The Ramban, in Parashat Bo, tells us the fundamentals of Emuna, that the Egyptians and people of old denied. God brought about miracles to show that these thoughts are improper.
There are three introductions that God used.
The first is- “I am Hashem in the land.“ This shows that God is supervising and watching, and rewarding and punishing, and did not leave the world to happenstance.
The second is that “The world belongs to God.”
Why? Because He was the Mehadesh/ He created some thing from nothing, therefore everything is His. The world was not always here. God created the matter that makes the world exist.
Thirdly,“You should know that there is no one like Me.” This is to show that God is the Boss. Nothing stops Him and He can do whatever He wants.
All of the miracles show us these fundamentals. God’s Emuna is taught to us through Yetziat Mitzrayim..
We also know that when God introduced Himself to Moshe Rabbenu, Moshe wanted to know His name.
A name describes how we are supposed to view a person.
While His names don’t really describe God Himself (we could never fathom that), His names are the way we relate to, and understand God. There are three basic names, that correspond to these three concepts.
The first is that God is a Mashgiach, He is supervising with reward and punishment. This is the name of Elokim.
God is watching over, and will reward and punish.
The second is Hiddush- God made something from nothing. This is the name of Yud and Heh, and Vav and Heh. We don’t say this name, because we can’t fathom what it means, but we are supposed to think that He is Mehave Kol Havayot-He brought everything into existence. He is Haya, Hoveh V’Yiheh. He always was, is and will be.
He brought everything into existence. He was here before and He will be here after, because He depends on nothing, and everything depends on Him.
The third is God is the Boss, spelled with Aleph, Daled, Nun, and Yud. Known as Adnut- He is the Boss, Adon; He is in charge and no one will tell Him what to do because He’s the Boss.
These are the three important concepts in our religion and these are God’s three names. We refer to God by these names every single day.
Shulchan Aruch tells us that when you say the names of God, you are supposed to have these thoughts in mind.
It’s a Halacha, in Orech Chaim Siman ה It says that when you say Hashem’s name Yud heh, vav and heh, you are supposed to have in mind both how you read it, which is Adon HaKol, and how it’s written but not pronounced, which is Haya, Hoveh,Vyihyeh. (other poskim add that we should have in mind that, as we said- He brings everything into existence.
Lastly Elokim means He is in charge of, and controls everything- He judges, rewards, punishes, etc.
Of course, it is not easy for us to have these thoughts every time we make a beracha.
Therefore, there is a leniency brought down in the sefer Tefila L’David, quoted in many sefarim: When you get up in the morning you should say, “From today until tomorrow, every time I say the name of Havaya, I will have in mind Hayah, Hoveh V’Yihyeh,
Every time I say Aleph Daled Nun Yud, I have in mind Adon HaKol, and every time I say Elokim, I have in mind, He is powerful and in charge of everything.
It is a good idea to do this every single day. Somebody might think that this is a new thing, that he never heard of, and might not want to change his habits.
But this actually dates back to the earliest man of prayer, Avraham Avinu. According to some opinions, Adon Olam was authored by none other than Avraham Avinu. He used the words Adon Olam because he was the first one to call God A—doni /Boss.
And Adon Olam, which we say before our prayers, has in it these three fundamentals.
The Sefer Taamei Minhagim brings down that the first words, Adon Olam mean we are saying Hashem is the Boss.
Then we say that there is no beginning and no end, that He is in charge (that’s the name of Elokim). Then we say V’Hu Hayah, V’Hu Hoveh V’Yihyeh bTifara which refers to the concept that God is, was and will be.
Therefore, the fundamentals of our Emuna and the meaning of God’s names are all there in Adon Olam.
So, every day, when we start our day, we are supposed to realize these important principles and fundamentals, and this is the way we start our prayers.
This is what Avraham Avinu taught us.
Additionally, these are all the lessons of Yetziat Mitzrayim.
When God makes miracles He shows us that He is in control, He shows us that He is supervising, And if He hadn’t made everything something from nothing, He couldn’t have changed things the way He did. These are the fundamentals of Emuna that we have to constantly remember, twice daily and take with us. Have a wonderful day.