The Most Powerful Three Words ever said
Yisro
The greatest G-dly revelation to have taken place in history is the giving of the Torah on Har Sinai. At Matan Torah, Hashem revealed Himself to the entire Jewish people, speaking to them ‘face-to-face’, in an open, present and direct revelation.
The Aseres Hadibros are the essence of the Torah, incorporating within them the entirety of Torah. And all of the Aseres Hadibros are contained within the opening Commandment - Anochi Hashem Elokecha, I am the Lord your G-d.
Anochi - I - refers to Hashem’s essential Being beyond all names. A person’s name is not their essence. It is a way that others can relate to them and call them. But when a person refers to themselves in the first person, they are referring to their very self.
The same is true with regards to the names by which we refer to Hashem. They do not refer to Hashem’s essence but to the ways in which His presence is manifest. Hashem’s essence is reflected when Hashem is referred to as Anochi.
Hashem’s essential Being transcends all existence. It is beyond the grasp of the mind. This is in contrast to the contracted levels of G-dliness represented by the names of Hashem which we are able to relate to and understand.
But there is one way through which we can connect to Anochi, to Hashem’s essential Being and that is through Torah and Mitzvos. This is because Hashem has placed His very essence within them.
The Gemara teaches that the word אנכי is an acronym for the phrase אנכי נפשי כתבית יהבית. Literally this means that I, Myself have written and given (the Torah). On a deeper level, this statement can be read as I have written and given Myself.
Hashem places His very essence into the Torah, writing them as it were, into the words of the Torah. And He gives the Torah, which contains His very essence, all the way down to our lowly worldly reality, to be studied by Neshamos within the confines of a physical body and Yetzer Hara.
This is the significance of the opening 3 words of the Aseres Hadibros when the Torah was given to the world - אנכי הוי‘ אלקיך.
The name י-ה-ו-ה is the conduit through which G-dly revelation is brought down into the world. The Kabbalists explain that each of the 4 letters of the Name הוי‘ represents a different phase of this Divine process of this downward channelling. In the Torah, Hashem ‘writes’ and enclothes His essence - Anochi - into this channel of י-ה-ו-ה.
The Tzemach Tzedek explains we see this process in the very act of writing a Sefer Torah which involves all of the four letters of the Divine Name;
The drop of ink reflects the letter Yud. The five fingers of the hand of the Sofer represent the first Hey (which has the gematria of 5). The quill alludes to the letter Vov and finally the surface of the parchment alludes to the surface, the breadth and length of the final Hey.
Through this process, Anochi is channelled downwards through the name of Havayah until it becomes Elokecha. The name Elokim refers to the created reality of our world. Elokim also means strength.
Elokecha - your G-d - means that through learning Torah in which Hashem’s essence is enclothed (via the name Havayah), the Anochi becomes our vitality and strength; We are able to connect with and internalise Hashem’s essence as it is found within Torah, so that it affects us in an inner, personal way.
Matan Torah, Anochi Hashem Elokecha, is how every Jew is able to connect to the essence of Hashem.
The Aseres Hadibros are the essence of the Torah, incorporating within them the entirety of Torah. And all of the Aseres Hadibros are contained within the opening Commandment - Anochi Hashem Elokecha, I am the Lord your G-d.
Anochi - I - refers to Hashem’s essential Being beyond all names. A person’s name is not their essence. It is a way that others can relate to them and call them. But when a person refers to themselves in the first person, they are referring to their very self.
The same is true with regards to the names by which we refer to Hashem. They do not refer to Hashem’s essence but to the ways in which His presence is manifest. Hashem’s essence is reflected when Hashem is referred to as Anochi.
Hashem’s essential Being transcends all existence. It is beyond the grasp of the mind. This is in contrast to the contracted levels of G-dliness represented by the names of Hashem which we are able to relate to and understand.
But there is one way through which we can connect to Anochi, to Hashem’s essential Being and that is through Torah and Mitzvos. This is because Hashem has placed His very essence within them.
The Gemara teaches that the word אנכי is an acronym for the phrase אנכי נפשי כתבית יהבית. Literally this means that I, Myself have written and given (the Torah). On a deeper level, this statement can be read as I have written and given Myself.
Hashem places His very essence into the Torah, writing them as it were, into the words of the Torah. And He gives the Torah, which contains His very essence, all the way down to our lowly worldly reality, to be studied by Neshamos within the confines of a physical body and Yetzer Hara.
This is the significance of the opening 3 words of the Aseres Hadibros when the Torah was given to the world - אנכי הוי‘ אלקיך.
The name י-ה-ו-ה is the conduit through which G-dly revelation is brought down into the world. The Kabbalists explain that each of the 4 letters of the Name הוי‘ represents a different phase of this Divine process of this downward channelling. In the Torah, Hashem ‘writes’ and enclothes His essence - Anochi - into this channel of י-ה-ו-ה.
The Tzemach Tzedek explains we see this process in the very act of writing a Sefer Torah which involves all of the four letters of the Divine Name;
The drop of ink reflects the letter Yud. The five fingers of the hand of the Sofer represent the first Hey (which has the gematria of 5). The quill alludes to the letter Vov and finally the surface of the parchment alludes to the surface, the breadth and length of the final Hey.
Through this process, Anochi is channelled downwards through the name of Havayah until it becomes Elokecha. The name Elokim refers to the created reality of our world. Elokim also means strength.
Elokecha - your G-d - means that through learning Torah in which Hashem’s essence is enclothed (via the name Havayah), the Anochi becomes our vitality and strength; We are able to connect with and internalise Hashem’s essence as it is found within Torah, so that it affects us in an inner, personal way.
Matan Torah, Anochi Hashem Elokecha, is how every Jew is able to connect to the essence of Hashem.