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Difference between revisions of "Shem HaMephorash"
I have added significant Jewish Kabbalistic detail to the section on the 42-letter name.
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A 42-letter variant was described by Hai Gaon as אבגיתץ קרעשטן נגדיכש בטרצתג חקבטנע יגלפזק שקוצית. He wrote "Although the consonants of this name are well known, its proper vocalization is not rendered by tradition. Some pronounce its first part ''Abgitaẓ'', and others ''Abigtaẓ'', and the last part is sometimes read ''Shakvaẓit'', and sometimes ''Shekuẓit'', but there is no definite proof." This variation in pronunciation was understood by Joshua Trachtenberg to indicate that this version is quite ancient, the vowels in Hebrew being easily lost over time. It is, by some means, derived from the first 42 letters of the Hebrew [[Bible]]. Like the 22-letter name, it is found in ''[[Sefer Raziel HaMalakh]]''. | A 42-letter variant was described by Hai Gaon as אבגיתץ קרעשטן נגדיכש בטרצתג חקבטנע יגלפזק שקוצית. He wrote "Although the consonants of this name are well known, its proper vocalization is not rendered by tradition. Some pronounce its first part ''Abgitaẓ'', and others ''Abigtaẓ'', and the last part is sometimes read ''Shakvaẓit'', and sometimes ''Shekuẓit'', but there is no definite proof." This variation in pronunciation was understood by Joshua Trachtenberg to indicate that this version is quite ancient, the vowels in Hebrew being easily lost over time. It is, by some means, derived from the first 42 letters of the Hebrew [[Bible]]. Like the 22-letter name, it is found in ''[[Sefer Raziel HaMalakh]]''. | ||
קרע (kra), which begins the second part of this variant, translates to "tear out," and when combined with שטן ([[Satan]]), the conclusion of the second part, it demonstrates that invoking this Name helps one defend against Satan, or their ''yetzer hara'' (evil/selfish impulse), alongside other divine creative acts that incanting Divine Names can aid kabbalists in joining HaShem with. Perhaps in this self-improvement and mystical apotropaic vein, the 42-letter Name has been turned into the acrostic prayer ''Ana b'Koach'', which begs HaShem, with the power of His Right Hand, for freedom from captivity, sin, and impurity. Since this prayer is an extended incantation of this Name, it has an additional line spoken silently, as the acrostic implies secrecy: "''Barukh shem k'vod malchuto l'olam va'ed''." "Blessed be the name of the glory of the kingdom forever." This prayer has seven lines, which correspond to the seven [[Sefirot]] below the Supernal Triad (those being [[Binah]], [[Chokmah]], and either [[Keter]] or [[Da'at]]). All of the above is why the prayer is part of the liturgy for the Counting of the Omer, the seven week period between the Jewish holidays of ''Pesach'' (Passover) and ''Shavuot'' (the Feast of Weeks) in which Jews are challenged to count and bless every day in between and ponder a system of Sefirotic permutations (each week has one Sefira, while the other six cycle through it, going from [[Chesed]] to [[Malkuth|Malkut]]. For example, the first day (which begins the second night of Passover) is ''Chesed b'Chesed'', the second is ''[[Gevurah]] b'Chesed'', etc., while the very last day before ''Shavuot'' will be ''Malkut b'Malkut''. These meditations on the Sefirot are meant to improve our personal attributes in this period. Besides particular farming and sacrificing practices, the Omer is meant to represent the first time it was done by ''Bnei Yisrael'': leaving ''Mitzraim'' ([[Egyptian religion|Egypt]]) and heading to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, which Shavuot commemorates with all-night study and kabbalistic visualizations of the cosmic marriage of Shekinah, aided by her handmaids (kabbalists). During the journey, they stopped at 42 locations, once more connecting to the importance of this particular Divine Name. Despite his staunch atheism and absurdism, this might be the true kabbalistic reason that Douglas Adams declared that number to be the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything in ''The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. | |||
==72-fold name== | ==72-fold name== | ||