This premise [that there is no differentiation in the Name Havayah] is not yet clear, for it is known that the [ultimate] source of creation is the Name Havayah. Although creation occurs directly through the Name Elokim, the true source of creation is the Name Havayah. In fact the very Name v-u-v-h[98] is related etymologically to the word vuuvn which means "Creator." Creation through the Name Elokim actually stems from the light of Havayah which is revealed through it, for[99] "Havayah and Elokim are One." This being the case, it would seem that all the different things which have come into being necessarily exist already [in some form] within the Name Havayah. If this were not the case from where did they proceed? - For Havayah is their true source.

It is written, moreover:[100] "Let them praise the Name of the L-rd (Havayah), for He commanded and they were created." We thus see that creation originates in the Name Havayah itself, that is, the spontaneous mode of creation that brings forth the[101] "hidden worlds not revealed." Hence, [significantly, the final verb in the above-quoted verse] (utrcbu) appears in the passive tense - "they were created." By contrast, the verse [in the active tense] that states,[102] "In the beginning Elokim created," refers to the Name Elokim as the activating force in the [physical] creations, the creations of[103] "the revealed worlds." These matters are well known and are explained elsewhere.

Now, in the creations of the "hidden worlds" there is great particularization and differentiation, as it is written,[104] "Whatever exists in the dry land [the revealed worlds] exists in the sea [the hidden worlds]." And this extreme particularization is brought into being by the Name Havayah.

This Name is composed of four letters, which represent separate and distinct levels. In general terms,[105] its four letters include [within themselves] the four Worlds of Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah: the yud refers to Atzilus, the hei to Beriah, the vav to Yetzirah, and the final hei to Asiyah. More specifically, the Name Havayah is present within the ten Sefiros [the Divine emanations] within each of the Four Worlds: yud corresponds to Chochmah ("wisdom"), hei - to Binah ("understanding"), vav - to Ze'er Anpin (the six emotive attributes), and the final hei - to Malchus ("kingship"). The order of the descent and "flow" of the [spiritual] light into each World is represented by these four letters which [respectively] signify tzimtzum ("contraction"), hispashtus ("expansion"), hamshachah ("drawing down"), and [again] hispashtus ("expansion").

Elsewhere it is explained at length[106] how all transference of light [from one level to another] must occur through these four stages. [For when light exists in a higher realm it is in a state too concentrated to be absorbed by a less spiritual, lower realm. Hence it must be successively contracted and expanded, and then drawn down into the lower realm where it is expanded again, this time within the context of the lower realm.] These stages correspond to the ten Sefiros, Chochmah representing "contraction," Binah - "expansion," and so on. This will be discussed further on.[107]

It is by means of these four letters and their functions of "contraction," "expansion," and so on, that each world and its creations are created ex nihilo - from nothing to something. This is why the Name they comprise is Havayah, which is etymologically related to mehaveh ("Creator"), for it is the source which creates something from nothing.

Since we thus see that the Name Havayah comprises different levels, what is the difference between the Name Elokim, which is in the plural form, and the Name Havayah, which is One?

The answer to this question is that although the Name Havayah does include a variety of levels, they all exist in a state of unity and synthesis.

It has been previously explained[108] that the epitome of unity is attained when many details are synthesized and actually become a single entity. Through the unity of the Name Havayah, unity is achieved in creations that have come into [individual] existence. Despite their great differentiation, there is a unity that pervades them all.

Summary: The Name Havayah is the source of creation, especially of the "hidden worlds." Although there are different levels in the Name Havayah, they are synthesized as One.

   

Notes:

98. (Back to text) See Zohar III, p. 257b; Ginas Egoz, cited by the Shelah in his introduction to the section on Beis Havayah [p. 5a]; Tur, Orach Chayim, ch. 5; and other sources.

99. (Back to text) [Zohar II, p. 161a; III, 264a.]

100. (Back to text) [Tehillim 148:5.]

101. (Back to text) [Tikkunei Zohar 17a.]

102. (Back to text) [Bereishis 1:1.]

103. (Back to text) [Tikkunei Zohar 17a.]

104. (Back to text) [Chullin 127b; Yerushalmi, Shabbos 14:1.]

105. (Back to text) Etz Chayim 3:1.

106. (Back to text) See the maamar entitled U'Beyom Simchas'chem, 5656; also explained in the maamar entitled Vayedaber...Kedoshim, 5666 [p. 207], and other sources.

107. (Back to text) [Ch. 23ff.]

108. (Back to text) [Ch. 7.]