Cleaving to Hashem Through His Mystical Four-Lettered Name

 

Parashat Vaera
Cleaving to Hashem Through His Mystical Four-Lettered Name

Placing the Name of Hashem Before us Always

At the beginning of a spiritual healing session, I always ‘open the channels’ – aligning myself with Hashem and opening myself to become a channel for receiving His healing answers. As part of ‘opening the channels’ I meditate on שִׁוִּיתִי הָשֵׁם לְנֶגְדִּי תָּמִיד/shiviti Hashem l’negedi tamid – “I have set Hashem always before me…” (Tehillim 16:8). The name of Hashem mentioned here is the special Four-Lettered Name Y/H/W/H also called the tetragrammaton, which we may not pronounce. This is in respect for this most exalted and Holy Name of G-d, which indicates absolute Divine Love. In EmunaHealing our reverence for this name of Hashem is so great that we don’t even pronounce it as Adonai (my Master), in the same way as we do in normative prayer. We simply refer to this name as ‘Hashem,’ which means ‘the Name.’ While reciting “Hashem,” we visualize His Four-Lettered Name in our minds. My spiritual healing teacher, Chana Luke, taught that this visualization should be avoided when a woman has her period, and in general by people who aren’t Torah observant. To avoid those who are unworthy would meditate on Hashem’s Holy name, my teacher removed Shiviti altogether from her spiritual healing course. I have retained reciting this special verse in Tehillim, because meditating on Hashem’s name, helps me cleave to Hashem. Reciting Shiviti while meditating on Y/H/W/H definitely makes me feel closer to Hashem and helps me become a channel for His healing. As I’ve learned from Rabbi Itamar Schwartz, this phrase is a reminder, like an alarm clock with “Shiviti Hashem before me always” in action during every aspect of our lives: When we cook, clean in honor of Hashem, teach, hang out with friends, etc. everything in life must relate to “placing Hashem before me.” The more we connect ourselves to Shiviti, the more we learn to experience Hashem’s Presence before us perpetually.

The Importance of Visualizing Hashem’s Four-Lettered Name in Halacha

I have great support for doing the Shiviti visualization by no one less authoritative than Rabbi Moshe Isserless in the Shulchan Aruch itself. He writes: “I placed Hashem before me always.” This is a great concept in the Torah and is a paramount attribute for the Tzaddikim (righteous people) who walk in the way of G-d. The way in which a person sits, moves around, and carries out his daily activities while he is alone is not the same as how he would engage in these activities while standing before a great King. Similarly, neither his conversation nor his attitude, when he is among his family and friends, is like when he is in the presence of royalty. How much more so, when he puts it in his heart that the mighty King, The Holy One blessed be His Name, Whose glory fills the entire world, stands before Him and sees his deeds… Immediately he will be filled with awe and surrender… Also, when he is in private and when lying on his bed, he should know before Whom he is lying, then immediately when he wakes up, he will arise with enthusiasm to serve his Creator (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, Chapter 1, Halacha 1). The Mishna Berura commentary on the Shulchan Aruch adds that we must constantly envision in our mind how we are standing before Hashem Blessed be He, because The Holy One’s glory fills the entire world. It is written in the name of the Arizal, to envision the Name Y/H/W/H before our eyes with the vowelization of the word Yir’ah – ‘awe,’ this will greatly benefit our fear of heaven (Rabbi Meir Kagan, Mishna Berura, Aruch Chayim 1:4). In EmunaHealing I recite the Shiviti twice, once while visualizing the letters of the Name, and once while imagining the Hebrew words for ‘was, is, will be’ הָיָה הֹוֶה יִהְיֶה/haya, hoveh, yiheye, which share the same letters as Hashem’s Four-Lettered Name. My husband just showed me how the Shulchan Aruch instructs us to do exactly that: When articulating the Name Y/H/W/H one should have in mind the meaning of the Name as it is pronounced - Adon-ai (י-נ-ו-ד-א): that He is Lord over all. And one should have in mind [the meaning of the Name] that He Was, Is, and Will Be (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, Chapter 5).

Mitzvah Observance is the Prerequisite for Cleaving to Hashem’s Holy Name

When Moshe Rabbeinu complained to Hashem about making the conditions in Egypt harder for the Children of Israel (Shemot 5:22-23), Hashem revealed Himself through the name Y/H/W/H:

ספר שמות פרק ו פסוק ב וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל משֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי הָשֵׁם:

(ג) וָאֵרָא אֶל אַבְרָהָם אֶל יִצְחָק וְאֶל יַעֲקֹב בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי וּשְׁמִי הָשֵׁם לֹא נוֹדַעְתִּי לָהֶם:

“G-d spoke to Moses, and He said to him, ‘I am Hashem. I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya’acov with [the name] Shadda-i, but [with] My name Y/H/W/H, I did not become known/familiar to them” (Shemot 6:2-3).

This was an admonishment to Moshe that although Hashem’s Four-lettered Name never became known to the three fathers, since Hashem never fulfilled His promise to them in their lifetime, they never complained. Yet Moshe still complained, although Hashem became known to him as Y/H/W/H as he experienced Hashem enacting the Exodus (Rashi, Shemot 6:3-4).

When meditating on the Holy Name Y/H/W/H it is important to realize the Name in and of itself will not generate the experience of holiness we seek unless our mind and body can receive it. The mitzvot of the Torah, when performed properly with true devotion and intent have this awesome power of cleansing the body, the mind, and the soul. Mitzvah observance is the vessel that creates a harmonious mind, which can properly delve into the unconscious, and naturally distinguish between the true and the false. Mitzvah observance is the ultimate act of surrendering personal will before the Will of the Divine which prepares us for cleaving to G-d. Without such preparation, meditating on Hashem’s holy Name not only won’t achieve the spiritual experience of cleaving to G-d, but it may even be dangerous as my spiritual healing teacher taught.

EmunaHealing Exercise for Cleaving to Hashem through His Name Y/H/W/H

1. Settle down on your chair and cushion and pay attention to your breath. Inhale and exhale slowly and mindfully.

2. On your in-breath visualize the two first letters of the tetragrammaton י/yud, ה/heh. On your out-breath visualize the last two letters of the tetragrammaton ו/vav, ה/heh. Repeat this breathing and visualization five times.

3. Now add the vowels to your visualization according to the instructions of the Mishna Berura: Inhale while visualizing יִה/yih, exhale while visualizing וָה/vah. Repeat this breathing יִה/yih, וָה/vah. visualization five times.

4. Allow yourself to surrender into this Holy Name realizing that we have no claim to existence and cannot demand that G-d give it to us. Nevertheless, Hashem gives us existence as an act of charity. When Hashem created the world, it states, “G-d said” ten times. The first letter of the tetragrammaton – the י/yud with its numerical value of ten corresponds to these Ten Sayings of Creation.

5. Let yourself experience your recreation through the letter י/yud of Hashem’s Nam – the tenth letter of the alphabet which represents the Ten Sayings of Creation. Breath into this י/yud that grants you existence.

6. Now, imagine how the ה/heh of the Name is G-d’s hand, which holds the existence He wishes to give us. The ו/vav is His arm reaching out to us, to give us existence. Finally, the last ה/heh of the Name is our hand, which accepts this existence. Allow yourself to become this final ה/heh that receives existence from Hashem.

7. Contemplate the י/yud, the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, almost like a dot. Imagine this י/yud and as the initial point of creation – representing the Ten Sayings that brought creation into existence out of nothingness.

8. Now contemplate the first ה/heh of the Name. This divine letter creates the vessels of existence to hold the abstract power of creation. Envision G-d’s hand holding the power of creation, in order to give it to us. The opening at the top of the ה/heh is the channel from G-d, while the opening at the bottom is the channel to us below. Imagine the ה/heh both as a five-fingered hand (based on its numerical value) and as a channel for the forces of creation.

9. Contemplate the ו/vav. Envision the ו/vav as G-d’s power reaching out to us, wanting to give.

10. The most important letter is the final ה/heh. This is our hand, through which we receive what G-d is ready to give us. This represents our ability to receive from G-d.

11. The connection between the ו/vav and the ה/heh is extremely important. This is the connection between the Giver and the receiver. Unless this connection is made, we cannot receive anything from G-d. Visualize the letters ה/heh and ו/vav standing independently. Then envision how they approach one another, becoming increasingly more connected in various ways.

12. Now envision all four letters of Hashem’s Name in one sequence. First, the י/yud that brings everything into existence, followed by the ה/heh of Hashem’s hand holding this existence for you, then the ו/vav – His arm reaching out to us to give us existence, and then finally the last ה/heh as your hand receiving existence from Hashem.

13. Allow yourself to feel recreated through Hashem’s Holy Name. Breathe into how the power of the letters of Hashem’s name revitalizes and illuminates you. Then open your eyes and return to the mundane reality with renewed energy! (Based on Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Jewish Meditation, A Practical Guide, pp. 72-76).