In The Beginning . . .

We need to begin at the beginning. More precisely, before the beginning. At which point all we have is Hashem. This aspect of God was/is essentially timeless, unchanging, perfect, and eternal. This aspect of God is referred to every time we use the Tetragrammaton (a fancy word for יקוק). As Chazal point out, the root of this name is הוה = being. Thus, this name is interpreted as “The One Who Was, Is, and Will Be.”

At this point in time, there was no world. Just Hashem, and things seem fine and dandy. Yet, Hashem didn’t seem to be able to leave well enough alone. He “decided” to create the world. Why? Great question. Without giving an actual answer – since this is one of those ineffable things – the reason seems to lie in another aspect of God’s nature – רחום. To look at this root, we find the word “רחם” – “womb.” Rachamim, then, is best described as the feelings a mother has for that which comes from her womb: a maternal sense of caring. Hashem created the world to exercise this aspect of his essence.

This conjunction, then, is critical in understanding Hashem’s hashkacha: רחום and יקוק come together. And all relate to a state both prior and external to the natural world and the natural order. When we ask for rachamim , we are adressing this aspect of God. In particular, we are asking for God to relate to us in a non-natural (dare I call it "supernatural"?) way. (At a later point, we’ll see how this identity is critical in understanding Tefilah.) It is worth noting that prophecy and miracles fall under the general rubric of the יקוק aspect of God.

From a certain perspective, this would have been the ideal way for Hashem to relate to our world: one where man can interact directly with a revealed Being. And in fact, a famous midrash discusses how Hashem “originally” wanted to create a world primarily with this מידה.

But, for reasons related to the essential nature of human kind and free-will Hashem chose to “hide” himself behind the veil of nature.

But more on that next time.