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Va’eira א ָר ֵאָו bO אֹ ּב

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