The Havdalah ceremony opens with a verse from Isaiah (12:2). Amos Chacham (Commentary on Isaiah, Daat Mikrah series, Mosad HaRav Kook: Jerusalem, 1984, vol. 1 p. 133) explains:
Behold is like pointing with a finger.
The point is that the salvation was most
wondrous, and when I contemplate it,
I see the G-d, who is the source of my salvation,
eye to eye.
It is somewhat ironic that this phrase is the beginning
of the Havdalah ceremony. It is often the
custom to turn off the lights while reciting Havdalah,
yet we start our recitation with Behold, as if
pointing a finger in amazement and wonder.
Amos Chacham also comments on the similarity
between this verse and Exodus 15:2, This is my G-d, I will glorify Him.
Compare the two verses. Are there other similarities? What word in
Exodus 15:2 is the equivalent of Behold?
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The opening
verse of the Havdalah ceremony uses three different names of God: El,
Yah and Adonai. This study path
will allow you to explore the meaning of these names
and the other names of God.
The source
of the different names of God is the Bible and, at first glance, it would
seem that the various names of
God are used interchangeably with very little rhyme or
reason. A second, harder look reveals
that there is indeed a system, albeit a complex
one, for the use of the different
names of God. Indeed, the system of names employed
in the Bible becomes the basis
of their usage through the post-Biblical tradition as well.
Here are
some basic assumptions concerning the use of God's names in the Bible
and throughout our tradition:
[A] One word
or a single name cannot describe God in His entirety. No name
implies the
totality of God. The only exception to this rule is the
Tetragrammaton
(spelled, Yod - Hay - Vav - Hay; the Hebrew letters are
transliterated
as Y-H-V-H), which comes close to being God's personal name.
Yet even this
name can take on one specific connotation or meaning. Thus, it is
necessary to
have different, various names for God, each implying a different
aspect or facet
of His behavior.
[B] Whenever
God's name appears in the Torah, it is a description of how God
is manifesting
Himself at that moment in time. Or, how those witnessing God's
manifestation
understand what God is doing. There are times when man's
perception is
contrary to God's intentions. Then the people call God by one
name and He
speaks to them with another name. By the same token, when
people address
God by a particular name, they are attempting to appeal to a
specific aspect
of God. In other words, they desire that He respond in a
manner indicated
by the name they have used.
[C] The Rabbinic
interpretation of the names has a basic validity: The
Tetragrammaton
(pronounced, Adonai") refers to the merciful, compassionate
and extra-sensitive
aspect of God's nature, while "Elohim" refers to God as
judge and jury.
While this explanation works often enough, there are times
when it is not
the meaning of the text.
The Shulchan
Aruch (Yoreh Dayah, Laws of a Sefer Torah, 276:9) lists seven
names of God which are considered
to be holy. The are the following: (To learn more
about each of the names, please
click on the name)
Yod - Hay - Vav - Hay
Adonai
El
Elohah
Elohim
Shadai
Tzevaot
There are another three names which
are also considered to be holy, however there is
less than an unanimous opinion
regarding their sanctity:
Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh
Yah
Elohay
As with every Halachic decision,
there is a Nafkah Minah (a practical result) from the
determination that these seven
or ten names of God are holy. (Click here to learn more!)
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I WILL TRUST HIM AND NOT BE AFRAID
To trust
in God is not the same as to be fearless. One can still trust in God and
be afraid. Placing
ones trust in God is not meant
to make us reckless and foolish. A proper dose of fear keeps us from
being foolhardy. On the other hand,
we are not supposed lead lives of constant fear.
Rabbi
Yekutiel Yehuda Teitelbaum explains that the result of combining trust
in God with loss
of fear is great joy. The sense
of the verse is that it is uttered while contemplating the trials and
tribulations, which engulf the
individual. Then, almost as if God can be seen, the individual cries
out God is my savior! Then the
persons face radiates with joy and happiness, which stems from
a sudden feeling of trust in God
and a total absence of fear.
To learn more about trust in God,
called Bitachon in Hebrew, see Bachya Ibn Pakuda, The Book
of Direction to the Duties of the
Heart, translated by Menahem Mansoor, Routledge & Kegan Paul:
London, 1973, chapter four On
the Reliance upon God Alone, p. 221 ff.
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Havdalah Ceremony