The Power of 3; Your Life Depends on it.

Before we reveal the measure of the ancient and future cubit, it is imperative that we understand the universal concept of 3. A true understanding of the sefirot (dimensions) and what their names signify is beyond all of us. It’s like trying to tell someone without a sense of smell or taste what freshly made ice cream, chocolate, or warm homemade apple pie is like, and even that analogy is very weak by comparison. We can’t even fathom them. And this is why the universe (Hashem) has given us the Ana B’koach (42-Letter Name of G-d); it serves as our nexus to the spiritual world.
Know that the light that our world depends on gets channeled through the Supernal Holy Temple in a balanced way, and that much of the power behind the number 3 lies in the balance struck between the first 3 sefirot—Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferet of Zeir Anpin–but what can that possibly mean for us?
Chesed is Loving-kindness, or the unconditional Love that Hashem has for us, which is why the first line, associated with Chesed, of the Ana B’koach has a numerical value of 506, that of Ahavatchinam (Unconditional love). This the love and joy of perpetual giving, the unceasing love and desire for our well-being that Hashem showers on us constantly. This is wonderful, but what place does that leave us in this universe? What purpose would we serve other than to take from G-d, which is why there is a 2^nd phase for this light, one that allows us to participate and grow within the universe, utilizing the concept of free will.
The second line corresponds with judgment, din, the natural phase of the light where our actions receive immediate and just reactions, which we see as punishments and the universe sees as simple physics.
You step on someone’s toe, someone else steps on yours. Simple enough, and if we’d learn right away from that it would be a good thing and we’d all live easier more righteous lives. But what happens if the person whose toe we stepped on gets an infection from it and dies, or he later pushes someone too far because of the bad mood we set up for him and that person creates a negativity chain that winds up in someone else’s personal ruin or death? Would we want that punishment for ourselves? The universe holds us responsible and we’d have to pay (eye-for-an-eye) for that entire chain of negativity (action by action). That’s why there is a 3^rd phase of the light, mercy, rachem.
Taken together the numerical value of chesed, and din is 72 + 64 + kolel(1)= 137, which is that of the work Kabablah, meaning “to receive,” but to receive this light in a balanced way we need the third phase, just as the electrons and protons need the neutrons to form stable and useful atoms.
Taken together the numerical value of chesed, din, and rachem is 72 + 64 + 248 +Kolel (3)= 387, which is that of the 3^rd line of the Ana B’koach (NGD YCSh), which is structured to balance the light of loving kindness and judgment into life-sustaining mercy.
With mercy, our judgment are mitigated and we’re given time to reflect on and make amends for our actions. Think of the first line and sefira of chesed as space, the 2^nd as motion, and the 3^rd as time, completing the physics of “time, space and motion.” We can use this 3^rd line of the Ana B’koach (NGD YCSh) combined with spiritual and heart-felt intentions to further mitigate our judgments, and we should start seeing life as a string of merciful incidents rather than as one of punishments.
For example, a minor fender-bender as inconvenient as it might be, may very well be a merciful way to spare you of a fatal car crash that some action in your past inadvertently warranted. Seeing life as filled with mercy is a big step forward toward reaching the Tree-of-life reality where the mercy will be inherent, obvious and universal. Until we’re there, we have the gift of the Ana B’koach. (get and read The Genesis Prayer if you don’t have it).
In our next article we’ll reveal the ancient and future cubit and you’ll understand why comprehending this concept of 3 and balance was important to grasp first.
With Love,
Ezra