Musar zu Schemot 3:15

Exodus 3,15: "This is My name and My appellation for all eternity." We find the following quote at the end of the third chapter in tractate פסחים referring to the verse in Zachariah 14,9: "On that day there shall be one Lord with one name." The Talmud asks whether prior to that day G–d was not unique? Rabbi Nachman son of Yitzchak says that the present world cannot be compared to the world of the future. In our world, G–d's name is written with the letter י and ה, but pronounced as if written with the letters א and ד. In the world after the arrival of the Messiah, His name will be read in the same way as it is spelled, i.e. with י-ה.

The commandments mentioned in this portion may be divided into three categories. They correspond to the three "pillars" that support the universe, i.e. תורה-עבודה-גמילות חסדים, Torah, service of the Lord and the dispensation of kind deeds. Torah is represented by commandments such as not to add or to deduct from them. In other words, we are ordered to preserve the שלימות, perfection, wholeness of the Torah. Philosophers have already said that it is part of the definition of perfection that one cannot add to it or detract from it. Perfection is indivisible. Torah is totally bound up with the great and Holy Name of G–d i.e. תורת ה' תמימה. I have elaborated on this in my treatise מסכת שבועות, section תורה אור. The Zohar, commenting on Exodus 3,15: זה שמי … זה זכרי, points out that the numerical value of י-ה+שמי=365, whereas the numerical value of ו-י+זכרי=248, together 613, i.e. the number of commandments in the Torah. G–d also describes Himself as אני ראשון ואני אחרון, "I am first and I am last," indicating total perfection.

Remember that Torah is the imprint of G–d; the universe, which is none other than אדם, i.e. Israel (which is the only nation called אדם), is the imprint of Torah. Torah and Israel then are strongly attached to one another. Just as physical man is composed of 248 limbs and 365 tendons, so the soul contains a similar number of hidden spiritual "limbs" and "tendons. These latter are the 613 commandments, 248 of which are positive commandments requiring us to do certain things, whereas the remaining 365 are negative commandments enjoining us not to do certain things. The negative commandments are perceived as emanating from G–d's attribute of Justice, and are "red" (description of tendons), whereas the positive commandments which emanate from G–d's attribute of Mercy are "white," i.e. the limbs, bones. Red is a symbol of דין, judgment, whereas white is a symbol of mercy. Both are branches of the hidden אדם עליון, a hidden mystical name, who sits on the throne in the Celestial Regions whose mystique is alluded to in Exodus 3,15 when G–d said to Moses: זה שמי לעולם וזה זכרי לדור דור. "This is My Name forever, and this is My Appellation for eternity." The Zohar points out that when you combine the numerical value; of the first half of Ineffable Name י-ה with the numerical value of the word שמי, the result is 365, whereas when you combine the numerical value of the second half of the Ineffable Name ו-ה with the numerical value of the word זכרי, the result is 248. Man was created in order to fulfil these 613 commandments which are "branches" of a higher world. The thought processes underlying the creation of spiritual forces in the "higher" world were all designed to eventually result in physical man fulfilling the 613 commandments on this earth and involving his נשמה, soul, in doing so. Although it can be argued that one cannot carry out the 365 negative commandments, seeing that observing them does not involve the performance of a deed but abstention from such performance, we shall explain later that there is no contradiction here. By fulfilling these commandments, our soul "garbs" itself in prestigious garments, a necessary prelude for its return to בית אביה, "her father's house," i.e. to the Heavenly Regions it originated from.

We find a clear allusion to the fact that we will be spared that ultimate degradation in Leviticus 26,44 where the Torah discusses all the punishments that will be inflicted on the Jewish nation for rebellion against the laws of the Torah: "Yet, even then when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or spurn them so as to destroy them, annulling My covenant with them; for I the Lord am their G–d." The destruction G–d speaks of is the descent into the pit called "Gehinom." David refers to it by saying חייתני מיורדי בור, "You have preserved me from going down into the Pit" (verse 4). There is a further allusion here to Lamentations 3,53: צמתו בבור חיי, "They have ended my life in a pit." When David continues in verse 5: זמרו לה' חסידיו, "O you faithful sing to Him," he refers to the Ineffable Name by means of which many miracles have been performed, a "hidden" name, as G–d already told Moses when He said to him in Exodus 3,15: זה שמי לעלם וזה זכרי לדור דור, "This is My Name, the hidden one, (forever) and My appellation for all eternity." The reason that the word לעולם is spelled defective there is to alert us to the hidden aspects of G–d's name. The two references to זה, are: one to the Ineffable four-lettered Name, the other to the name א-ד-נ-י, which equals the numerical value of the word היכל, Sanctuary, i.e. 65. The mystique of G–d's name is its association with the Sanctuary.