Two Minute Torah Podcast

Vaera 5768 by Rabbi Robert Abramson

What is in a name? A great deal. A name identifies us. It also indicates relationship. My name is Robert Abramson. My mother would call me Robert when I did something to perturb her. To the rest of the family I was Bobby and still am. From nine through high school my nickname was Abbie And it still is for a select group of friends. Most people call me Bob. Some call me Rabbi Abramson.

There are many relations to be associated with a name.

This week’s Torah reading, Va’era, in its opening section is about God’s name.

Last week, a delegation of Israelites blamed Moses for angering Pharaoh. Moses turns to God and says, “Why did you bring harm to this people? Why did you send me?” Gods’s response is found at the very beginning of this week’s Torah portion.

God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the YHVH. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as El Shadai/Almighty and by my name YHVH I was not known to them.

I want to skip the literary problems with this text by just acknowledging that YHVH is mentioned previously. There is also a spiritual dimension to be probed.

We learn that the Israelites remained in a state of not-yet-knowing. To know God by a name is to experience some aspect of God. What the Israelites and we need to understand is that if we are to know God we must work to experience God. There are many names for God for we experience God in many different ways. God is both transcendent and imminent. God is beyond and close. God is intimate and overwhelming. God is:

Lover

Redeemer

God of our ancestors

The place

The infinite

Healer

Compassionate one

And so much more…

There are many entryways by which we can come to know God. Some examples are:

Thru prayer

By loving another

Thru acts of loving kindness

Watching a sunset

Listening to music/ Looking at art

Gods names are not known to us until we work at experiencing God. It is through such effort that God is revealed to us; that we move from not-yet-knowing to knowing names of God.