The Mystical Meaning of Avram Calling Upon the Name of Hashem
Lessons in Likutay Torah | November 08, 2024
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The Mystical Meaning of Avram Calling Upon the Name of Hashem

Lessons in Likutay Torah | June 27, 2025

This is also the mystical meaning of “And there, called Avram upon the name of Hashem.” (Bereishis 13:4)

The simple meaning of the verse is that in the place where Avram built an Altar (Mizbeiach) for Hashem, he called upon the name of Hashem and prayed to Him.

The mystical meaning is that Hashem ‘called’ Av-ram, the “Hidden Intellect,” to come into “the Name of Hashem,” which is Malchus. (The verse can either be read: “And he, Avram, called there in the Name of Hashem,” or “and He (Hashem) called there for Avram to come into the Name of Hashem.”)

The term ‘calling’ here refers to the process of drawing down from ‘Av-ram,’ the “Lofty Hidden Intellect,” which is the level of Yesod Abba, i.e., Yesod of Chochma-Wisdom of Atzilus into the Ten Sefiros of Malchus, the ‘wife’ of Ze’eir Anpin, which is called “the Name of Hashem.”

A name is only needed for someone to relate to another person, for oneself he doesn’t need a name. Similarly, the attribute of Malchus is how Hashem creates and conducts the world, how He interacts with creations. This is why Malchus is called “the Name of Hashem.”

Thus, the verse is interpreted not just as Avram calling on the name of Hashem, but on a “calling” and drawing down of a revelation from the lofty level of ‘Av-ram’ into the ‘Name of Hashem,’ the level of Malchus, which transmits all revelation downward into the lower realms.

This is also the mystical meaning of “And there, called Avram upon the name of Hashem.” (Bereishis 13:4)

The simple meaning of the verse is that in the place where Avram built an Altar (Mizbeiach) for Hashem, he called upon the name of Hashem and prayed to Him.

The mystical meaning is that Hashem ‘called’ Av-ram, the “Hidden Intellect,” to come into “the Name of Hashem,” which is Malchus. (The verse can either be read: “And he, Avram, called there in the Name of Hashem,” or “and He (Hashem) called there for Avram to come into the Name of Hashem.”)

The term ‘calling’ here refers to the process of drawing down from ‘Av-ram,’ the “Lofty Hidden Intellect,” which is the level of Yesod Abba, i.e., Yesod of Chochma-Wisdom of Atzilus into the Ten Sefiros of Malchus, the ‘wife’ of Ze’eir Anpin, which is called “the Name of Hashem.”

A name is only needed for someone to relate to another person, for oneself he doesn’t need a name. Similarly, the attribute of Malchus is how Hashem creates and conducts the world, how He interacts with creations. This is why Malchus is called “the Name of Hashem.”

Thus, the verse is interpreted not just as Avram calling on the name of Hashem, but on a “calling” and drawing down of a revelation from the lofty level of ‘Av-ram’ into the ‘Name of Hashem,’ the level of Malchus, which transmits all revelation downward into the lower realms.

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