בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה'
אֱלקֵינוּ מֶלֶך–הָעולָם
אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו
וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסק בְּדִבְרֵי-תורָה.
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu la’asok b’divrei torah.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has sanctified us with commandments, and commanded us to study words of Torah.
by Rivka Miriam (transl. Linda Stern Zisquit)
For original Hebrew: https://sichaconversation.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/rivka-miriam-gods-names.pdf
I spread out my God’s names in front of me
On the cold floor of my room.
The name by which I called him when his spirit breathed in me.
And the name by which I called him when I was a girl.
The name by which I called him when I was given to a man.
And the name by which I called him when again permitted to all.
The name by which I called him when my parents were a roof to me.
And the name when I had no ceiling.
The name by which I called him that I might fear him.
And the name that I called him so that I would not be afraid.
The name by which I called him so that he would remember me.
And the name so that he would not remember.
In the heat of the day I will prostrate myself
On the cold floor of my room.
אני ה'. אעפ״י שאמרתי ואתה תהיה לו לאלקים, לא לענין יראה אמרתי, שהרי אני ה׳ כלומר אני לבדי היראה...
'אני ה, “I am the Lord;” even though I have told you that you will be elohim as far as Pharaoh is concerned, I did not mean that Pharaoh is to stand in awe of you. He too is to stand in awe of Me...
ויאמר אליו אני ה׳. המהוה הכל בהשגחה פרטית. ולא כבו״ד הבונה בית אין כחו בבית אלא עד שלא נבנה אבל אח״כ אין הבית עומד בכחו אבל התבל שנבראת בשם אלקים היא עומדת ומתקיימת בשם הוי׳ המהוה הכל. ובזה נכלל תשובה על שאלת משה שכסבור דגזרת פרעה נעשה שלא בהשגחה ממנו ית׳ אלא בטבע הענין כמש״כ. והשיב דגם הטבע היא בהשגחה.
I am Adonoy. This teaches that the entire world is perpetuated by Hashem, utilizing Divine Providence. In contradistinction to a house, for example, that once it has been built the builder ceases work and it stands on its own, the world continues to exist only because Hashem keeps it in existence. With this, Hashem answered Moshe’s question in which he implied that Pharaoh’s decree was merely a result of natural events without Hashem’s Providence; Hashem replied that nature is also a result of Divine Providence.
אני ה'. מקיים המציאות, לא ממציאו בלבד, אבל גם מקיימו, שאין לנמצאות שום ישות וקיום זולתי מה שאני משפיע עליהם, כאמרו ואתה מחיה את כלם ומזה יתחייב שאין לשום נמצא קיום מציאות בלתי רצוני:
'אני ה, the One Who maintains the entire universe all alone. I have not only called it into existence, but I also maintain it, and there is no other prime cause which exercises any independent influence on any part of My universe. As it is written in Nehemia 9:6: ואתה מחיה את כולם “and You alone provide the nourishment to keep all creatures alive.”
Unless I had given My consent no creature could continue to exist.
... והם ב' מדות מדת הדין ומדת רחמים, ולזה אמר הכתוב כנגד מה שהכין לדון את המצריים אמר וידבר אלקים שהוא בחי' הדין, וכנגד מה שרצה להטיב לישראל אמר ויאמר אליו אני ה'. ובכלל זה רמז לו כי המכות הגדולות המוכנות לבא על המצריים הגם שיבואו דרך כלל על כל מצרים וישראל נתונים נתונים המה בתוכם ודבר ידוע כי אין המשחית מבחין ומחבל הכל ובפרט בבא החשך הדעת נותנת כי בודאי כי יחשיך דרך כלל לכל יושבי ארץ, לזה אמר כי ערך הדינים הרמוזים בשם אלקים אשר הכין ה' להשקות את המצריים תשמש מדת הרחמים לערך ישראל, והוא אומרו אני ה'. וכן הוא אומר (לקמן כג) ולכל בני ישראל היה אור, (ט ו) וממקנה ישראל לא מת וגו'.
Perhaps we can understand G'd manifesting Himself simultaneously as the attribute of Justice and the attribute of Mercy...
two attributes of G'd were at work during the Exodus. G'd applied G'd's attribute of Justice to the Egyptians, hence weeping, whereas G'd applied G'd's attribute of Mercy to the Israelites, hence song. In our verse we find a parallel to that when G'd is introduced as אלוקים i.e. His attitude to the Egyptians, and immediately afterwards as ה' i.e. as G'd's attitude to the Jews.
We have a principle that once G'd allows the destructive forces free reign, those forces do not distinguish between the guilty and the innocent. This principle is especially apparent when the innocent and the guity dwell in close proximity to one another, something that was certainly the case with Jews and Egyptians at that time. Moses would have assumed that when G'd would bring the plagues on the Egyptians there would be a negative fallout also on the Israelites.
This is why G'd hinted already at this time that whereas He would act as אלוקים (Elohim) against the Egyptians, He would at one and the same time act as השם (God) towards the Jews so that they would not suffer from any of these plagues. All of this is spelled out later in greater detail such as that even in the midst of such a plague as darkness no darkness engulfed a single Jew (compare Exodus 10:23). The same occurred in 9:6 during the plague of pestilence when not a single one of the animals owned by Jews died.
As Moses faces the unquenchably fiery Voice Who is sending him on a mission to end slavery under Pharaoh, he warns the Voice that the people will challenge him: “Sez who?” And the Holy One, the Wholly One, answers: “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, I Will Be Who I Will Be” – a fitting Name for a universe that is always Becoming. A universe in which the powerless poor can be empowered and the pharaoh’s power can dissolve like powder into the Sea of Reeds. Then God adds, “But that’s a mouthful. You can use just ‘Ehyeh, I Will Be,’ as my nickname, if you like.”
“And oh yes, you can also call me ‘YHWH.’" But we actually can’t. There’s no way to “pronounce” those letters, with no vowels. And for a couple of millennia, Jews have been strictly taught not even to try pronouncing it but instead to say “Adonai, Lord.”
But God, and Torah say: Not so. The second time the Voice tells Moses that the new Name is “Y H W H” is in Exodus 6:2-3. Moses is in Egypt, and his first try at liberation and at organizing ... has miserably failed. This time the Voice explicitly says that the Name by which He/She/ It was known to the forebears — El Shaddai ... the God of Nourishment and Nurture, is no longer the Name for use in the liberation process.