Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Name Av
שם ע״ב
The Name Av (Havayah spelled out to 72)
The Name Havayah spelled out to 72 (ע״ב), whose core is four yuds: the Name of Chochmah, the yud of Havayah; “love in delights,” drawn when Mah and Ban unite, though higher than both.
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 5, ¶10The Or Ein Sof of Atik and Arich Anpin is revealed in Chochmah of Atzilus because of its utter bittul, and Chochmah of Atzilus is the Name Av. It is called ahavah betaanugim, love in delights, because it reveals the supernal delight, as a new insight brings wondrous delight.
גלוי אא״ס ע״י וא״א הוא בבחינת חכמה דאצי׳ שהוא שם ע״ב
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 5, ¶9The Name Ban refines the worlds and heichalos and raises them to the Name Mah, which comes down to refine further. When the two, male and female, are clothed in each other, the union of Havayah and Elokim, the Name Av is drawn as well: “and He blessed them,” the drawing of Chochmah.
כששניהם מתלבשים זה בזה בחי׳ יחוד הוי״ה אלהים אזי נמשך גם שם ע״ב הנק׳ אהבה בתענוגים
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 5, ¶18Adam the first man is Chochmah Ila’ah, the very beginning of Atzilus, the Name Av. So his body was formed from inanimate earth: “with Chochmah He founded the earth,” and only Chochmah, not Binah, brings the inanimate into being.
ואמנם בחי׳ אדה״ר היינו בחי׳ ח״ע שהיא ראשית האצי׳ ממש והוא בחי׳ שם ע״ב
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 10, ¶16“Li” (“to Me”) denotes Chochmah Ila’ah, the soul of all worlds, so whatever is called li endures forever. This is the Name Av, whose core is four yuds, equal in number to li (40).
והוא שם ע״ב שעיקרו ד׳ יודי״ן גימטריא לי
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini 2, ¶3Of the two Names in the Shema, the Name of 42 is ascent, “with all your might,” and per the Zohar is higher than the Name Av. But the drawing of G‑dliness from above to below through Torah and practical mitzvos is the Name Av: “I will give grass (esev) in your field,” esev being ע״ב with a shin.
אך להיות המשכת אלקות מלמעלה למטה ע״י תורה ומצות מעשיות זהו בחי׳ שם ע״ב
Stated differently
Whether the Name Av is in Chochmah or in Chesed
וידוע דשם ע״ב בחכמה שהוא יו״ד דשם ושם ס״ג בבינה שהוא ה׳ ראשונה דשם ושם מ״ה בז״א שהוא וא״וOf the three spellings-out, Av is in Chochmah, the yud of the Name; Sag in Binah, the first hei; Mah in Z’eir Anpin, the vav.
עשב הוא בחי׳ דעת שהוא שם ע״ב ושי״ן באמצע התיבה (שם ע״ב הוא בחכמה וצ״ל משום שהדעת ממשיך זיווג חכמה עם בינהEsev (“grass”) is Daas, which is the Name Av with a shin in the middle; the Name Av is in Chochmah, and it is called Daas because Daas draws the union of Chochmah with Binah.
והנה נודע כי שם מ״ב הוא בגבורה ושם ע״ב בחסד“It is known” that the Name of 42 is in Gevurah and the Name Av in Chesed, though in the Shema the first paragraph (42 words) is Chesed and the second (the Name Av) is Gevurah.
אך הפנימיות הוא בשם ע״ב שהוא בחסד [חסד גי׳ ע״ב] שהחסד נחלק לע״ב בחי׳ הם ע״ב גשריםThe Name Av is in Chesed, since chesed equals 72, and Chesed divides into 72 levels, the 72 bridges; it is the inner light of the Shema’s second paragraph, whose vessel is Gevurah.
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Vayechi 5, ¶8Torah Ohr, Vayechi 5, ¶9Torah Ohr, Vayechi 5, ¶10Torah Ohr, Bereishis 5, ¶18Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2, ¶9Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 10, ¶16Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 12, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 12, ¶15
Where it appears
In 57 paragraphs of 35 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 9 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 7 ¶37
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 5 ¶16
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 1 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 1 ¶37
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 2 ¶13 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 5 ¶3 ¶7 ¶8 ¶9 ¶10 ¶11 ¶12 ¶13 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 5 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 27 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 3 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 2 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 12 ¶1 ¶2 ¶15 ¶16 ¶17 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 5 ¶5 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2 ¶1 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 12 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 23 ¶11 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 39 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 3 ¶1 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Bo 1 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 8 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 10 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 7 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 9 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 4 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 5 ¶18
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 4 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 2 ¶34
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini 2 ¶3 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 7 ¶12 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 2 ¶6 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 12 ¶28 ¶31
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.