By Marco Del Monte
In this Parashah, Hashem asks Abraham to leave the place where he is, guaranteeing him that He will make him a great nation, make his name great, and make him a blessing.
Rashi explains that since travelling involves three things—a decrease in children, wealth, and fame—Hashem reassures Abraham that not only would He not diminish these three conditions, but on the contrary, they would become more prosperous; He therefore gives him a threefold berachah. At a certain point, Hashem asks Avram to be upright before Him, but the peculiar thing about this verse is that G-d introduces Himself with one of His names: "E-L Sha-Kai".
"I am Ke-L Sha-Kai (Hashem's name is intentionally altered) [...] 'I am the Almighty God, walk before Me and be blameless'" (Genesis 17:1).
The masters of Kabbalah teach us that Hashem is One and Unique, yet He presents Himself through various names. These Holy Names denote, so to speak, a projection of Hashem into a specific mission: each specific name opens specific, different "doors". Many masters were called "Baal Shem", that is, those who knew the Holy Names with which to act in this world and in the upper worlds. An example in the Torah is found with Moses, who kills the Egyptian by pronouncing a particular Name (see Rashi ad loc.).
Each Name, therefore, encapsulates a berachah: what meanings, then, does the Name with which Hashem presents Himself to Avram hold? The Ben Ish Chai explains that Hashem's name in question derives from a world called Beriah, which is the third world from the bottom and in which a threefold holiness is present. Precisely for this reason, the Ben Ish Chai explains, the numerical value of this name is equivalent to the words "Chesed Gadol", that is, "Great act of kindness" multiplied by 3 (Chesed Gadol is equal to 115, which multiplied by 3 gives 345, like the value of the Name "Ke-L Sha-Kai"). The Ben Ish Chai explains that at the moment when the people of Israel are whole in three aspects, namely Kavvanah-Intention/Thought, Dibur-Word, Maaseh-Action, the power of this name will illuminate upon Israel, infusing great berachot.
With the wish that the threefold berachah of Chesed Gadol may shine upon all of us.
Shabbat shalom.
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.