Dear Chaverim,

In my last post, I described the origin and esoteric meanings of the One-, Two-, Three- and Four-Letter names of God in Kabbalah -- that is, "H", "Y-Y" ("Y-H"); "Y-Y-Y" ("Y-V-Y," "V-H-V"); and "M-Tz-P-Tz" ("Sh-Ay-P-Ay," "K-V-Z-V"), respectively. Here I will describe the
Eight-Letter name and its construction.

Before that, however, let me briefly explain why it was and is important for Kabbalists to know the true Shem HaMeforash. Imagine that you have entered a room full of people and you see your new friend George standing way accross the room, with his back to you. You want to get his attention so you call to him, but having fogotten his name for the moment, you shout, "Harry!" He doesn't turn around. So you try, "Bob!" Still no response. You go through every name you can think of until you
finally shout, "George!" Sure enough, he turns around and waves to you.
 

BACKGROUND

This mystical name of God is spelled with the Hebrew letters, YUD-ALEPH-HEH-DALED-VAUV-NUN-HEH-YUD (YAHDVNHY). It is to be found particularly in Kurdistan where it is used extensively in metallic Kabbalistic amulets. (See Hebrew Magic Amulets, T. Schrire, Behrman House, 1966.) It is always written in large and beautiful Ashuri characters in contrast to the rest of the amulet's inscription which is usually in Kurdistani local script.
 

CONSTRUCTION OF THE EIGHT-LETTER NAME

The Eight-Letter Name of God is a combination of the Hebrew letters in the Tetragrammaton, YHVH, alternating with the four letters of the Hebrew world for "Lord," or "Adonai," spelled ALEPH-DALED-NUN-YUD. Thus, when combined, we have the name:

1 = YUD [Tetragrammaton]
2 = ALEPH [Adonai]
3 = HEH [T]
4 = DALED [A]
5 = VAUV [T]
6 = NUN [A]
7 = HEH [T]
8 = YUD [A]
 

MYSTICAL MEANING OF THE EIGHT-LETTER NAME

This powerful name can be pronounced, "Yad On-Hey" or "Yad V'Heh," which can be taken to mean "Hand of God." It is often used in combination with the even-more powerful 22-letter Kabbalistic name, "Anaktam Pastam Paspasim Deyonsim" (which I will discuss in a later lecture) as a protective amulet against the Evil Eye and the dangers of Lilith, the Mother of Demons, during childbirth. The holiness of this name is said to be increased by virtue of its gematria of 91, which is equal to that of the Hebrew words Omain ("Amen") and HaElohim ("The God[s]").

I'll discuss the other Kabbalistic names of God, and their meanings, in subsequent posts.

Raising up the Holy Sparks together,
 

Yakov Leib haKohain, Ph.D.

 

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