Sunday, January 15, 2012

Parashat Vayera- I Will Be What I Will Be



“…Ani A-donai. Va’eyra el Avraham el Yitzhak v’el Yaakov B’ail Shaddai ushmi
A-donai (Y-H-V-H) lo nodati lahem.”
“…I am the Lord. I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov as B’ail Shaddai [God Almighty]; by the name A-donai [Y-H-V-H]* I did not make myself known to them.” *yud-hey-vav-hey

Pesikta de Rav Kahana, a collection of midrashim dating at least from the 8th century, states, “Do not be confused because you hear many voices. Know that I am One and the same.” God comes to us in many names and voices. We are told God’s name in parashat Va’eyra, but that this is not the name by which Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov knew him. God’s true name is revealed to us in the form of the Y-H-V-H. It is the unpronounceable tetragrammaton, the ineffable name pronounced only by the Kohain Gadol in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, and the personal name used between God and Moshe. Names are powerful things. Midrash Raba teaches that every person has three names, the name s/he is given; the name by which others call him/her and the name s/he creates for himself.

God’s name is also powerful and changing. It too encompasses names we give to God- El Harachaman, Merciful God, names others call God- Ehlohim, and the name God gives to Godself- Y-H-V-H. In parashat Shemot, meaning names, Moshe asks God’s name.  God tells him, Eh’h’yeh Asher Eh’h’yeh, usually translated as I Am That I Am, but more literally I Am That Which I Will Be. God’s name is still developing. To our patriarchs God was B’ail Shaddai, The mightiest of all ba’alim, of all gods. In a time when Avraham was leaving a world of many ba’alim, of many gods, God needed to be recognized as the Greatest. This relationship is always developing. God may be Makor Hayyim, Source of Life to one person, while Yotzer Or, Creator of Light to another. For those in need of healing God is Rofeh, Healer, and to those in need of direction, Ro’eh, Shepherd. Depending upon our needs we call God so many things; Oseh Shalom, Maker of Peace, Tzur Yisrael, Rock of Israel, yet at the centre of our faith we call God Ehad, One. 

Our names change in relation to others. We are son, daughter, sister, brother, friend. We are mother or father. We may be teacher or rabbi, doctor, or aide. In all cases we become known by the relationships we value and keep. So too, our relationship with God changes with the name we use and the relationship we cherish. God is present in our lives, becoming Eh’h’yeh Asher Eh’h’yeh, That Which We Need God To Be.

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