divine essencefeatured in 30 works

HaShem and Elokim (The Two Names)

ha-SHEM ("the Name") and el-o-HEEM

Two of God's primary names in Jewish tradition — one associated with mercy, one with justice — understood as complementary dimensions of a single divine reality.

Jewish tradition recognizes that the Torah uses different names for God, and the two most prominent — the Tetragrammaton (rendered as HaShem, 'the Name') and Elokim — came to be associated with distinct divine qualities. HaShem is traditionally linked to mercy, compassion, and God's transcendent essence. Elokim is linked to judgment, power, and God's presence within creation as the enforcer of order and consequence. Rabbinic literature already draws this distinction; it became a major theme in medieval Jewish philosophy and mysticism.

Kabbalistic thought developed the idea further, placing these two names within an elaborate map of divine attributes (sefirot) and arguing that the world depends on their balance. The Zohar and later Lurianic Kabbalah saw the relationship between these names as reflecting the dynamic interplay of mercy and judgment that sustains all of existence. Hasidic teachers carried this further still, teaching that recognizing both names — in prayer, in daily experience, in moments of blessing and difficulty — is itself a spiritual practice.

Beneath all the theological elaboration, the core idea is simple: the one God encompasses what looks like opposing qualities. Unlimited compassion and clear moral accountability are not contradictions but two facets of a single reality.

How it traveled

Sha'arei Orah
Guadalajara · 1260
explains
Sha'arei Tzedek
Castile · 1265
explains
Zohar
Guadalajara · 1280
explains
Tikkunei Zohar
Guadalajara · 1280
redefines
Ohr HaSekhel
Zaragoza (Saragossa) · 1285
explains
Zohar Chadash
Guadalajara · 1290
explains
Ma'arekhet HaElokut
Guadalajara · 1295
explains
Recanati on the Torah
Recanati · 1300
redefines
Sefer HaKanah
Castile · 1380
explains
Avodat HaKodesh (Ibn Gabbai)
Cairo · 1523
redefines
Maggid Meisharim
Tzfat · 1545
explains
Ketem Paz on Zohar
Tzfat · 1561
redefines
Sha'ar HaMitzvot
Tzfat · 1565
explains
Sha'ar HaPesukim
Tzfat · 1570
explains
Sha'ar HaKavanot
Tzfat · 1570
explains
Sha'ar Ma'amarei Rashbi
Tzfat · 1570
explains
Pri Etz Chaim
Tzfat · 1572
explains
Sefer Etz Chaim
Tzfat · 1573
explains
Reshit Chokhmah
Tzfat · 1575
explains
Megalleh Amukkot on Parashat VaEtchanan
Krakow (Cracow) · 1607
explains
Sha'ar HaHakdamot
Tzfat · 1610
explains
Sha'ar Ruach HaKodesh
Damascus · 1610
explains
Chesed LeAvraham
Hebron · 1618
explains
Ohr HaChammah on Zohar
Tzfat · 1620
redefines
Mikdash Melekh, RaMaZ Commentary on Zohar
Tzfat · 1680
explains
Mekor Mayim Chayim on Baal Shem Tov
Medzhybizh (Ukraine) · 1700
explains
Shomer Emunim
Livorno · 1720
explains
Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah
Padua · 1730
redefines
HaGra on Sefer Yetzirah Gra Version
Vilna (Vilnius) · 1730
explains
Maaseh Rokeach on Mishnah
Amsterdam · 1735
explains

Key passages(20)

Recanati on the Torah, Noach:28↗explains

Recanati on the Torah · Menachem Recanati · 1250 CE