(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּ֒שָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה:
(ב) וְהַעֲרֶב נָא ה' אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ אֶת־דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָתְךָ בְּפִֽינוּ וּבְפִי עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל. וְנִהְיֶה אֲנַֽחְנוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵֽינוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵי עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל כֻּלָּֽנוּ יוֹדְעֵי שְׁמֶֽךָ וְלוֹמְדֵי תוֹרָתֶֽךָ. (י"א לִשְׁמָהּ). בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' הַמְלַמֵּד תּוֹרָה לְעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל.
Blessed are You, Divine power, sovereign of the cosmos, who sanctifies us through practice, enjoining us to steep ourselves in words of Torah.
Please, God, make the words of your Torah pleasant in our mouths and in the mouths of your people Israel; and may we and our descendants and the descendants of our descendants and the descendants of your people the House of Israel all know your name and be students of your Torah for Her own sake. Blessed are You, Divinity, who teaches Torah to your people, Israel.
The Tree of Light
(31) You shall make a lampstand [menorah] of pure gold; the lampstand shall be made of hammered work; her base and her shaft, her cups, calyxes, and petals shall be of one piece with her. (32) Six branches shall issue from her sides; three branches from one side of the lampstand and three branches from the other side of the lampstand. (33) On one branch there shall be three cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals, and on the next branch there shall be three cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals; so for all six branches issuing from the lampstand. (34) And on the lampstand itself there shall be four cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals: (35) a calyx, of one piece with it, under a pair of branches; and a calyx, of one piece with it, under the second pair of branches, and a calyx, of one piece with it, under the last pair of branches; so for all six branches issuing from the lampstand. ... (37) Make her seven lamps—her lamps shall be so mounted as to give the light upon her face.
Asherah: Goddess, Tree, Pillar or Post
From On the Wings of Shekhinah: Rediscovering Judaism's Divine Feminine (2008), by Rabbi Leah Novick, pp.37-8
Excavations in northern Israel attest to the presence of small clay figurines of Asherah - usually holding her breasts - for hundreds of years. The ubiquitous Canaanite goddess, known as Mother of the Sea and associated with the Tree of Life, was the chief matriarch of the Ugaritic pantheon and wife of the chief god, known as El. In that capacity, Asherah gives birth to the seventy gods and goddesses. The best known of her progeny are Anat, the fierce warrior goddess, and Baal, the cloud-rider god, with whom the Israelites are often in conflict. The Torah frequently cites their continued fascination with Baal, and the prophets repeatedly attack the continued worship of Asherah on the bamot (altars on high hills) and even in the temple itself.
Rather you must shatter their altars, break down their monuments, and cut down their Asherahs.
Do not plant an Asherah for yourself, any tree adjacent to the altar of the LORD your God, that you will make for yourself.
The Israelites did what was wrong in the eyes of the LORD; they ignored the LORD their God and worshiped the Baalim and the Asheroth (Asherahs).
Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, together with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” (Elijah speaking).
(ו) וַיֹּצֵ֣א אֶת־הָאֲשֵׁרָה֩ מִבֵּ֨ית יי מִח֤וּץ לִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ אֶל־נַ֣חַל קִדְר֔וֹן וַיִּשְׂרֹ֥ף אֹתָ֛הּ בְּנַ֥חַל קִדְר֖וֹן וַיָּ֣דֶק לְעָפָ֑ר וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ֙ אֶת־עֲפָרָ֔הּ עַל־קֶ֖בֶר בְּנֵ֥י הָעָֽם׃ (ז) וַיִּתֹּץ֙ אֶת־בָּתֵּ֣י הַקְּדֵשִׁ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּבֵ֣ית יי אֲשֶׁ֣ר הַנָּשִׁ֗ים אֹרְג֥וֹת שָׁ֛ם בָּתִּ֖ים לָאֲשֵׁרָֽה׃
(6) [King Josiah] (the author loves this king) brought out the Asherah from the House of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and burned it in the Kidron Valley; he beat it to dust and scattered its dust over the burial ground of the common people. (7) He tore down the cubicles of the male prostitutes in the House of the LORD, at the place where the women wove coverings for Asherah.
A stolen or withered myrtle-branch is invalid. One [that came from] an asherah or a condemned city is invalid. If its tip was broken off, or its leaves were detached, or its berries were more numerous than its leaves, it is invalid. But if he diminished them it is valid. But he may not diminish them on the festival.
From Did God Have a Wife? Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel (2005), by William Dever, pp.212, 214-5
Shaarei Orah's Central Organizing Image
דע כי כל שמותיו הקדושים הנזכרים בתורה כולם תלויים בשם בן ד' אותיות שהוא ה'. ואם תאמר והלא שם אהי"ה הוא העיקר והמקור? דע כי שם בן ד' אותיות הוא כדמיון גוף האילן, ושם אהי"ה הוא עיקר האילן הזה וממנו ישתרשו שורשים ויתפשטו ענפים לכל צד וצד, ושאר כל שמות הקודש כולם בדמיון ענפים וסנסנים נמשכים מגוף האילן, וכל אחד מן הענפים עושה פרי למינהו ומלבד שמות הקודש הידועים שאסור למוחקן, יש כמה כינויים אחרים תלויים בכל שם ושם, כגון שתאמר כינויין של ה' מי הם: נורא, נושא עוון, עובר על פשע.
כינויין של אל מי הם: כגון גדול, רחום, וחנון. כינויין של אלקים מי הם: כגון אדיר, שופט, דיין. ולכל אחד מאלו הכינויים יש כינויין אחרים תלויים בכל כינוי וכינוי מאלו, והם שאר כל מלות התורה. עד שנמצא כל התורה כולה נארגת על הכינויין, והכינויין על השמות, והשמות הקדושים כולם תלויים על שם יהו"ה וכולם מתאחדים בו. נמצאת כל התורה כולה נארגת על שם יהו"ה, ולפיכך נקראת תורת י"י תמימה (תהלים יט, ח).
From the Author's Introduction
KNOW:
All of the holy names in the Torah draw life from the four-letter name, YHVH.
And if you say, isn't EHYH (I Shall Be) the essence, the source?
Realize that YHVH is like the body of the tree, whereas EHYH is the essence of the tree -
and from this the roots and the leaves branch out to every side.
All of the other Names are like leaves, shoots and branches coming from the body of the tree, and every single one of those shoots bears its own kind of fruit.
And besides the known names that are forbidden to erase, there are various other names that hang off of each and every name (like the fruit), like when you consider the appellations of Yah, the [off-shoot names] are:
Nora, Awe-some; nossé avon, ovver al pesha - overlooking sin, passing over wrongdoing.
Appellations of El are:
Gadol, greatness; Rachum, merciful; Chanun, graciously kind.
Appellations of Elohim are:
Adir, mighty; Shofet, decisor; Dayan, judge.
Each of these Names has other appellations that branch out from it, and each of these appellations has other cognates relating to it -- and thus onwards to include all the words of the Torah… until you find that the entire Torah is woven out of the appellations of the appellations of the names of the names… and all of them come back to YHVH, and are unified within it, so we see in fact the entire Torah is woven out of the name YHVH.
That's why we say:
"The Torah of YHVH is temima - perfect, whole, complete.” (Ps 19:8)
When you really come to understand all the Names, and get their unique associations and relationships, you'll see that everything depends upon and tends towards That One Which Is - and you will be filled with awe of It, and fear it, and come to really know divinity. (Proverbs 2:5).
