Eliyahu's Mantle

Shemot: A Study In Prophetic Ethics

I was enraptured by you. I came forth and rose up, because you know my name. Tehilim 91:14
כי בי חשק, ואפלטהו; אשגבהו, כי-ידע שמי

Hashem hu haElokim, Hashem hu haElokim. 1 Melachim 18:39
יי הוא האל הים , יי הוא האל הים

This is the enraptured exclamation of one who has discovered the intimate Holy light hidden within. A treasure of return.

The mission of G-D cannot be accomplished where honor is not shared between parents and children nor when the ethical mitzvah of honoring one's parents (and teachers) is neglected. Elishaba is one of my names and I do it. A Study In Prophetic Ethics.

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As an adult, when I first returned to Torah, I chose a hebrew name. As I have grown in Torah, walked the derekh and my netiv path, I've continued to recover my hebrew names. Through actualization of my purpose in creation, as described by my hebrew names, may it not only open up my soul to further discovery, but bring honor to both my parents and to the teachers who have brought me closer to Torah, and bestow creative light, lifeforce and energy upon all who know them.

This is my name, this is my remembrance, this is my hallel, and this is my decree, generation to generation:

ליאורה חנה אלישבע צברה בת אהוביה ואדר

Liorah Chanah Elishaba Tsabrah bat Ahuvyah v'Adar.

ליאורה

Liorah - My given english first name is Lori. But, I didn't just choose Liorah because of its similarity to my english name. I chose it because it means "light to me". In other words, the name Liorah brings down hashra'ah, the Holy immersive creative force of the Shechinah and Divine Omnipresence, through each of the 3 levels of Divine Lifeforce: ohr, chayut and koach to me. I chose to confirm the meaning/mission in the name Liorah, which is the hebrew equivalent to the name my parents gave me, Lori.

חנה

Chanah - My given english middle name is Ann and means favor/grace. Favor is an act of receiving (ohr, chayut, koach) for the reishit (7th) purpose of bestowing the same (ohr, chayut, koach) of that unleashed in Adar (the paradoxical permutation of the soulspark of Moshe into a soulspark of Mashiach) through my first hebrew name Liorah. This will to receive for the sake of giving called reishit transforms the bread of poverty (matzah) into challah, the bread of chelek la'olam haba, which satisfies Divine Purpose for one's creation in the first place - to make a portion of the World-To-Come. Challah begins with the letter chet (with a chatoteret to join One Name to 4 names, with love redeemed), as does the hebrew equivalent to Ann, which is the name Chanah. As Liorah ends with the letter hey and Chanah begins with chet, Chanah also ends with the letter hey. In this fact, between the heys of these two names (Liorah and Chanah), stands the solution to the riddle of the ritual of the parah adumah (from alef to tav), the secret of itta (from alef to tav and tav to alef), the mystery of Elisha's double portion (Elisha-ba) of Eliyahu's prophetic spirit, the evolution of woman into a vessel fit for mashiach, and the redeeming power of Eh-yeh Asher Eh-yeh. Chanah is the mother of Shmuel HaNavi. Shmuel HaNavi is the ultimate rectification of the sefirah Netzach, a sefirah whose rectification is achieved during Purim (see below). Moreover, the name Chanah refers to the 3 mitzvot specifically given to women (challah, niddah and hadlikat nerot). In light of all this, I chose to confirm the meaning/mission in the name Chanah, which is the hebrew equivalent to my english middle name.

אלישבע

Elishaba (where I prefer the pronunciation Elishaba over Elisheva) - Elizabeth was my Jewish great grandmother's name (my mother's mother's mother). Elishaba is the hebrew equivalent of Elizabeth. Importantly, the name Elishaba means "G-d's oath". I was given and gave an oath in the womb, as all souls of Israel do [Niddah 30b] - and kept in purity, it is an oath I remember to this day. Thus, the name Elishaba is integral to who I am as a human being with a specific Divine purpose. Without any doubt and without regret, Amalek was blotted out. I stood firm with the power of netzach and true mesirut nefesh to confirm the meaning and mission in the name Elishaba. This is my name. In Torah, Elisheva/Elishaba is of the tribe of Yehudah, and as the wife of Aharon the Kohen Gadol, she is a kohenet. Later, she was reincarnated as Batsheva, the soulmate of David HaMelech. Elisha-ba/Elisheva holds the keys to transformation, healing and resurrection. He is also the one who received the mantle of Eliyahu HaNavi, the harginger of redemption. In addition to its connection to the navi'im, the name Elisha-ba rectifies the error of Elisha ben Avuyah, as Elishaba is anchored in the goodness of the names Liorah and Chanah and protected by the name which follows it, Tsabrah.

צברה

Tsabrah - This describes my personality perfectly. I am a very prickly person on the outside, just like the tsabrah fruit. This name describes the kind of person I am. Moreover, the 3-letter root צבר of the name means to collect and to gather to protect from loss. So, this name "gathers" all my other names together and protects the mission described by all my other names.

בת אהוביה

Bat Ahuvyah - My mother's name is Cheryl. Cheryl is french for "beloved". Without my mother's support in many ways over the years, my Torah study would be in a sorry, sorry state. My mother is a rock of G-d. Though we both understand differently, my mother's awesome devotion to G-D is lishmah, making her a perfect example of the soul power ahavah as described by the name Ahuvyah. This soul power is actualized and expressed during the Shema prayer through the phrase "with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my might" and is the secret of the staff of Aharon.

ואדר

v'Adar - My father's name is Audra. The hebrew letters in this name are alef vav dalet reish. Two relevant 3-letter roots for these letters are: alef dalet reish (אדר, meaning "mighty", "mantle" and "praise") and alef vav dalet (אוד, meaning "set into motion" and "effect results"). My father is the gentle spirit of a man who held his little daughter in his arms and told her "you can be anything you want to be" and then made me believe it. I've never forgotten, Daddy. I formally returned to Torah and became a ba'alat teshuvah during the month of Adar. My turn toward complete teshuvah was inspired by a Jew named Mark (Mordechai) and Mark (Mordechai) is also the middle name of the Kohen who supervised my formal return to Torah. Mordechai, Mordechai (two of my first teachers, like Moshe, Moshe in a fuzzy-Purim kinda way) is the hero in the story of Purim, a Holy Day in the month of Adar. All of these facts are provided for in the hebrew name-unit of my father, "v'Adar".

בת אהוביה ואדר

Bat Ahuvyah v'Adar - And what have I done with the addition of these names to mine? I honor both my birth parents and the teachers who returned me to Torah. The mission of G-D cannot be accomplished where honor is not shared between parents and children nor when the ethical mitzvah of honoring one's parents (and teachers) is neglected. Elishaba is one of my names and I do it, with praise in honor to my parents and teachers.

All my hebrew names ARE my names. They aptly describe who I am, what my mission is, from where I came, where I'm at, to where I'm going, and who has helped me to get there. In my mind, I haven't really chosen my hebrew names - I have recovered them. And no one, no one, can tell me that my names are not mine, because I know differently.

The lamed-hey pasuk in Torah which encompasses my primary name Liorah as well as all my 4 personal names (ליאורה חנה אלישבע צברה ) of redemption is Devarim 30:12 (paraphrased):

It is not in the heavens,
that I should say,
who can go up and get it for me
that I may observe it.

ל א בשמים, הוא: לאמ ר, מי יעלה-לנו השמימה ויקחה לנו, וישמענו א תה, ונעשנה

No one needs to give me permission to use my own names.
Eh-yeh Asher Eh-yeh.

יי הוא האל הים , יי הוא האל הים
Hashem hu haElokim, Hashem hu haElokim.
1 Melachim 18:39

תני ג' שמות נקראו לאדם הזה אחד שקראו לו אביו ואמו ואחד שקראו לו אחרים ואחד שקראו לו בספר תולדות ברייתו

You have 3 names: the name your parents bestow on you, the name by which others call you, and the name you earn for yourself through your conduct. Kohelet Rabbah 7:3

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