The Book of Raziel the Great

"May God Almighty original: "Shaddai" be at your hand, the God of your father, and may He help you; and may God Almighty bless you with fruitfulness and multiplication." "God Almighty appeared to me in Luz... behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you." Why is this so? Because when you calculate the hidden letters of the name Shaddai The letters used to spell out the name: Shin (S-Y-N), Dalet (D-L-T), Yod (Y-V-D). The "hidden" parts are the extra letters, removing the revealed letters, the letters Y, N, L, T, Y, and D equal 500. A person is obligated to father a son and a daughter, who together possess 500 limbs: 248 for the male and 252 for the female. The female has four more than the male, located around the womb. Likewise, the phrase "Be fruitful and multiply" original: "Pru U’rvu" has a numerical value Gematria: A system where Hebrew letters represent numbers of 500, because that specific Name is over fruitfulness and multiplication. Therefore, when people pray ⬜ for children, they should pray using this Name. Similarly, the world is a journey of 500 years.

The secrets hidden in the name Shaddai were revealed when the heavens were joined and expanded. God said to the heavens, "Enough!" original: "Dai," a play on the name Shaddai, for without the name Shaddai, there would be no limit to His service. Shaddai is mentioned by the prophets of the nations in "the vision of the Almighty" original: "Machazeh Shaddai", "he who sees the vision of the Almighty," and "he who abandons the fear of the Almighty." The name Shaddai also guards against harmful spirits, as it is said, "He shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty" in the "Psalm of Mishaps" Psalm 91, often used for protection. For this reason, we write Shaddai on the Mezuzah, and on the outside of the Mezuzah case, we make an opening so that the name Shaddai can be read and recognized to drive away harmful spirits. This is because the name of the Lord original: "YHVH" in the Atbash cipher Atbash: A substitution cipher where the first letter is replaced by the last, the second by the second-to-last, etc. becomes Mtzp"tz. The letter Shin (300) from Shaddai corresponds to the Shin (300) found in the ciphered Holy Name. This is sufficient for the wise. It also corresponds to the 14 letters of the phrase Kuzu B'muchsaz original: "כוזו במוכסז".

I will now explain to you the secret of these 14 letters of the Holy Name: Kuzu is the name YHVH (The Lord) in a "neighboring" letter cipher where each letter is replaced by the one following it in the alphabet. The Kaf follows Yod, the Vav follows Heh, the Zayin follows Vav, and the Vav follows Heh. Similarly, Bmuchsaz corresponds to "Eloheinu" (Our God): Bet follows Aleph, Mem follows Lamed, Vav follows Heh, Kaf follows Yod, Samekh follows Nun, and Zayin follows Vav. Thus, these 14 letters correspond to the three names "The Lord, Our God, The Lord" original: "YHVH Eloheinu YHVH". This is why we write these 14 letters on the reverse side [of the Mezuzah parchment] corresponding to those names. We also place the name Shaddai in the Tefillin Tefillin: Ritual leather boxes containing Torah verses, worn during prayer: the letter Shin is on the head-piece, the Dalet is at the knot on the neck, and the Yod is on the hand. Shaddai also corresponds to the Patriarchs: Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. The final letters of their names original: "Yaakov, Yitzchak, Avraham" in the Atbash cipher equal Shaddai. If you add the count of the Torah and the people of Israel (who are called "Jacob"), the total is 216. If you take the first and last letters of the Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and Israel, the total is 216. Likewise, the 13 letters of the three Patriarchs' names correspond to the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. There are also three Yods and one Aleph, corresponding to the Divine Name of 63 A specific expansion of the Tetragrammaton associated with the Sephirah of Binah/Understanding.

Therefore, it is said: "And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty." Furthermore, the sages said that the "hidden" numerical value of Shaddai is 500, and the years of the Patriarchs' lives also relate to 500: Abraham (175) + Isaac (180) + Jacob (147) = 502, corresponding to the Heavens, the Earth, and the 500-year journey. This is what is meant by "to give to your forefathers... as the days of the heavens above the earth." He explained that "the days of the heavens above the earth" refers to a journey of 500 years, which was the length of the Patriarchs' combined lives.

The letter Shin on the head-Tefillin is equal to Jacob, as it is written: "Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Tefillin are called "Glory" original: "Pe’er", as it is said, "Bind your glory upon you." During the destruction of the Temple, they were cast to the ground, as it is written: "He has cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel." The word "Tefillin" also contains the letters of "Glory." Because of this loss of glory, on the fast of the Ninth of Av, we place ashes in the spot where the Tefillin are worn, until the days of the Messiah, when we shall "give them glory instead of ashes."

The Sefer Yetzirah The Book of Creation: An ancient mystical text says: "He made the letter Shin king, tied a crown to it, and formed the Heavens with it," for the Heavens are made of fire original: "Esh". Thus, the image of Jacob is in the Heavens, and through the letter Shin (which starts the word for fire), He created fire. It is written: "The house of Jacob shall be a fire." Thus, the Shin corresponds to them. Jacob also wrestled with an angel of fire. Furthermore, the Shin has three branches, corresponding to his three names: Jacob, Israel, and Yeshurun. Moreover, the Shin is on the Tefillin cases because his likeness is engraved on the Throne of Glory; he is like the Cherub upon whom God rode when He came to Egypt, as it is written: "And He rode upon a Cherub and flew." This is the meaning of "And Israel saw the mighty hand." It is written "And Israel saw the great hand"—referring to Israel the Elder the Patriarch Jacob. The people of Israel saw the form of Jacob at the Sea and sang: "Then Israel sang... The Lord shall reign forever and ever." Why Jacob's form? Because he represented Truth, as it is written: "You give truth to Jacob." No spiritual "waste" original: "Psulot" - meaning wicked descendants came from him. Regarding his daughter Dinah, who was conceived by Shechem: she gave birth to Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Phera. The tribes wanted to kill her so that people would not say there was immorality in the house of Jacob. Jacob wrote the Great Name, engraved it on a golden plate original: "Tzitz", and the angel Michael took her and brought her to the wife of Poti-Phera, who raised her as her daughter; later, Joseph married her. Around the Shin of the Tefillin, there are 12 stitches, corresponding to the twelve tribes, with three stitches on each side. Similarly, three tribes were at each foot of Jacob's bed when he was carried out of Egypt.

The letter Dalet corresponds to the neck, representing Isaac, who stretched out his neck to be slaughtered to sanctify the Name of the Holy One, Blessed be He. The Dalet is on the nape of the neck; just as the entire neck is valid for ritual slaughter, the entire nape is valid for the "pinching" of a bird sacrifice original: "Melikah". Therefore, one shaves the hair on the neck so that the Tefillin strap sits directly on the skin; this is interpreted as a reference to Isaac. The verse "The hair original: "Dalat" of your head is like purple" also alludes to the Dalet corresponding to the neck. Furthermore, the Dalet extends upwards and downwards because "Zevul" The fourth of the seven heavens is the fourth firmament, where the Temple is built. Similarly, the Tabernacle had four coverings: 1) Blue hangings, 2) Goat hair, 3) Ram skins, and 4) Tachash skins, with the Divine Presence original: "Shekhinah" beneath them. Isaac was bound upon the altar, which corresponds to the Altar on High; therefore, the Dalet (the number 4) corresponds to him. The Sefer Yetzirah says: "He made the letter Dalet king, tied a knot for it, and created Mars in the fifth firmament." Mars is close to the Sun and receives from the Sun heat and dryness like fire. Thus, the Dalet corresponds to Isaac, who was an "ascent-offering to the fires." Mars is dry as fire and is appointed over heat, wrath, and anger. Therefore, when the Holy One, Blessed be He, is angry, He remembers Isaac as if he were being burned, as it is written: "May He turn your burnt offering to ashes, Selah"—this refers to the ashes of Isaac.

The letter Yod corresponds to Abraham, who was tested with ten The value of Yod trials. This is seen in the Tefillin of the hand, placed near the "house" the body, signifying that "Abraham was one" singular in his faith. The Sefer Yetzirah says: "He made the letter Yod king, tied a crown-knot to it, and created Virgo with it." Just as Abraham was as dear to his Creator as a groom to a bride who is a virgin. It was created with ⬜ the Yod as a kidney, for counsel and advice come from the kidneys, as it is written: "My kidneys instruct me," and "He shall remove it toward the counsel/kidneys." This corresponds to the kidneys which give advice. It is said in the Midrash Shocher Tov regarding Abraham: ⬜ "I have lifted my hand to the Lord." The Yod also corresponds to the heart, as it is written: "And You found his heart faithful before You." Furthermore, the name of the Lord original: "Y-Y" corresponds to Abraham because the Holy One, Blessed be He, foresaw...