Abraham'S Divine Power Of Speech

[volgadon]

Hasidism preserved a remarkable tradition of the creative, divine powers of speech. The power of speech, of course, is connected to letter esotericism.

In Judaism there was an early and sustained fascination with letters, their power and meaning. The roots of letter esotericism could be said to go back as far as the book of Genesis itself. God commands, things obey. This process was accomplished by the medium of speech. In Pirkei Avot 5:1, one of the earliest rabbinic texts, we read that God created the world by ten utterances. As speech consists of sounds represented by letters, it is logical to conclude that letters themselves have power and intrinsic meaning. Letters have individual sounds and in different combinations yield different words with different meanings. Ayin-Nun-Gimel is oneg- delight. Change the sequence and you get nega- blight or disease. God didn't say "kartina maslom" and there was light. He said "wa-yehi or." For the ancient Jewish exegetes the word choice wasn't arbitrary or randomn.

As an example of this, the Tabernacle in the wilderness was believed to be modelled after the cosmos. Bezalel the architect and craftsman who constructed the tabernacle, knew,

How to combine the letters by which the heavens and earth were created. It is written here (Exod. 35:31): "And He hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom and in understanding, and in knowledge." It is written elsewhere (Prov. 3:19): "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens."

It is also written (Prov. 3:20): "By His knowledge the depths were broken up."[1]

That is to say, Bezalel knew which letters were used in which combinations in order to bring about the desired results.

In 3rd Enoch the theme of mystical creation by letters is continued.

Rabbi Ishmael said: ‘Metatron said to me: “Let me show you letters out of which heaven and earth were created. Letters out of which oceans and rivers were created. Letters out of which mountains and hills were created. Letters out of which trees and grass were created. Letters out of which the stars and constellations, the moon and the sun, Orion and the Pleiades and all kinds of lights of the firmament were created. Letters out of which the ministering angels were created, each letter flashed time after time like bolts of lightning, time after time like torches, time after time like flames, time after time like the rising of the sun, moon, and stars.” I approached him, and he seized me with his hand, lifted me with his wings, and showed me all those letters that were engraved with a pen of fire on God’s throne, and fiery sparks and lightning were coming out of them and covering all the chambers of the seventh heaven.’[2]

The five openings of the mouth is part of the classification system the Sefer Yetzirah uses for the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each "opening" is a position of the tongue for producing speech.

In a discourse by the Hasidic master R. Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl (1730-1798), the letter heh, which changed Abram's name to Abraham, symbolised the five openings. Abraham was given mastery over the openings and the powers they regulated. According to the Chernobyler, in each letter of the alphabet is hidden some of the divine light which is what brings life and blessings into the world.

Abraham our Father so served God with love that he came to be called “Abraham My Lover” (Isa. 41:8. ) God gave over to him the conduct of all the worlds, placing within him this speech, centered in the five openings of the mouth. This is the meaning of God’s adding the heh [ = five] to Abraham’s name; it was through this that he became “father of many nations,” father and leader of the great host of the world’s peoples, by means of these five openings of the mouth…

His leadership is to be in all the worlds. That was why Abram did not father children; until he had reached the point at which speech was given to him, he could not yet be a father. Abraham did father children, for those openings of the mouth by which he conducted all the worlds had now been given him. Surely through that word he could draw forth offspring for himself as well.[3]

The power of procreation is linked to the power of creation, both being dependant upon the divine potency inherent in pure, divine speech. I did not include R. Menahem Nahum's discussion of the rung of sacred speech. Rungs of course are what allow one to climb a ladder.

Martin Buber, in his Ten Rungs, adapted a Hasidic interpretation of Jacob's ladder, emphasising the universal, ethical aspect.

Man is a ladder placed on the earth and the top of it touches heaven. And all his movements and doings and words leave traces in the upper world.[4]

The more traditional formulation is theurgic- by performing the commandments, man not only draws divine power into this world, but increases the power of Heaven above. In Joseph's dream, after all, the angels both descended and ascended upon the ladder.

The goal of man's coming to this lower world is to adapt himself to Torah and commandment, which are a ladder that stands on earth and the top of which reaches to Heaven, in order to draw down, by his performing the Torah and commandment, influx upon all the worlds, and to give power to the supernal retinue.[5]

For the Chernobyler, this is achieved primarily by means of pure, holy speech.

R. Meir ha-Levi of Apta, a later Hasid, provides another description of this process.

The supernal light is emanated into his heart, and the influxes go by his mediation, by the way of the five places of his mouth...[6]

Until Abraham perfected by loving service- acts of worship motivated by love- his ascent to the rung of sacred speech, he lacked the power to bring forth offspring. Having attained that rung, Abraham shared the divine power to create and to produce life. Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl's homily stops short of pursuing the implications to their logical, but radical conclusion. Man is capable of attaining a level of holiness in which not only is God's power delegated to him, he governs the worlds also. This form of theosis is not post-mortal, nor is it eschatological, but available in the here-and-now through elevating the profane and mundane to holiness.

[1]Babylonian Talmud, t. Berachot 55a.

[2]Rachel Elior, "Jewish Mysticism: The Infinite Expression of Freedom," p. 108.

[3]Arthur Green, "Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl: Upright Practices, The Light of the Eyes (Classics of Western Spirituality)," pg. 161-163.

[4]Martin Buber, "Ten Rungs: Collected Hasidic Sayings," p. 34.

[5]R. Aharon Shemuel ha-Cohen, translated in Moshe Idel, "Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic," p. 143.

[6]Ibid, p. 204.

http://calba-savua.b...-of-speech.html

Edited May 3, 2012 by volgadon

[Maidservant]

[wenglund]

The power of procreation is linked to the power of creation, both being dependent upon the divine potency inherent in pure, divine speech....Until Abraham perfected by loving service- acts of worship motivated by love- his ascent to the rung of sacred speech, he lacked the power to bring forth offspring. Having attained that rung, Abraham shared the divine power to create and to produce life.

Am I correct in assuming that this also applies to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[volgadon]

Am I correct in assuming that this also applies to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

Lets put it this way, I haven't seen it connected to Adam and Eve in the Garden, nor does it seem likely. Before the fall, Adam would not have had to ascend as he was already on the highest rung, so to speak.

Edited May 3, 2012 by volgadon

[wenglund]

Lets put it this way, I haven't seen it connected to Adam and Eve in the Garden, nor does it seem likely. Before the fall, Adam would not have had to ascend as he was already on the highest rung, so to speak.

Metaphorically speaking, wouldn't they have ascended to the rung of divine speech by partaking of the forbidden fruit and becoming as the Gods, knowing good from evil?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[volgadon]

Metaphorically speaking, wouldn't they have ascended to the rung of divine speech by partaking of the forbidden fruit and becoming as the Gods, knowing good from evil?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

Not in most Jewish traditions. This is an instructive passage. http://books.google.com/books?id=Xg90BQI7vF8C&pg=PT83&dq=scholem+the+secret+of+the+tree+of+knowledge&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ixCiT_mdIYWaiAK3qeSJBw&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Adam separated the forces of evil from the forces of good, resulting in "impurity, and death and removal of the soul from the [supernal] soul..." "He caused destruction above and below..." "He thereby separated the Tree of Knowledge from the Tree of Life, and also separated his soul from from all the good qualities of the supernal soul, and united himself with the Evil Urge..."

[Storm Rider]

Volga, is there a discussion that God himself used written language or that God created written language? I am still trying to understand that the "word" is divine and carries power, but how does that power transfer to a representation of the word, but is not the word.

[wenglund]

Not in most Jewish traditions. This is an instructive passage. http://books.google....epage&q&f=false

Adam separated the forces of evil from the forces of good, resulting in "impurity, and death and removal of the soul from the [supernal] soul..." "He caused destruction above and below..." "He thereby separated the Tree of Knowledge from the Tree of Life, and also separated his soul from from all the good qualities of the supernal soul, and united himself with the Evil Urge..."

So, does Jewish tradition assume that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had the power to procreate (which power, as you said, is "dependent upon the divine potency inherent in pure, divine speech")?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[volgadon]

Volga, is there a discussion that God himself used written language or that God created written language?

Both views are found, though most sources gravitate to your second option, that is, God created written language, but he also used it himself to create the world. Some accounts even have the embodied letters vying for the right to be the primary agent of creation.

I am still trying to understand that the "word" is divine and carries power, but how does that power transfer to a representation of the word, but is not the word.

I think this quote from p. 252 of Howard Schwartz's Tree of Souls might answer your question. Bolding mine.

Basic kabbalistic doctrine holds that the interaction of the letters of a word is directly linked to what that word represents. Indeed, every object has at its essence the letters that make it up. Most people are oblivious to this inner truth, the letters glowing inside of every object. But the Tzaddikim—the righteous ones—are well aware of these letters and are even able to grasp them. Here Rabbi Nachman expands, as he often does, on the remarkable spiritual insight of the Tzaddik.

I'll add that letters were considered vessels of divine light in this world (their heavenly form is that of fire), somewhat analogous to our souls being contained in our bodies. Speech is one of the methods for actuating words, which are nothing more than formations of letters. I think that you are probably looking at letters as graphic representations of sounds, whereas the classic Jewish view is that letters are the essence, words being means of utilising their power in different combinations.

[volgadon]

So, does Jewish tradition assume that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had the power to procreate (which power, as you said, is "dependent upon the divine potency inherent in pure, divine speech")?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

I realised I never answered this. There was certainly an idea that they could engage in sex- one of the interpretations of the sin in the garden- but as for actual procreation, I want to check a few sources before answering further.

[SamIam]

So, does Jewish tradition assume that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had the power to procreate (which power, as you said, is "dependent upon the divine potency inherent in pure, divine speech")?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

For my self I think we are limiting our understanding of what it is to have the seeds of creation, long before Adam and Eve the seeds are invoked as a usage of letters and voice that is certainly approachable to the Book of Abraham message of the Gods commanded and watched until they were obeyed.:

From the Zohar

”At the outset the decision of the King made a tracing in the supernal effulgence (radiance), a lamp of scintillation (spark of light in the darkness), and there issued within the impenetrable recesses of the mysterious limitless a shapeless nucleus (vapor) enclosed in a ring, neither white, nor black, nor green nor of any color at all….There it sowed a sacred seed which was to generate for the benefit of the universe”

What is this seed? It consists of the Graven letters, the secret source of the Torah…vowel points combined with one another and formed… the voice which issued from their union. When this voice issued, there issued with it’s mate which comprises all the letters: hence it is written Ethhashammaim (the heavens) to wit the voice and its mate….. (The Zohar pg 64, 1984 second edition Soncino Press)

From these readings in the Zohar (there is so much more about this subject on the next 50 pages...) coupled with LDS theology it becomes clear there is a powerful power even in the choices of languages used to command the elements. However, even in the commanding it is still a process of seeds. Couple this with Science and all of the sudden there is a potential understanding never before illustrated with such visual clarity as in modern times.

This image: http://www.sdss.org/...6.milkyway.html

illustrates recent discoveries concerning the Milky Way Galaxy: Note just as the Zohar describes there is a newly discovered ring around the Milky Way. In our own solar system there are two rings The Kuiper Asteroid belt which encloses the four gaseous order of ringed planets, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter, and then between Mars and Jupiter there is another asteroid belt the goes full round the four inner rocky order of planets.

see http://solarsystem.n...anets/index.cfm for an interactive image that illustrates:

I have wondered if each ring is relative to the order of planet it is to bring forth and that the 3 concentric circles are successive plantings or seeds. In fact I have other material that illustrates that this pattern of ringed creation is consistent as they discover other galaxies and other suns with planets etc all surrounded in ringed matter...all this the result of a continuation of the seeds and the knowledge of commanding with language in an act of creation.

Edited June 25, 2012 by SamIam

[wenglund]

For my self I think we are limiting our understanding of what it is to have the seeds of creation, long before Adam and Eve the seeds are invoked as a usage of letters and voice that is certainly approachable to the Book of Abraham message of the Gods commanded and watched until they were obeyed.:

From these readings in the Zohar (there is so much more about this subject on the next 50 pages...) coupled with LDS theology it becomes clear there is a powerful power even in the choices of languages used to command the elements. However, even in the commanding it is still a process of seeds. Couple this with Science and all of the sudden there is a potential understanding never before illustrated with such visual clarity as in modern times.

This image: http://www.sdss.org/...6.milkyway.html

illustrates recent discoveries concerning the Milky Way Galaxy: Note just as the Zohar describes there is a newly discovered ring around the Milky Way. In our own solar system there are two rings The Kuiper Asteroid belt which encloses the four gaseous order of ringed planets, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter, and then between Mars and Jupiter there is another asteroid belt the goes full round the four inner rocky order of planets.

see http://solarsystem.n...anets/index.cfm for an interactive image that illustrates:

I have wondered if each ring is relative to the order of planet it is to bring forth and that the 3 concentric circles are successive plantings or seeds. In fact I have other material that illustrates that this pattern of ringed creation is consistent as they discover other galaxies and other suns with planets etc all surrounded in ringed matter...all this the result of a continuation of the seeds and the knowledge of commanding with language in an act of creation.

I am grateful for your response to my question. Very interesting.

I hope you don't mind if I ask yet one more question. In terms of power, does it matter whether the creative "words" were "spoken" in written or oral form?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[SamIam]

I am grateful for your response to my question. Very interesting.

I hope you don't mind if I ask yet one more question. In terms of power, does it matter whether the creative "words" were "spoken" in written or oral form?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

For the moment I will simply post from off the top of my head as I do not have my materials with me at this time. Over the years I have come to some conclusions.

Language can be imbued with power by the degree of energy created by the intent of the heart exercising the use of the Language. In fact, Language may best be characterized as an empty vessel that only draws upon the intent behind its use. It is also clear that the intent may have application independent of the spoken language. When the lady touches the hem of Christ and is healed, appearances are that He said no words prior to this event. The story line also makes it apparent that she has stored some words in her heart that may not have been uttered at the moment of the touching but they formed the idea upon which her earnest desires coalesced and were able to effect a change.

This is much like what I have gleaned from the Zohar in the pages around the quote I supplied above. The words form the expression around which the earnest desires of the heart form. Without the letters and the words the earnest desires seemingly do not have a focus of the expectation of how to act upon the impetus of the desires of the heart. This is just kind of how I have perceived what I am getting as I read through the Kabbalah materials that I have at my disposal. It is surely weak in understanding but that is just where I am at the moment.

The words are like the scaffolding that lays down the structure and form that the desires of the heart in earnest requirement create. As the creation process continues, more detailed and extensive ideas form which continue to influence the degree of the structures wholeness or goodness as is in the “and saw that it was good” statement. At the risk of being redundant I need to place my original Zohar quote to retain my continuity.

From the Zohar

”At the outset the decision of the King made a tracing in the supernal effulgence (radiance), a lamp of scintillation (spark of light in the darkness), and there issued within the impenetrable recesses of the mysterious limitless a shapeless nucleus (vapor) enclosed in a ring, neither white, nor black, nor green nor of any color at all….There it sowed a sacred seed which was to generate for the benefit of the universe”

What is this seed? It consists of the Graven letters, the secret source of the Torah…vowel points combined with one another and formed… the voice which issued from their union. When this voice issued, there issued with it’s mate which comprises all the letters: hence it is written Ethhashammaim (the heavens) to wit the voice and its mate….. (The Zohar pg 64, 1984 second edition Soncino Press)

In the Zohar all around this quote is a buildup in degrees, that I have interpreted to describing a detailed process of clothing a desire into the various trappings that mark the stages of its transition to the ultimate point of a tangible creation. Again I do not have my material with me for quotes but if memory serves it is like the very simplest form of a desire. This desire is clothed with a greater sense of defined yearning. The yearning continues to grow and we add meaning to the yearning by enveloping it in the very earliest forms of language the strokes that form the eventual letters that become the eventual words that become increasingly more defined until we have completed the wholeness of the original desire with all of the sustaining elements that we can now name it a seed. As such, it now embraces the capacity to take on a life of expansion as we feed and nurture the scaffolding of the germinating desire that is progressing in its form. It’s infant form possesses the foundations of meaning that will expand until it becomes the mature form of which can be said “it is good”

As I mentioned in my first post, I think to grasp these things we have to expand the reference point of our thinking. Continuation of the seeds has always been relative to creating spirit children until about 4 months ago when I was going back through some material I had read years before. I realized it is a much larger paradigm that I had ever comprehended before. I also remember the feeling at the time that my capacity to even engage what I was feeling was straining the very edges of what I could then grasp. Literally, I felt a sense of pushing out the boundaries of what my mind could conceive. I say this to get to the next level of seeing more than we usually see when we consider some very basic principles in the church.

Bruce R. McConkie

“Giving blessings and performing priesthood ordinances is often the most physically taxing labor which the Lord's true ministers ever perform. There is nothing perfunctory or casual about the performance of these holy ordinances; great physical exertion and intense mental concentration are part of the struggle to get that spirit of revelation so essential in an inspired blessing or other performance. (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 1: 319.)

<p>I have considered priesthood blessings a process of command and watch until you are obeyed but on a much more limited sphere of influence. We all can use the words of a priesthood blessing and in fact they become the voice that manifests the desires of our heart in behalf of that individual. However, in our lack of sealing to one another or lack of sense of being as one we limit the emotional ability to feel each other’s joys and sorrows thus the earnestness we are able to direct towards imbuing the words of the blessing with the power of the priesthood and faith. According to Joseph Smith the better we are at feeling for each other the better able we are to exercise our priesthood. The vehicle for this is the power of charity or the pure love of Christ. This love becomes the reservoir that we tap when we use the priesthood to command the elements and lesser intelligences to obey.

However, once again we have to expand our perception of that love. It is one thing to love the people we work with, however Moses 7 starting around 28 up through 64 or so has an underlying theme of how much God loves all of the creations of his hands. The earth seems personified, the heavens shed tears, all of creation suffers…Enoch in verse 41 is described as having his heart spread wide as eternity. Suddenly he could embrace the full depth, width and height of the eternal spectrum of all forms of creation or organized intelligences in the embrace of the heart in a sense of genuine compassion of understanding of their suffering and this is in addition to the more common sense of concern for his fellow man, the antediluvians.

END of PART 1

Edited June 26, 2012 by SamIam

[volgadon]

I am grateful for your response to my question. Very interesting.

I hope you don't mind if I ask yet one more question. In terms of power, does it matter whether the creative "words" were "spoken" in written or oral form?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

Written words have to be actuated somehow. The usual method was, of course, speech. Words meditated upon silently were still considered to have power, but nothing in comparison to the spoken word. Also, in order for a holy name to be given to someone, it had to be spoken. If words, or prayer, were spoken in great holiness, they were thought to result in automatic speech produced straight from the soul. This was actually an aspect of prophecy.

[wenglund]

Written words have to be actuated somehow. The usual method was, of course, speech. Words meditated upon silently were still considered to have power, but nothing in comparison to the spoken word. Also, in order for a holy name to be given to someone, it had to be spoken. If words, or prayer, were spoken in great holiness, they were thought to result in automatic speech produced straight from the soul. This was actually an aspect of prophecy.

Great! That was informative.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[Aliwe]

So, does Jewish tradition assume that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had the power to procreate (which power, as you said, is "dependent upon the divine potency inherent in pure, divine speech")?

Adam wasn't even able to speak his wife's name during their time Garden, because he didn't name her Eve until the terrible time when God cursed the land, and drove them out. Before that time, she was only "the woman". Only after she was given a name to mean mother of all the living did she bear a son.

[wenglund]

Adam wasn't even able to speak his wife's name during their time Garden, because he didn't name her Eve until the terrible time when God cursed the land, and drove them out. Before that time, she was only "the woman". Only after she was given a name to mean mother of all the living did she bear a son.

Very nice. Something to think about.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

Edited June 26, 2012 by wenglund

[SamIam]

I am grateful for your response to my question. Very interesting.

I hope you don't mind if I ask yet one more question. In terms of power, does it matter whether the creative "words" were "spoken" in written or oral form?

Part 2...

I consider it profitable to keep in mind that the JST translation of Genesis 9 seems to connect this expansion of Enoch’s heart with the rainbow covenant to never destroy every living creature of all flesh again:

(JST Genesis 9:17-23.)

17 And I will establish my covenant with you, which I made unto Enoch, concerning the remnants of your posterity.

18 And God made a covenant with Noah, and said, This shall be the token of the covenant I make between me and you, and for every living creature with you, and for perpetual generations;

19 I will set my bow in the cloud; and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

20 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember my covenant, which I have made between me and you, for every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

21 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself.

22 And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy;

23 And the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch.

This covenant then is connected in the JST Genesis 14 verses 27 reference to the office of a high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch. Then in verse 30 this order is connected to the power by faith to command the elements and be obeyed.

(JST Genesis 14:26.)

26 Now Melchizedek was a man of faith, who wrought righteousness; and when a child he feared God, and stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire.

27 And thus, having been approved of God, he was ordained an high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch,

28 It being after the order of the son of God; which order came, not by man, nor the will of man; neither by father nor mother; neither by beginning of days nor end of years; but of God;

29 And it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice, according to his own will, unto as many as believed on his name.

30 For God having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself; that every one being ordained after this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course;

All of this for me is the LDS equivalent of the Merkabah literature, within the constraints of the two different languages and models of analogical development. Connecting the three resources though paints a complete image of the potential requirements of being able to have the power to command intelligence. As Enochs heart swells to embrace and love all of Gods creations he acquires one of the conditions to be one that commands intelligences – to love them. Next a covenant is made with Enoch to never destroy any of these creations by water and this covenant is finally connected back to Enoch in a circle to the power that enables him to command the intelligences.

My point is that the vessels of letters and language are fed by the degree of love we can generate to fill them. Thus charity conquers all is more true than I have previously considered as it is the purest fuel to imbue language with the energy and light required to sustain the seeds of life at all levels of the organizations and commanding of intelligence. Other references that add nuance to what I have already written are these:

Joseph Smith, under date of March 14, 1843, wrote in his journal: ‘Elder Jedediah M. Grant enquired of me the cause of my turning pale and losing strength last night while blessing children. I told him that I saw Lucifer would exert his influence to destroy the children that I was blessing, and I strove with all the faith and spirit that I had to seal upon them a blessing that would secure their lives upon the earth; and so much virtue went out of me into the children, that I became weak, from which I have not yet recovered; and I referred to the case of the woman touching the hem of the garment of Jesus. The virtue referred to is the spirit of life; and a man who exercises great faith in administering to the sick, blessing little children, or confirming, is liable to become weakened.’ (Teachings, pp. 280-281.)”

2 Timothy 3:5

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:

“Joseph [smith], at this time, rebuked the Elders for administering the form without the power. Said he, ‘Let the Elders either obtain the power of God to heal the sick, or let them cease to administer the form without the power.” (autobiography of Parley P. Pratt)

So to summarize, written or oral, is not the only source of power to me. There is a capacity of the written language to accomplish certain things but I believe that when spoken in purity there is a power in the spoken language that may exceed the written for the purpose of creative processes. Although I am open to some other expansions that I have collected quotes on at home that seem to imply that the inherent qualities of certain languages can also add to the power of that language to convey larger building blocks to form the scaffolding. To try to briefly expand for understanding… Joseph Smith commented that Hebrew was the closest language to the Adamic still in existence. There are some traits about Hebrew that I find very intriguing. Each letter that forms a word also contributes meaning to the word. Then one can break it down further and each stroke that forms the letter overlays additional meaning to the letter. Most words originate from 3 letter Hebrew roots a symbol of creative priority as illustrated in this statement by

Brigham Young:

It is true that the earth was organized by three distinct characters, namely, Eloheim, Yahovah, and Michael, these three forming a quorum, as in all heavenly bodies, and in organizing element, perfectly represented in the Deity, as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. .( Journal of Discourses, “Self-Government—Mysteries—Recreation and Amusements, Not in Themselves Sinful—Tithing—Adam, Our Father and Our God”, A Sermon by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 9, 1852.)

So roots of three letters that form most Hebrew words embrace not just the general meaning of the word but they also embrace a secondary and tertiary layer of meaning as well.

For instance, I can’t go into the detail just for the lack of time but some people see the 3 consonant word for peace, Shalom שָׁלוֹם, (the vav looks like a fourth letter but it is functioning as a vowel) as conveying the combination meaning of peace and then the second layer of meaning as to crush or destroy the power that establishes chaos. So to have true peace one must crush the power of the adversary. There is an additional layer of meaning arrived at by analyzing the strokes that comprise the each aspect of the letter.

So is it possible that the power of a language is enhanced when the letters and strokes magnify the individual capacity of a word, as a vessel, to convey layers of meaning that infused with knowledge and understanding of the user as well as earnest desires of the heart could convey a more condensed and magnified sense of power than say the same word in English.

For instance consider what has happened to the word peace in English. In the sense of commanding the intelligences, if one stated “be at peace” as a priesthood directive, he might in English convey nuances of meaning that Hebrew would never allow for its redundant affirmation of meaning in progressively tighter layers of definition. If you used the word peace in English and in your heart you subscribed to certain adulterous meanings that the word has begun to carry in recent years then your use of the word would be tainted by the desires of your heart as they imbued the word with the power to be a force.

Consider that in today’s vernacular peace has become synonymous with tolerating evil. How do we teach that we get along in society? We teach that we must be more tolerant of behaviors that in many cases have as their origin the seeds of evil. Alternate lifestyles, different religious paradigms that oppose the truth, the right to life of an unborn fetus and so on are classed as activities that we must accept as part of the societal paradigm and that we maintain peace by not countering these activities but by tolerating them. Being more tolerant of these behaviors in theory may seem like they enable a society to integrate the differing values of its members in a peaceful fashion but we only need to look around us and realize this is an incorrect perception. We are descending further and further into a maelstrom of chaos. Which is exactly what the Hebrew, by its very foundational layers of meaning does not permit- In truth, the purest application of the Hebrew use of the word peace must embrace the destruction of the power of evil.

So while this is not a treatise on societal woes, using the example of the word peace shows that not all languages have the intrinsic capacity to protect the purity of meaning of each word as does another. Hebrew is unique, in my understanding, amongst all languages for this capacity. However, similar principles are found in Japanese and Chinese and the formation of the forms they use in creating their written language. Still neither of these retains the semblance of the creative foundation of three and the overtones of relating these meanings to the theological implications of the mind of God and his expectations of how to define the meaning of a word and preserve that meaning line upon line precept upon precept in the actual formations that comprise the scaffolding upon which the meaning is built.

When Mormon laments the inability to use Hebrew in the records of the plates he makes an interesting observation:

Mormon 9:33

33 And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record.

More or less most languages can convey a majority of ideas after the manner of the meaning intrinsic in the use of its vocabulary. So what is lost by not using Hebrew. Cannot reformed Egyptian covey an idea of peace as well as Hebrew? Perhaps not if it lacks some of the built in characteristics that protect the sanctity of meaning as does Hebrew. True Egyptian as a hieroglyphic form is able to convey ideology but I feel it lacks some of the Theological constraining potential that is retained in the Hebrew. This then is a possible intent of the written language. Perhaps it is to preserve sufficient meaning upon which a person can build to become powerful in the actual speaking of a language.

In my mind, I believe that the Adamic language will be an even more pure language and thus capable of a greater conveyance of power as a more pure vessel of meaning around which to shape its use.

In Ether, I wonder if that is not part of what is conveyed in the following:

Ether 12:23

And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;

Something is potentially different in the capacity of speaking versus writing a language. Based upon everything I have written thus far, I wonder if that difference is the active force of the speaker imbuing his use of language with the completeness of the power of his pure understanding in love of the intelligences he seeks to influence in the use of his language. For this conclusion I draw from an observation I have made in 3 Nephi when Christ has appeared to the Nephites. Note the use of the word “command” in each of these instances:

3 Nephi 11:20

20 And the Lord commanded him that he should arise. And he arose and stood before him.

3 Nephi 17:11

11 And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought.

3 Nephi 18:3

3 And when the disciples had come with bread and wine, he took of the bread and brake and blessed it; and he gave unto the disciples and commanded that they should eat.

3 Nephi 18:2

2 And while they were gone for bread and wine, he commanded the multitude that they should sit themselves down upon the earth.

If you think about it the use of the word command from our perspective takes on a bit of a militaristic demand. However, when one considers Christ and the nature of his peaceful demeanor, and loving nature, one must accept this is not predicated upon the nature of his tone or the use of terminologies that follow the patterns of a command. He does NOT say in demanding tone, “Hey, You , yeah you people in that multitude - SIT DOWN!!

Instead we have to grasp the reality that Christ’s perfect understanding and capacity to imbue his use of language embraces all of the creative influence and power of a being who loves so completely that the natural need of a truth influenced intelligence, such as these people that remained after the destruction of his coming, is to take his every word, his every sentence, his every expression as an expectation of obedience from a desire to sustain his love of us with our love of him. So while it may lack any sense of force or compulsion in his request, it is received as a command for the urgent need of his creations to sustain his every desire. Such in my mind is the purest use of language and the reason we see on several occasions this idea:

3 Nephi 17:15

15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.

There may be a word that can be written that can convey some aspect of meaning of his prayers, but the written word cannot so easily embrace the living power that can be imbued in the spoken word, when spoken by a being of pure love such as Jesus Christ.

You will notice throughout this document uses of various terminologies that describe aspects of the creative process that I believe God uses to continue the formation of his children. We are told to desire properly, and to think good thoughts. We add earnestness, and to build upon that we pray and plead which furthers our desires and gives them trappings of words and meaning. We continue to add upon these things and God in return, if our words and trappings of desire are correct he continues to influence our maturation.

Wade, I have tried to expound on some of the thoughts of my mind concerning the question you asked. I apologize for the length but I thank you for asking the question as it generated a coalescence of thoughts that I have never organized so well as this. Not to say that this will make a hill of beans sense to anyone but me, but I very much appreciated the opportunity to write this all down for my own future pondering.

Edited June 26, 2012 by SamIam

[volgadon]

Great! That was informative.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

There are some Hasidic sources detailing this practice which I'd have posted time permitting.

[wenglund]

Wade, I have tried to expound on some of the thoughts of my mind concerning the question you asked. I apologize for the length but I thank you for asking the question as it generated a coalescence of thoughts that I have never organized so well as this. Not to say that this will make a hill of beans sense to anyone but me, but I very much appreciated the opportunity to write this all down for my own future pondering.

Don't apologize. I think I understood what you were saying, and it made a lot of sense to me. In other words, it resonated with some of the very power you attempted to explain. I will be pondering and feasting on it for some time.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[wenglund]

There are some Hasidic sources detailing this practice which I'd have posted time permitting.

That would be appreciated...as long as they are in English.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[volgadon]

That would be appreciated...as long as they are in English.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

I could post them in Yiddish so neither of us would understand. Can't say fairer than that.

Edited June 26, 2012 by volgadon

[wenglund]

I could post them in Yiddish so neither of us would understand. Can't say fairer than that.

Maybe the power of the words will be manifest nevertheless.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[volgadon]

Maybe the power of the words will be manifest nevertheless.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

That would be some feat. To the pure, and all that.

[ANACO]

Hasidism preserved a remarkable tradition of the creative, divine powers of speech. The power of speech, of course, is connected to letter esotericism.

In Judaism there was an early and sustained fascination with letters, their power and meaning. The roots of letter esotericism could be said to go back as far as the book of Genesis itself. God commands, things obey. This process was accomplished by the medium of speech. In Pirkei Avot 5:1, one of the earliest rabbinic texts, we read that God created the world by ten utterances. As speech consists of sounds represented by letters, it is logical to conclude that letters themselves have power and intrinsic meaning. Letters have individual sounds and in different combinations yield different words with different meanings. Ayin-Nun-Gimel is oneg- delight. Change the sequence and you get nega- blight or disease. God didn't say "kartina maslom" and there was light. He said "wa-yehi or." For the ancient Jewish exegetes the word choice wasn't arbitrary or randomn.

As an example of this, the Tabernacle in the wilderness was believed to be modelled after the cosmos. Bezalel the architect and craftsman who constructed the tabernacle, knew,

That is to say, Bezalel knew which letters were used in which combinations in order to bring about the desired results.

In 3rd Enoch the theme of mystical creation by letters is continued.

The five openings of the mouth is part of the classification system the Sefer Yetzirah uses for the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each "opening" is a position of the tongue for producing speech.

In a discourse by the Hasidic master R. Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl (1730-1798), the letter heh, which changed Abram's name to Abraham, symbolised the five openings. Abraham was given mastery over the openings and the powers they regulated. According to the Chernobyler, in each letter of the alphabet is hidden some of the divine light which is what brings life and blessings into the world.

The power of procreation is linked to the power of creation, both being dependant upon the divine potency inherent in pure, divine speech. I did not include R. Menahem Nahum's discussion of the rung of sacred speech. Rungs of course are what allow one to climb a ladder.

Martin Buber, in his Ten Rungs, adapted a Hasidic interpretation of Jacob's ladder, emphasising the universal, ethical aspect.

The more traditional formulation is theurgic- by performing the commandments, man not only draws divine power into this world, but increases the power of Heaven above. In Joseph's dream, after all, the angels both descended and ascended upon the ladder.

For the Chernobyler, this is achieved primarily by means of pure, holy speech.

R. Meir ha-Levi of Apta, a later Hasid, provides another description of this process.

Until Abraham perfected by loving service- acts of worship motivated by love- his ascent to the rung of sacred speech, he lacked the power to bring forth offspring. Having attained that rung, Abraham shared the divine power to create and to produce life. Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl's homily stops short of pursuing the implications to their logical, but radical conclusion. Man is capable of attaining a level of holiness in which not only is God's power delegated to him, he governs the worlds also. This form of theosis is not post-mortal, nor is it eschatological, but available in the here-and-now through elevating the profane and mundane to holiness.

[1]Babylonian Talmud, t. Berachot 55a.

[2]Rachel Elior, "Jewish Mysticism: The Infinite Expression of Freedom," p. 108.

[3]Arthur Green, "Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl: Upright Practices, The Light of the Eyes (Classics of Western Spirituality)," pg. 161-163.

[4]Martin Buber, "Ten Rungs: Collected Hasidic Sayings," p. 34.

[5]R. Aharon Shemuel ha-Cohen, translated in Moshe Idel, "Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic," p. 143.

[6]Ibid, p. 204.

http://calba-savua.b...-of-speech.html

I'm impressed Volgadon. Seriously and sincerely.

Is this the manner of teaching that Nephi was referring to as recorded in the 25th chapter of the second book of Nephi? And his brother in the fourth chapter of Jacob?

I've always been curious what Nephi was referring to when he wrote "concerning the manner of the Jews."

With kind regards.