Editing E-L Sha-dai (section)

== Its Revelation ==
At the beginning of the creation of the world, existence came about through the name Sha-dai, as our Sages said, "The firmament was stretching continuously until the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked it and said to it: enough." This is the lower level of the name Sha-dai, whose purpose is the contraction and limitation of the divine light so that it can be clothed in vessels to enable the formation of a limited world.

A more sublime illumination from the name E-L Sha-dai was revealed to the forefathers. As explicitly stated in the verses: "And Havayah appeared to Avram and said to him: I am E-L Sha-dai," "And I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov as E-L Sha-dai, but My name Havayah I did not make known to them." Nevertheless, there is an innovation in this compared to the illumination from the name Sha-dai at the beginning of creation - because a higher level was revealed to the forefathers, Sha-dai in the sense of "My divinity is sufficient for every creature." The essence of this level is the abundance and intensity of the revelation of light, such that the vessels do not limit the revelation (because here the phrase "'''sufficient''' in My divinity" does not mean limitation and contraction but rather abundance, like the phrase "sufficient for his needs").

An additional interpretation of the meaning of Sha-dai, which is an even higher level in the name Sha-dai that was revealed to the forefathers, is brought in our Sages: "That the world and all it contains is not sufficient for My divinity."

Despite all this, even the higher level of revelation from the name Sha-dai does not reach the level of revelation from the name Havayah - therefore it says, "but My name Havayah I did not make known to them." Because, although the divine light that is beyond the world is revealed, it still refers to a light that has some relationship and is the root of the limitation of the world, and therefore even when it shines in an unlimited way, it shines within the limitation and operates through it (and therefore, the miracles that are drawn from the name E-L Sha-dai are miracles clothed in nature). And the revelation that is completely beyond any relationship to the world and limitation - is the revelation of the name Havayah, the essential name (and therefore, the miracles that are drawn from the name Havayah are miracles that transcend nature).

However, the deficiency in the revelation to the forefathers is only "but My name Havayah '''I did not make known''' to them," meaning that the name Havayah did shine for them, but it was '''concealed'''. Because even the revelation of the light that is clothed in the world, from the name E-L Sha-dai, its purpose and true essence is to add to the unlimited revelation from the name Havayah. Therefore, internally, this revelation is also part of the revelation of the name Havayah (and on a deeper level, even the revelation of the name Sha-dai at the beginning of creation has the purpose of revealing the name Havayah). And through the revelation of the name Havayah at the giving of the Torah, the inner essence of the name E-L Sha-dai was revealed - which is the name Havayah; and in the true and complete redemption, where the limited and the unlimited will be completely united, this revelation will be completed, showing that even E-L Sha-dai is Havayah.

[[he:א"ל שד"י]]