חותם אלהיםCreation Before the Court

chotam elohimIn Gamatria ↗

Every creature was measured, asked, and said yes.

Elohim (Gevurah, judgment) is the Upper Court. That is why only Elohim appears in the creation story. Each creature was brought before this court and told its size, its limbs, its food and what it would serve, and each answered 'Here I am, gladly'. This is the rabbis' teaching that creatures were made with their own consent. The Kabbalists say creation came through the 32 paths of wisdom from Sefer Yetzirah, and Genesis 1 names Elohim exactly 32 times, one seal on each path. Because strict justice alone could not sustain the world, God joined the merciful name to it: 'YHVH Elohim' (Gen. 2:4).

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