The Name Shadai in Hebrew Amulets - Part 4

Following the previous parts in this set of essays on the Divine Name (Shadai), I received a response directed to me personally by an individual who maintained that since the letter (Shin) is so important in Judaism, i.e. featuring on Mezuzot, Tefillin, etc., that must surely give credence to its importance in the name of the "saviour" Yeheshuah, with special reference to the Renaissance invention called the "pentagrammaton." In this regard, I have noticed that whilst certain individuals readily admit the "YHShVH" to be an invention and equally concede that it is not a genuine Hebrew term, they dismissively and quite glibly repeat a statement made some time ago that "this is a brilliant invention."

So the "false name" is truth? What poppycock! In fact, regarding this fanciful construct, see my earlier essay titled "Christian/Hermetic Kabbalah, the Christian Saviour and Truth" dated 20th January 2012. For the sake of clarity, I am happy to reiterate the stated details which I published in "The Book of Sacred Names" regarding the deliberations, mystical or otherwise, on the letter (Shin) in Jewish thought. In this regard I wrote:

Due to some very fanciful notions regarding the letter Shin by Christian and Hermetic Kabbalists, this glyph has become rather controversial, especially as this letter was allotted a unique status of holiness, when Christian Kabbalists incorporated it into the Ineffable Name () to create the construct Yeheshuah (). This, we have been told, “is the esoteric name of the Messiah of the Jews and the Christ of the Christians,” the meaning of which is said to be “Jah liberates.” As it is, this construct does not have this purported meaning, and since it does not exist in Hebrew, it does not mean anything at all. The correct spelling of a personal name known to have the mentioned meaning is , which is correctly pronounced Yehoshuah, a fairly common Jewish Name.

Even in applying all the rules pertaining to Hebrew letters being interchangeable when they belong to the same phonetic family (i.e. being pronounced in the same spot in the mouth), we notice that although the letters Heh and Ayin are interchangeable (both being gutterals), the Vav and Shin are definitely not. The altering of letters in a Hebrew word, and then expecting it to retain its original meaning, is simply not feasible. Yet, that is exactly what was done with the Yeheshuah construct from the 15th to 17th centuries, by Christian Kabbalists who acted from their own religious bias.

Now, regarding the special holiness assigned to the letter Shin, it should be noted that in Kabbalah all the Hebrew glyphs are “Holy.” The letter Shin is no more holy than any other Hebrew glyph. In fact, it is worth considering that the Hebrew letters comprise both “positive” and “negative” qualities, and this should be kept in mind when studying each letter-sign. In this regard, the letter Shin is termed “the symbol of Divine Power” as well as of “Corruption.” True, it is the initial of two very important Divine Names, i.e. Shadai (“All-sufficient Unlimited One”) and Shalom (“Peace”). To these we might add other significant concepts like Shechinah, Shabbat, etc., and we might also consider that the letter Shin, in representing Shadai, is the single letter shown on every Mezuzah placed on the doors of Jewish homes.

It is true that is known to be the symbol of “Divine Power,” mastery and peace, but it is equally clear that this letter also denotes corruption and Sheker (falsehood), thus being the initial of the name “Shatan” (Satan). In other words, Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism in general, recognise a dual principle in this glyph. For greater comprehension of this fact, we might look again at the.....saga of the Hebrew letters passing before the Holy One, Who finally chose to create the universe by means of the letter Bet. About the letter Shin the Divine One said “True, you stand for (Shadai), Almighty, Who is the essence of Perfection, but for man, Divinity is interspersed with evil and deception. Inevitably, your neighbour (Kof) and (Resh) will draw you into a (Kesher), an alliance with them to establish (Sheker—“falsehood”) on earth.”

We are told that the three letters comprising “falsehood” appear at the end of the Hebrew alphabet, so that they are far removed from the central axis of the array of glyphs, i.e. the letter Mem representing stability. Furthermore, none of the milui, the full spellings, of each of the other letters (e.g. etc.) comprise any of these three letters. We are further informed that “to counteract the dangerous shin with its potential power to ruin mankind, the Alef-Beis ends with the letter tav, which alludes to Emet, Truth.” [Munk, M.L.: The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet: The Sacred Letters as a Guide to Jewish Deed and Thought, Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn 1983] In this regard, we should note that (Alef) is the beginning, (Mem) the centre, and (Tav) the end of the Hebrew Alphabet, and that the combination of these letters in that exact order reads (Emet—“Truth”).

It is certainly clear that the "prediction" made regarding the letter Shin being drawn into a "conspiracy" (Sheker), an alliance which will lead to the propagation of "falsehood" (Kesher), is quite true. Like sheep, many bought the YHShVH invention! The literal meaning of the letter Shin is "teeth"; Kof is a "monkey"; and Resh refers to a "head." Monkeys can chew away quite mindlessly!

(More to follow)