Assembling the Power of the L‑rd

In this Torah-reading, the accounts are given of the donations the Jewish people made to the construction of the Tabernacle and what was done with the donations. We are told that "the silver [collected] from those of the community who were recorded totaled 100 talents and 1,775 shekels by the sanctuary weight…. The 100 talents of silver [were used] for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the entry-curtain: 100 talents for 100 sockets, a talent a socket." (Ex. 38:25-27)

The word for "socket" in Hebrew is "aden", and the plural construct ["the sockets of"], the form used in this passage, is "adnei". This is spelled exactly the same as the divine name Ado-nai. With this in mind, the Ari elaborates:

Know that the one hundred sockets of the Tabernacle are manifestations of the sefira of malchut, which is synonymous with the divine name Ado-nai.

The sockets were the base of the Tabernacle; the boards which formed the walls were inserted into these sockets. The Tabernacle was, as we have noted previously, the means through which G‑d's presence was manifest in the world (and in the consciousness of every Jew); it therefore was a microcosm of the entire Creation. The final, lowest sefira of the ten sefirot is malchut; therefore, the sockets, the lowest element of the Tabernacle, manifest this sefira. As opposed to the preceding nine sefirot, malchut has no "content" or "personality" of its own. It is not an attribute of G‑d per se but rather the power of expression of all the other, preceding attributes. Thus, it is stated in the Zohar that malchut "has nothing of its own." The word "malchut" means "kingdom", i.e. the manifestation of the preceding attributes of G‑d throughout Creation, creating, informing and organizing reality into a unified, harmonious whole - a kingdom run by a King, namely G‑d. The divine name which expresses this lordship over reality is, of course, Ado-nai, which literally means "My L-rd". Every sefira, being a manifestation of G‑d in the context of Creation, is in effect another "name" of His, since the purpose of a name or title is to identify an individual in the context of the role he is playing vis-a-vis the world around him.

This name possesses the numerical value of 100, as follows:

The simple numerical value of the word Ado-nai [spelled alef-dalet-nun-yud] is 65, but through analyzing its milui [the full spelling-out of each letter], its numerical value is increased to 100. As mentioned previously, the full spelling out of a letter indicates in Kabbala the full manifestation of all the divine power latent in that letter. The full spelling of the name Ado-nai therefore indicates the full manifestation of G‑d's power to unite creation under His rule. This, again, is the fullest expression of the idea of the Tabernacle in general: the dissemination of the awareness and consciousness of G‑d throughout Creation. In order to reach the value of 100, the name Ado-nai must be doubly spelled out, that is each of its constituent letters must be spelled out fully, as we will demonstrate presently. This indicates an even greater, consummate revelation of malchut throughout Creation. The number 100, as well, being the perfect square of 10, the number of completion, conveys as well this same idea of super-perfection.

The filling of the filling of the name Ado-nai may be done in two ways. This is indicated as well in the verse "And therefore, I pray, let the power of Ado-nai be great, as You have declared…." (Num. 14:17) The yud in the word "be great" [in Hebrew, "yigdal"] is written large.

A certain number of letters in the Torah are written larger than the rest. This indicates a magnification of some kind. Here, as will be presently demonstrated, it indicates that the power of Ado-nai is to be made great by the addition of the letter yud to its double spelling out.

This alludes to the following: The filling of the filling of this name [Ado-nai] is alef-lamed-pei lamed-mem-dalet pei-alef, dalet-lamed-tav lamed-mem-dalet tav-vav, nun-vav-nun vav-alef-vav nun-vav-nun, yud-vav-dalet vav-alef-vav dalet-lamed-tav.

To simplify this construction, let us picture it graphically:

If we imagine the original four letters alef-dalet-nun-yud as defining a straight line, the first milui would add a dimension, giving a square, and the milui of the milui would add a third dimension, giving a cube.

This [filling of filling] consists of 34 letters, this number being the same as the numerical value of the word for "poor" [in Hebrew, "dal"]. This is why the name Ado-nai, which is synonymous with the sefira of malchut, the poor and destitute one, this being the concept of the reflective or translucent lens.

As we mentioned above in the name of the Zohar, malchut "possesses nothing of its own", but merely reflects and transmits that which it receives from the preceding sefirot.

Prophecy is envisioned as seeing divine truth through a lens. Moses' prophetic vision is said to have been as if "through a transparent lens", while that of all the other prophets is said to have been as if "through a non-transparent lens", i.e. either a cloudy pane or a mirror. This simply indicates that the inferior prophecy of the other prophets was transmitted through the sefira of malchut; they experienced divinity as it has been funneled into Creation (specifically, the three worlds of Beriya, Yetzira, and Asiya). Moses, in contrast, experienced divinity directly [i.e. as it is manifest in the world of Atzilut before being channeled through malchut].

The Arizal now explains how "the filling of the filling of the name Ado-nai may be done in two ways":

This is, however, only if the letter yud is omitted from the spelling of the letter tav [like this: tav-vav]. If, however, the letter yud is included [like this: tav-yud-vav], [the filling of the filling] is then great and complete, this being the concept of the full moon.

At issue here is the sixth line of the chart above, where the tav of the dalet of Ado-nai is spelled out. Tav may be spelled either with or without a yud. By adding the yud, the number of letters in the spelling out of the spelling out changes from 34 to 35. 34 signified poverty, as was just mentioned; the significance of 35 will be explained presently.

One of the earthly manifestations of the sefira of malchut is the moon. Just as malchut has nothing of its own, the moon merely reflects the light of the sun. Just as malchut's emptiness or fullness is dependent upon the extent to which it is funneling the content of the preceding sefirot into Creation, the moon waxes and wanes in accordance with how much it receives of the sun's light. The full moon thus signifies malchut in its fullness, when the additional yud has transformed it from "poor and destitute" to "great and complete."

The letter yud is the first letter of the divine name Havayah, and in this context generally indicates the sefira of chochma ("wisdom") or sometimes intellect in general. As the Arizal explains elsewhere, this yud which completes the spelling out of the name Ado-nai is synonymous with the extra measure of divine intellect that radiates throughout the world (and specifically in the Jewish soul) on the Sabbath, festivals, and Rosh Chodesh.

The Arizal also explains elsewhere that the significance of the number 35 is that it is the numerical value of the full spelling of the first two letters of the name Havayah, yud and hei (yud + vav + dalet + hei + yud = 10 + 6 + 4 + 5 + 10 = 35). These two letters signify the first two sefirot of the intellect, chochma and bina.

The completion and fulfillment of the name Ado-nai, thus, is the introduction and the presence of the intellect into its consciousness or experience. This is a pervasive theme in Kabbala, replayed many times in various teachings, that the rectification of any situation or state of consciousness is accomplished by re-rooting it in the initial idea and intellectual development from which it issued in the first place. In our case, this means that in order for the dissemination of divine consciousness throughout the world to be truly effective, it must be permeated by the inspiration afforded to it by the first, radical awareness of the idea of G‑d. We have encountered this theme before: the feminine, active principle in Creation is at risk of losing its inspiration in the ongoing task of elevating the world. It therefore needs to be constantly, or at least periodically, refreshed by reliving the initial insight of G‑dliness as divorced from any particular worldly application.

This is the mystical meaning of the word "be great" [in Hebrew, "yig-dal"]. We may understand it to mean: "let the filling which possesses 'dal' [ = 34] letters - and is thus defective - become great [by possessing] 35 letters by means of the addition of the yud to the spelling of the tav." Therefore the yud of "yigdal" is large, to indicate this.

The word "yigdal" in this verse thus does triple duty:
(1) it means "become great," which here means become transformed from a 34-letter filling of filling to a 35-letter one;
(2) it alludes to the number 34 (the numerical value of "dal") in its second syllable;
(3) the extra-large yud it begins with indicates that this transformation is to take place by inserting the yud where it is initially missing. Such multiple entendres are frequent in the rich texture of the Kabbalistic understanding of the holy text of the Bible.

The Arizal will now demonstrate how the word "yigdal" alludes to both levels of filling in, the first filling and the filling of the filling.

The word "yigdal" may be seen to be composed of two numbers, 13 [ = yud-gimel] and 34 [ = dalet-lamed]. The name Ado-nai in this verse refers to the simple name itself; "the power of Ado-nai" refers to the filling and the filling of the filling [of the name]. Both of these [fillings] "become great" when the additional yud is introduced into the tav [as explained previously]. The first filling is 12 letters and the filling of the filling is 35 letters. Together they comprise 47 letters; this number is the numerical value of "yigdal".

Although he has just shown how the numerical value of "yigdal" (47) alludes to the first filling (12) plus the second (35), the Arizal is not through yet. Since the word "yigdal" naturally divides into the numbers 13 and 34, not 12 and 35, he will now adjust the calculation to reflect this inner structure of the word.

However, since the filling of the filling is usually 34 letters and only occasionally is augmented by the addition of the yud into the tav, its principle numerical value remains 34.

The numerical value of the filling of the filling is augmented to 35 only on the Shabbat, festivals, and Rosh Chodesh, as we said.

The additional yud thus remains separate. This is how we arrive at 13, namely, the 12 letters of the first filling plus the extra yud. This, again, is why the yud is written large, to indicate that it is added later. And then "the power of Ado-nai is great", as is known.

The filling of the filling is called "power" since the filling of the filling of the name Havayah consists of 28 letters, this number being the numerical value of the word for "power" [in Hebrew, "koach", spelled kaf + chet = 28]. For this reason, the filling of the filling of the name Ado-nai is called its "power".

The name Havayah is the most essential of G‑d's names. The filling of the filling of this name is as follows:

As may be seen, the filling of the filling comprises 28 letters. Since the filling of the filling of this most essential name comprises 28 letters, and 28 is the numerical value of the word for "power" [in Hebrew, "koach"], we generalize this to all other divine names and say that the filling of the filling of any name is the expression of its full "power".

When, however, we add all three together, the simple name [4 letters] plus the first filling [12 letters] and the filling of the filling [35 letters], the total is 51 letters, this being the value of the word for "I pray" [in Hebrew, "na"] in this verse.

This, then, is the mystical meaning of the verse, "And therefore, I pray, let the power of Ado-nai be great, as You have declared…." When the power of this name will be augmented as we have described [by adding the yud], it will add up to 51 [ = "I pray"]. Otherwise, it adds up to only 50 letters.

The Arizal will now return to the subject of the sockets of the Tabernacle.

To return to the subject at hand: the numerical value of the name Ado-nai [by itself] is 65, but when the number 35, the number of letters of the [augmented] filling of its filling is added to it, the total is 100, the number of sockets in the Tabernacle. In this way, we may understand how the word for sockets ["adanim"] is related to the name Ado-nai.

Know, then, that all hundred sockets of the Tabernacle were manifestations of the name Ado-nai, which is the sefira of malchut.

[Translated and adapted by Moshe-Yaakov Wisnefsky from Sefer HaLikutim; subsequently published in "Apples From the Orchard."]

Reprinted with permission from Chabad of California. Copyright 2004 by Chabad of California, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof, in any form, without permission, in writing, from Chabad of California, Inc.