Nefesh HaChayim, Gate II 2:3

והענין כי מלת ברוך. אינו לשון תהלה ושבח כמו ששומה בפי ההמון. שהרי כשאמר לר' ישמעאל בני ברכני לא אמר שם שום שבח בברכתו אלא תפלה ובקשת רחמים. וכן בב''מ (קי''ד א') אמרינן וברכך יצא הקדש שא''צ ברכה. ופריך הש''ס ולא והא כתיב ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ה' כו'. And the matter of the word “blessed⁵³⁴Heb.: ba-rookh, the first word of most blessings.” is not an expression of attributing glory and giving praise as is commonly accepted among the masses, for when He said to Rabbee Yishmael: “Yishmael, my child, bless me” (Berakhot 7a), he didn’t utter there any praise in his blessing, rather a prayer and a request for mercy⁵³⁵Implying that God wants and needs (so to speak) man’s blessing, and that man effects something important via blessings.. And in the same context⁵³⁶Heb.: v’khein in Bava M’tzee-ah (114a) they stated: “‘and he will bless you’ (D’varim 24:13)—this excludes hekdeish which doesn’t require a blessing”⁵³⁷Which would seem to imply that God does not need (so to speak) man’s blessing.. And then the Talmud argues that this is not correct, and therefore it is written; “and you shall eat and be satisfied and bless God…” (D’varim 8:10).⁵³⁸Rav Chayyim brings this case from Bava M’tzee-ah to show that God needs (so to speak) blessing and that the purpose of blessing is not praise. The Talmud is discussing the case of a poor person who receives a loan and deposits a security article with the creditor. If the poor person needs the security article to survive, the creditor must return it, and as a result the poor person blesses the creditor. The Talmud then posits the case of a poor person who is a debtor to the Temple for a hekdeish contribution. The text states that in the context of this case, the debtor does not bless God. This might be taken as proof that God doesn’t require blessing. To counter that argument, the Talmud then brings proof from a verse about birkat ha-ma-zone (grace after meals) that one must bless God. It then teaches that the Temple need not return a security article for a hekdeish contribution, as it doesn’t fall in the category of charity, and that is the reason that no blessing of God occurs.

אבל האמת כי ברוך פירושו לשון תוספת וריבוי וכענין קח נא את ברכתי גו'. וברך את לחמך. וברך פרי בטנך וגו'. והרבה כיוצא במקרא. שא''א לפרשם לשון תהלה ושבח אלא לשון תוספת ורבוי. However, the truth is that ba-rookh, its meaning is an expression of increase and expansion, and consonant with the context of (Berakhot 7a) “accept, please, my b’rakha…” (B’reishit 33:11), and “and He will bless your food” (Shemot 23:25), and “and He will bless the fruit of your womb…” (D’varim 7:13), and many others similar to these in the text, so that it’s impossible to translate them as expressions of attributing glory and giving praise; rather [it’s] an expression of increase and expansion.

וכ''כ בפע''ח שער הקדישים פ''א ז''ל סוד ברוך בכל מיני רבויין. וכ''ה שם סוף שער הבריאה וספ''ב משער העמידה ובריש פ''ג שם ובשער השבת ריש פי''ב ובשער תפלת ר''ה פ''ג ע''ש וכ''כ הרשב''א ז''ל בענין ישמעאל בני ברכני ע''ש: And so it is written in the Pri Etz Chayyim, Sha-ar Ha-kadishim, chapter 1, and this is what it says: “The hidden meaning of ba-rookh is many kinds of expansion”. And so it is too at the end of the Sha-ar Ha-b’reeya, and at the end of chapter two of the Sha-ar Ha-ahmeeda⁵⁴⁵Ahmeeda (lit. standing) is an alternate name for the primary prayer service, recited thrice daily. It originally consisted of eighteen blessings, accounting for another of its names: eighteen blessings (Heb.: shmo-neh es-rei). It is also called, simply, prayer (Heb.: t’fee-la)., and at the beginning of chapter three there, and in the Sha-ar Ha-shabbat in the beginning of chapter twelve, and in the Sha-ar T’feelaht Rosh Ha-shanna, refer there. And so too wrote the RaShb”A⁵⁴⁶Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (1235—1310), a Spanish Talmudist who was a student of the RaMBa”N and Rabbeinu Yona. (OBM) in regard to the context of “Yishmael, my child, bless me”. Refer there [for more details].

אמנם ענין הברכה לו ית''ש. אין הכוונה לעצמות אדון יחיד ב''ה כביכול. חלילה וחלילה. כי הוא מרומם מעל כל ברכה. אבל הענין כמ''ש בזו' דקב''ה סתים וגליא. כי עצמות א''ס ב''ה סתים מכל סתימין ואין לכנותו ח''ו בשום שם כלל אפילו בשם הוי''ה ב''ה ואפי' בקוצו של יו''ד דבי'. However the context of blessing Him (blessed be His name), the intention is not [aimed] towards the Essence⁵⁴⁷Heb.: ahtzmoot. By “the Essence”, R. Chayyim is hinting at that which is beyond any descriptive name that is based on our perceptions of God’s manifestations in the world. (so to speak) of the One Master (blessed is He), (never! never!), for He is far, far above any blessing. Rather the context is as is stated in the Zohar (Ehmore 98, and in other places), that the Holy One (blessed be He) is [both] revealed and hidden. For the Essence of the Ein Sofe (blessed is He) is the most hidden of the hiddens, and can’t be assigned any name at all, not even the name YHV”H (blessed is He), nor even to the top thorn of its letter Yud⁵⁴⁸The letter Yud (the first letter of the name YHV”H), has an upwards pointing apex in the shape of a thorn. If we consider that each letter of the name YHV”H refers to one of the four worlds, with the Yud referring to the world of Ahtzeeloot, then the thorn at the top of the Yud points to what is above (or before) Ahtzeeloot..

(ואף גם מה שבז''הק מכנהו ית' בשם אין סוף איננו כנוי עליו ית''ש אלא הכוונה על השגתנו אותו מצד כחות הנשפעים מאתו בהתחברותו ברצונו להעולמות. ולזאת כנוהו א''ס ולא אין ראשית. כי באמת מצד עצמותו ית''ש אין לו לא סוף ולא ראשית. רק מצד השגתינו כחותיו ית'. הלא כל השגתינו הוא רק ראשית. אבל אין סוף להגיע בהשגה להשיג את כחותיו ית' הנשפעים.) And though the Zohar refers to Him (blessed be He) with the name Ein Sofe, it’s not a descriptive name for Him (blessed be His name). Rather the intention is relative to how we perceive Him, from the perspective of the forces that are affected by Him via his purposeful relationship with the worlds. And for this reason He is referred to as “Without End” and not “Without Beginning⁵⁴⁹Heb.: ein rei-sheet”, for in truth from the perspective of His Essence (blessed be His name) He has no end and no beginning; [it’s] only from our perspective of His powers (blessed be He). It’s that all of our understanding is just a beginning, but there’s no final destination at which we can arrive with an understanding of His powers (blessed be His name) that influence [the world].

ומה שמושג אצלינו קצת ואנו מכנים ומתארים כמה תארים ושמות וכנויים ומדות. כמו שמצינום בתורה ובכל מטבע התפלה. כולם הם רק מצד התחברותו יתברך אל העולמות והכחות מעת הבריאה. להעמידם ולהחיותם ולהנהיגם כרצונו ית''ש. (והם אשר קראום בשם השתלשלות הספירות). And what we’re able to grasp to some small degree, and [that] we [can] name and describe with a number of:
1. names that are physically descriptive,
2. names that are descriptive of relationship,
3. names that describe behavioral qualities, and
4. names that describe personality qualities⁵⁵⁰Heb.: t’arim, shei-mote, v’khi-noo-yim, u’mee-dote. There are at least four different methods to developing names for things. We can assign a name related to how something appears, or one that’s a description based on its relationship to us, or one that refers to a behavioral quality, or a personality quality., as we’ve encountered in the Torah and in the various expressions of prayer,
all of them are only from the perspective of His (blessed be He) relationship with the worlds and the powers from the moment of the creation, to set them up, to sustain them, and to control them according to His will (blessed be His name), and those are what are intended by the phrase: “unfolding of the s’feerote⁵⁵¹The “unfolding of the s’feerote” describes how the worlds are connected and attached, and how “light” flows between and within them.”.

ולפי כל שנויי פרטי סדרי ההנהגה שמשתלשל ונמשך לזה העולם אם לדין. אם לחסד. אם לרחמים. על ידי כחות העליונים והתמזגותם. משתנים השמות והכנויים והתארים. שלכל ענין פרטי מסדרי ההנהגה מיוחד לו כנוי ושם פרטי שכן מורים פירושם של כל התארים. שהם מצד הכחות הברואים כמו רחום וחנון פי' רחמנות וחנינה על הברואי'. And the names, appellations and descriptions [used to refer to God] vary according to the distinctions in the details of the control process that unfold and are drawn to this world (whether for judgment, compassion, or mercy), via the lofty powers and their combinations. Thus, each specific context in the control process has a unique appellation and a specific name, and this is what the definitions of all the descriptive names that are from the perspective of the created powers teach us. For example “Merciful and Graceful⁵⁵²Heb.: ra-khoom v’kha-noon” means “exhibiting mercy and grace toward the created beings”.

ואפי' השם העצם המיוחד הוי''ה ב''ה. לא על עצמותו יתברך לבד אנו מיחדים לו. אלא מצד התחברותו יתברך עם העולמות. כפירושו היה והוה ויהיה ומהוה הכל. ר''ל הוא יתברך מתחבר ברצונו להעולמ' להוום ולקיימ' כל רגע. וז''ש האריז''ל בלשונו הקד' הובא בהקדמת פע''ח. שכל הכנויים והשמות הם שמו' העצמו' המתפשטים בספירות וע''ש: And even the unique primary name YHV”H (blessed is He) is not applied in exclusivity to His Essence (blessed be He) that we uniquely attribute to Him; rather [it’s applied] from the perspective of His (blessed be He) relationship with the worlds, per its definition as “existed, exists, will exist, and brings everything into existence”, meaning that He (blessed be He) purposefully relates to the worlds to bring them into existence and to sustain them in each instant.[*] And this is what the Ariza”l stated in his holy explanation, brought in the introduction to the Pri Etz Chayyim, that all the appellations and names, they are names of the Essence that are distributed within the s’feerote. Refer there [for more details].

הגהה: ומה שאמר בפרקי ר''א שקו' שברא הקב''ה את העולם היה הוא ושמו לבד. קודם שברא דיקא. ר''ל עולם הבריאה. היה הוא ועצמותו יתברך ושמו היינו עולם אצילות לבד. אבל אלולי האציל ית''ש מאתו עולם האצילות לא היה שייך על עצמותו ית' היה והוה ויהי': Annotation: And what is stated in the Pirkei d’Rabbee Eliezer, that “Before the Holy One (blessed be He) created the world, He and his name alone existed⁵⁵³Heb.: ko-dem sheh-ba-ra ha-Kadosh Ba-rookh Hu et ha-oh-lam, ha-ya hoo u’sh’mo l’vad”. He specifically used the words “Before He created-Ba-rah”—meaning the world of B’reeya. “He”—meaning His Essence (blessed be He). “And his name”—meaning the world of Ahtzeeloot. They alone existed. But if He (blessed be His name) had not emanated from within Him the world of Ahtzeeloot, there wouldn’t have been any relevance of past, present or future existence to His Essence.