso, arms, and legs – and the
emotional characteristics. Thus, figuratively speaking, the channel
connecting the upper and the lower sefirot and the head to the body
is the relatively narrow neck – in Hebrew, the oreph, whose letters
when permuted spell pharoh (Pharaoh). Bo opens with the verse,
“Come to Pharaoh” (Exodus 10:1). The Midrash states that Moses
foresaw that the last three plagues would be the most difficult, so
God assured him by saying, “Come [with Me] to Pharaoh; I am right
here with you” (Otzar Chaim, Parashat Bo).
Chassidut associates the greater difficulty and the increasingly 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 7 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Magenta #24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 7 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Yellow 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 7 - B |
high stakes involved in the plagues with the symbolically narrow
neck, the constricted pathway from the first seven plagues to the
final three. The numerical value of the word “come” (bo), three,
leads Kabbalah and Chassidut to also read this opening verse as an
allusion to the last three plagues, which occur in this portion. The
last three plagues and their ever-increasing difficulty and harshness
have one common denominator: darkness. The Torah explicitly
states that the locusts (the eighth plague) were so numerous that
their presence blocked out the sun so that none could see the earth
(Exodus 10:5). The ninth plague was darkness itself, and the tenth
and final plague, the killing of the first born, occurred at midnight.
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