Knowing G*d's Name
The Torah portion Vaera, second in the book of Exodus, is easily confused with Vayera, an earlier section that contains pivotal moments in the life of Abraham who followed the call of G*d to move toward the land to be promised to the descendants of he and his wife Sarah. These verses are the ones that tell of the foretelling of the birth of Isaac and the exile of Hagar and Ishmael. The argument to save Sodom and Gomorrah and the story of its destruction. And most notably the Akeda, the command to Abraham that he bind his own beloved son Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice only to be told that in fact he was only being tested. These were the moments that shape our understanding of who Abraham was and who G*d was to him.
While Vayera is the third person “G*d appeared to Abraham” , Vaera is the first person of G*d telling Moses “I appeared” to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. G*d specifies that while they knew G*d as El Shadai, The Almighty, G*d’s more personal, unpronounceable name YHVH was not made known to them. In other words at this moment Moshe is understanding that G*d is revealing a new name and perhaps new aspect of G*d than that accessed by those who laid the foundations for the People Israel.
Except, the stories say otherwise! G*d’s unpronounceable name is in fact used in the very verse “G*d appeared to Abraham”. Moreover it is used, or seems to be, in the words spoken by Abraham and Sarah and their early descendants. So what is meant in this later Torah portion when G*d, in the first person, tells Moshe “My name YHVH was not made known to them?”
Maybe the emphasis is not on the name but on the name being made known. Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar Ishmael, Isaac and Rebecca and Jacob after them, all had direct access to G*d as an entity in their lives. As a character in the story of their family and extended family who blessed and tested, promised and perplexed. Yet each of them had to find for themselves this most intimate name of G*d and the relationship behind the unpronounceable letters. The history as it was known to Moses and all of the Israelites of his time could not replace the personal encounter that was knowing YHVH for oneself. And so Moses, the one who would come to speak to G*d as if “face to face” had to make the Name known to himself as well.
We too have access to the stories and the names and generations of prayers, teachings and other ways in which G*d’s impact in the world can be expressed, And each of us too, whether steeped in these traditions or simply seeking a foothold, must get to know G*d for ourselves in order for G*d’s name to become known to us in an impactful and significant way. There is no blueprint or formula even in the Torah. Like Moses, we begin by being curious and attentive to the world around us. Making every moment an opportunity to be present and be in the presence of the one who created us to be in the Divine Image and calls us to help mend a world in need of repair.