A Jewish Cantor is Wondering About How Jordan Peterson Forgot the Future Meaning of the Biblical Name of God

(by George Kozma /Geo Cosmos from the Budapest Rabbinical Seminary)

He is acknowledging in his Maps of Meaning (1999) on p. 54 /and also in a video about „Extravertist and Neuroticist Temperament” (no. 15)/ his indebtedness to Pavlov’s followers quoted by J.A. Gray, who have proven by EEG and other tools that the good-feel hormone dopamine is created by a progress forward to a better Ideal Future vision of the self. (Remember “pavlovian dogs” salivating at the sight of a light signifying future meal.)

If „future” (goal) is more important than other things it will create a “dominance hierarchy”. And this is a conceptual starting point to combat anarchic leftism that claim the texts are endless interpretations (not endless, says JBP) that are only serving the powerful (not true they are just competent) : thus creating a horizontal worldview and this relativism may cause depression. On the contrary, Peterson claims, the powerful people or groups /including powerful destructive impulses/ can only be constrained if there exists an abstracted (imagined) sovereignty that is created generalized independently from all the different underlaying dominant forces.

Not by chance, some important Jewish teachings claim that the Eternal has not created the physical world (which is void of affective values, says Peterson) but only the human future-vision was created (for Adam and later prophets in the Jewish Bible where we see first the promise of Moses — the first Mashiah/Anointed — reappearing in each generation.) /This is explained best here by Russell Hendel: http://www.rashiyomi.com/gen-1.htm/

JBP does probably know (from Jung) that God is called the “Being” or the „Creator” (or „Eternal”) — his name has meaning /not like the word „god”/. He says „gods” are Universal mythic hero figures — so it is all the same which one we chose.

Professor Jordan Peterson does say (following but not quoting Max Weber) that the greatest innovation of Jews (Ye-hodi means Will-be-praised) was their invention of negotiating with the Future.

But he omits the fact that this is done with the use of this name meaning “Will-Being” . (As the Eternal /=Yehaweh/ himself explains in 2Moses 3:14, saying “Tell them the WillBeing sent you to them”.)

Yehaweh in Hebrew- says the newworldencyclopedia.org means „To Be” in future tense active mode.(It would be Futurator in Latin). Obviously an Ideal Future Fantasy. Does not exist in the present. (Which JBP calls Chaotic). It only Will Be being. In the Future or in the fantasies about that progressively evoluing future. Best translation would be “Evolution or Progress.”

„The symbolic or spiritual meaning of God’s name is the subject of debate in several religious traditions. In one of these, Yahweh is related to the Hebrew verb הוה (ha•wah, “to be, to become”), meaning “He will cause to become.” In Arabic Yahyâ means “He [who] lives.” It is in the chapter of the site entitled „Meaning.”

This is exactly what has happened to Abraham and to Moses. They have discovered a new god-name.

(In this fragment of a Hebrew Grammar Book anyone can see the Four-Lettered name as just one element in the Table of Conjunction of the verb “to be” or “to constitute” in the future tense: /meaning simply : ”it will be constituted” “it will become”/ You see it on the left corner in the second row from down upwards. Third word from the upper left corner.

I am sure that many Gnostic-leaning Christian theologians and Rabbis and Sufi Imams would clap their hands hearing professor Peterson about this.

But the question arises: this omission of the unique and important meaning (hinting at the Future) weakens Peterson’s own thesis. And weakens Judaism in general as without this information their god-name is as arbitrary and random as any other Mountain-God and Storm-God or Sky-God. There existed a claim about Jung, (see: http://eric.pettifor.org/jungnazis) that he did collaborate with Nazis, and so he deliberately omitted this information to try to diminish the importance of Judaism. (Later balancing this by also working for the good guys of his age in the CIA.) In Peterson’s case it is just negligence. Or ignorance as he always says he has no theological training where such things are taught. But he hopefully will try to correct it in the future, if the Future-God permits him. Unfortunately I could not reach him and as I live in an Ex-Soviet Zone place I will never see him in person.