By: Yisrael Yitzchak Rosenfeld
A Lecture – אֶהְ-יֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְ-יֶה
According to the Teachings of Breslov Chassidut and Kabbalah
When Mosjé Rabbeinoe, of blessed memory, asks HASHEM at the burning bush:
“What is Your Name?”
HASHEM answers:
אֶהְ-יֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְ-יֶה
Eh-je Asjer Eh-je
— “I will be who I will be.”
This is a Divine Name, which we are not permitted to pronounce or write casually. Therefore, I write this Name with separating dashes.
The Sages teach that the Name:
אֶהְ-יֶה
(Eh-je)
comes from the root:
היה
(haja — “to be” or “to exist”).
The form of the word points toward the future:
“I will be.”
The human being does not know the future.
But HASHEM already knows it.
Therefore, He does not say only:
“I am,”
but rather:
“I will be” —
in every situation,
in every exile,
and with every redemption.
The Kabbalah connects the Name:
אֶהְ-יֶה
with the Sefirah:
Keter (סְפִירַת כֶּתֶר) —
the highest revelation of the Divine Will:
רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן
(Ratzon HaEljon — the Supreme Will).
There everything begins, even before it becomes visible within the world.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, of blessed memory, teaches that the most important quality of a Jew is:
הִתְחַדְּשׁוּת
(Hisjaddesjoet)
— daily renewal.
For every day is a new creation:
בְּרִיאָה חֲדָשָׁה
(Beria Chadasja — a new creation).
Therefore, the Name Eh-je perfectly expresses this path of life:
HASHEM continually reveals Himself anew.
The two words:
אֶהְ-יֶה … אֶהְ-יֶה
teach us that every spiritual level is only the beginning of the next one.
There is always another Eh-je,
a deeper revelation,
a higher spiritual unfolding.
Between these two words stands:
אֲשֶׁר
(Asjer).
The Chassidic explanation sees in this a profound connection:
Everything that is hidden today will be revealed tomorrow.
The Eh-je of today leads toward the Eh-je of tomorrow.
Therefore, Rabbeinoe Nachman, of blessed memory, teaches:
אַל תִּתְיָאֵשׁ
(Al titja’esj)
— “Never despair.”
Why?
Because HASHEM does not say:
“I was,”
but:
אֶהְ-יֶה
— “I will be.”
As long as a person lives, the door of:
תְּשׁוּבָה
(Tesjoeva — returning to HASHEM)
remains open.
As long as HASHEM says:
Eh-je,
there remains:
תִּקְוָה
(Tikva — hope)
and:
קִרְבַת אֱלֹהִים
(Kirvat Elohim — closeness to HASHEM).
אֶהְ-יֶה עִמָּךְ בְּכָל דֶּרֶךְ
Eh-je immach bechol derech
“I will be with you on every path.”
This is the message of the Name:
אֶהְ-יֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְ-יֶה
The Presence of HASHEM is not limited to the past.
He goes before the human being on his journey
and accompanies him toward every future.
The message of אֶהְ-יֶה is the promise that HASHEM is not only the One who was present yesterday, but the One who will be present with us in every tomorrow.
