by
Va’era
Exodus 6:2-9:35
Ezekiel 28:25-29:21
Just above eye level on the right-hand doorpost of the entrance to any sanctuary is a “sign before our eyes.” The mezuzah affixed to the entranceway is similar to ones found in many homes and other places.
The parchment inside the mezuzah contains the two names of God. On the outside of the scroll is the Hebrew letter shin, or the name Shaddai, often translated as “God Almighty.” Inside the parchment, the first line of the Sh’ma bears the sacred name YHVH, which we pronounce as Adonai.
Both of these names appear at the beginning of this week’s Torah portion when God tells Moses: “I am YHVH. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name YHVH” (Exodus 6:3).
On the factual level, this statement is not correct. When we read earlier passages in the Torah about the patriarchs and the matriarchs, both names of God were already mentioned. One solution to this apparent contradiction is that the verse signifies a particular aspect of God being revealed, and that this particular attribute had not, until then, been in evidence. This teaches us that we can only perceive God through deeds as they manifest themselves in the world.
The medieval philosopher Maimonides reminds us that Torah is written in the language of human beings, using words to describe events and truths as we understand them, not to define them. God defies definition, and therefore, when we use such terms for God as “King of the Universe,” we can be misled into imagining a man with a white beard who is sitting on a throne in the sky.
Our text this week gives us another name, the same one on the mezuzah — El Shaddai. It is a biblical name for God that can be translated as “breast.” It evokes the images of mountains and breasts, much like the mountain ranges close by us in the Sierra.
In the verses that open our portion the name El Shaddai is juxtaposed with the name YHVH. This name or essence of God, YHVH seems to come from the word “to be.” It is never pronounced as it is written. In our people’s history the true pronunciation was uttered only once a year on Yom Kippur during the time of the Temple in Jerusalem, and only by the High Priest in the seclusion of the innermost Holy of Holies, where no other person could hear.
Is there conceptual room in our monotheistic system for conflicting, even competing, images of God, sometimes male, other times female? By doing so we can increase the variety of ways we describe God.
Finding the female images help us to understand the King. We mistake the metaphor for the literal. It is not that God is the king; rather, God is merely called king.
What God is is beyond description. What we mean is that God is like the King of the Universe. Again, remembering Maimonides, who teaches that we use words to describe truth, not to ultimately define truth. God defies definition. So when we use King of the Universe, we are not describing God in any literal sense, but rather, metaphorically.
Another name we use for God is Av HaRachamim. Rachamim is derived from the Hebrew root that means “womb.” The word is often translated as “mercy” or “compassion,” but can also mean “with passion.” God loves us and envelopes us with the same passion as that of a mother protecting her creation in the womb. But we mix the metaphor by saying Av HaRachamim — the Father of the Womb — and in so doing we realize that God is neither male or female.
Our ancestors may have understood that the vastness of God can be best understood if we use words that include as much of the human experience as possible. God is like a judge, like a birthing woman, like a compassionate mother, like a warrior, like a ruler, like a friend.
When seen clearly, God is not seen at all, at least as our mother or father. Rather, God is, as Moses was told, a great being-ness that sustains the universe.
We are challenged to find the combination of words that help us sense and experience God’s presence and God’s reality.
Rabbi Larry Raphael is the senior rabbi of Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California