[Avodah] He is my G-d

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

*On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 06:06:53AM -0400, Prof. Levine via Avodah wrote:
: From  Today's Hakhel email bulletin.
: 
:> Hakhel Note: The following is excerpted from Rav Schwab on Prayer,
:> and was related by Rav Schwab at a Shiur he gave on Tefillah...

We need a source, and such a well documented lineage for the source,
to point out what the words say? Does no one try translating a poem
they've recited since childhood (and that's true even for many BTs)?

"Adon Olam" through "velo ha'oz vehamisrah", the first 2/3 or so, talks
about how transcendent HQBH is. Then the poet (usually attributed to
Ibn Geveirol, 11th cent CE) abruptly switches to "VeHu Keili ... Hashem
li velo ira" -- that despite that transcendence, I am still capable of
having a personal relationship with Him.

Li nir'eh this is the key to understanding sheim havayah:

1- The tetragrammaton is a contraction of "Yihyeh, Hoveh, veHayah --
Will Be, Is and Was", referring to Hashem being timeless and beyond the
created. An el, when used in the secular sense, is a legislative ruler,
so that Elokeinu, is a declaration that He is our Lawgiver -- the Author
of both moral law and physical law. Havayah denotes connotes a vision
of Deity that is very Other, the philosopher's G-d; Elokus is One who
relates to man.

2- The very remoteness of the name Havayah also implies Divine Mercy.
Which is how Chazal describe its usage in chumash. This is not intuitive,
however the need to create law comes from a person's limited ability to
deal with many individual cases. A teacher with few students is effective,
one with more students, less so. To manage a country, we need laws and
policies, since we do not have infinite time and attention to cover every
decision on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, it is only because Hashem
is Infinite that Divine Mercy is possible. Therefore, this expression
can be seen as a declaration of the unity of G-d, despite the different
appearances of Mercy and Strict Justice.

We can each say "veHu Keili" *because* "velo ha'oz vehamisrah".

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 37th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        5 weeks and 2 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Gevurah sheb'Yesod: When does reliability
Fax: (270) 514-1507               require one to be strict with another?