In honor of Israel’s 75th birthday, Israel365 is excited to launch a new series of essays that will unlock the secrets of the Hebrew Bible!
Excerpted from Rabbi Akiva Gersh’s forthcoming book, 75 Hebrew Words You Need to Understand the Bible, these essays illuminate the connection between related Hebrew words, revealing Biblical secrets only accessible through Hebrew.
Enjoy the series – and happy 75th birthday to the State of Israel!
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OLAM
OH-LAHM
WORLD
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Olam, Hebrew for āworld,ā is frequently used in the form of l’olam, meaning āforever.ā When the Bible describes Godās dominion over the olam, the world, it does so by highlighting that Godās dominion is lāolam, infinite and eternal.
Olam shares a grammatical root with the Hebrew word neāelam, meaning āhidden.ā Jewish thinkers explain that many more worlds exist beyond the physical one that we experience in our everyday lives. These are the upper spiritual realms, including the realm of the angels, that both influence and are influenced by our physical world, specifically through human actions. The higher the world, the more singular it becomes, tending towards unity. At the very top of all of the worlds is the pure unity of God. To the human eye, however, the deeper aspects of our word remain hidden. We struggle to see and comprehend the way God is directly involved in each and every moment of our lives. The worldās true reality remains hidden from our eyes.
The Kabbalists explain that God created the world in order to give, as the verse states, āI declare, āA world of kindness will be builtāā (Psalms 89:3). Before the world was created only God Himself existed, and there was no one to give to. God created the world so that there would be creations capable of receiving what He wants to give. āAnd God created man in His own imageā (Genesis 1:27). By giving to others, man emulates his Creator and, together with God, fulfills the purpose of the worldās creation.
