"God desired to be called by a Name. Through this Name,
His handiwork can speak of Him and call Him. By uttering this Name, individuals
can also bring themselves close to Him.
"God specified a unique Name (the Tetragrammaton) for His Glory,
and regarding this Name it is written, 'This is My Name forever' (Exodus
3:15). To the extent that God desires to have a Name, this is His Name
with respect to the Glory itself.
"Besides this, however, God also makes use of other Influences (Sefirot).
With respect to these, He also has different Names.
"God also decreed and ordained that when an individual utters His
Name, divine Illumination and Influence are bestowed upon him. This is
what God meant when He said, 'In every place where I allow My Name to be
mentioned, I will come to you and bless you' (Exodus 20:21).
"When a particular name of God is uttered and used to call upon Him,
it results in the emanation of an Influence associated with that Name.
The type of Influence transmitted will be that which God associated with
the particular Name, by virtue of its mystery.
"When a particular Influence is transmitted, it will necessarily
give rise to the results specified for it. Its particular effects will
then spread through the entire sequence of creation, from the beginning
to the end.
"This entire process, however, is circumscribed by the Highest Wisdom.
God thus decreed that a Name should only transmit an Influence and have
an effect when uttered under specific conditions in a defined manner. Otherwise,
it has no effect at all.
"God arranged that some of the Influences motivated by the utterances
of His names should have the power of suspending the natural limitations
of the one making use of them. This individual is then able to bind himself
to spiritual beings, and thereby receive information and enlightenment."
(Derech HaShem, Aryeh Kaplan, Tr.)
Tom Hickey comments:
