כלאי בגדים א

And therefore in Egypt, which was before the Receiving of the Torah, and there was not yet an is'ar'usa dil'sasa [an arousal from below], and it was not yet possible to reveal the Name of Hashem through the deeds of those below — for they did not yet have mitzvos and good deeds to merit through — since it was before the Receiving of the Torah — therefore this matter was difficult for Moshe. And he asked Hashem, blessed be He, and said: "and they say to me, 'What is His Name?' — what shall I say to them?" (Exodus 3:13). For it was difficult for him: how is it possible to call Him, blessed be He, by a Name, since it is still before the Receiving of the Torah? And Hashem, blessed be He, answered him: "thus shall you say" etc. — "Ehyeh" etc. For Ehyeh — da Ana z'min l'mehevay [Ehyeh — meaning "I am destined to be"]. 77

And at first glance it is difficult: how is the concept of "I am destined to be" applicable to Hashem, blessed be He? But certainly Hashem, blessed be He, was, is, and will be. But it is impossible for us to know of this except through the Receiving of the Torah, when the Name of Hava'yah [the Tetragrammaton], blessed be He, was revealed — which is the essential Name of Hashem. But before the Receiving of the Torah — before there was an is'ar'usa dil'sasa through the deeds of those below, when it was not yet possible to reveal the Name of Hashem, etc. — then He, blessed be He, was called by the Name Ehyeh [I Will Be]. Which is the aspect of Ana z'min l'mehevay — that Hashem, blessed be He, sustains His world on account of the future: in the merit of the Tzadikim who are destined to be, who will do His will, blessed be He, and reveal His Name and His glory in the world, and all who enter the world will know that there is a great Master and Ruler Who was, is, and will be, Who brings all worlds into being from nothing to something. And in the merit of these Tzadikim who are destined to reveal His Name, in their merit He created the world, and in their merit He sustains the world before the Receiving of the Torah. 78

And therefore Ehyeh is the aspect of teshuvah [repentance], as brought elsewhere. For also now, when a person sins, G-d forbid, and transgresses the Torah — then he damages His great Name. And if so, from where will he receive vitality? For the essential vitality is from the Name of Hashem, as mentioned above. And now, through his sins, G-d forbid, he has damaged the Name of Hashem and His Name, blessed be He, has become concealed — if so, from where will he receive vitality? But then he receives vitality from the aspect of the root-power of teshuvah, which is the aspect of the Name Ehyeh — the aspect of Ana z'min l'mehevay. With which Hashem, blessed be He, sustained the world before the Giving of the Torah. And similarly now, after the sin, G-d forbid — that is, Hashem, blessed be He, sustains the world in His lovingkindness in the merit of the future. That is, He looks to the end — that in the end of ends, all will return to Him, blessed be He, and all will recognize His Name, blessed be He. And then His Name, blessed be He, will be revealed and sanctified in completeness, as it is written: "on that day Hashem will be one and His Name will be one" (Zechariah 14:9). And through the merit of this, He sustains the world at the time when they transgress the Torah, G-d forbid — which is the aspect of the Name Ehyeh that is called on account of the future — the aspect of Ana z'min l'mehevay, that [His Being] is destined to be revealed in the world. That is, that Tzadikim are destined to reveal the Name Hava'yah, blessed be He, in the world through their good deeds, etc. 79

And this is the aspect of the great stature of the sanctity of Shabbos Kodesh. For the essential sustenance of the world is through Shabbos. For the essential sustenance of the world — at the time when they transgress the Torah, G-d forbid, and also before the Giving of the Torah, when He sustains them through the aspect of the Name Ehyeh, etc. — all of this is through the merit of Shabbos Kodesh. For Shabbos is the aspect of teshuvah — the aspect of "and you shall return unto Hashem your G-d" (Deuteronomy 30:2), as Rabbeinu of blessed memory wrote elsewhere. 80