ANI VAHU PLEASE SAVE US
In Mishna Sukka 4:5, this mysterious phrase from the Sukkot liturgy is spelled אֲנִי וָהוֹ "Ani Vaho" (I and He). Rabbi Yehuda implies that the phrase is a reverential term to replace the full recitation of the Tetragrammaton. For him it seems that the term is derived from "Ana Hashem hoshia na" in the Sukkot Hallel. He does not, however explain why Ana (please) is rendered Ani (I).
Rashi, Bartenura, and later commentators suggest that the term אֲנִי וָהוֹ is related to gematria—particularly to the gematria of the 72 letter Name of G-d. Some display great ingenuity in squeezing out potential meanings of the term from biblical phrases, to which they often apply Zoharic and Sefirotic theosophy and arcane letter manipulation. Sometimes these commentaries verge on theurgy or on questionably magical thought, but by and large, their clear aim is nevertheless the deepening of the worshipers' devotion by analytical and intellectual means.
A Question:
What might
"Ani v Hu" (I and
He) mean to those who follow a
simpler Jewish-Sufi Path where intuition and experiential dhawq (tasting) are the ideal contemplative practice and
not ratiocination or linguistic analysis
?
To answer that, we will actually need to begin with (just a little) linguistic analysis:
In the Jerusalem Talmud's version of the liturgical mantra under discussion, the spelling is given as וְהוּא אֲנִי (I and He) with the Divine Name הוּא (Hu) representing the full Name of HaShem.
This spelling is highly significant for all Sufis because (as readers will note from previous essays on Dhikr)—the Name "Hu" or "Huwa" is itself a principal Sufi mantra and litany element. Indeed, for many Tariqas, the word "Huwa" is not just an element in a phrase, it is also repeated on its own as a particularly elevated form of Dhikr practice.
A Sufi might also see a connection between the cryptic "I and He" and several
expressions of the
Divine indwelling or of the
unitive relationship between the Soul
and G-d. That possibility seems to have
occurred to R. Yom Tov of Sevilla (1260-1320) who suggests that Ani
refers to G-d and Hu refers to Kehal Yisrael: that G-d is
"with" us in our suffering.
Ana'l Haqq..."I am The Truth (a Divine Name)"... and,
“I saw my Lord with the eye of my Heart. I said: Who are You? He replied: You.".
Even more perhaps, one is reminded of the classic Sufi phrase (attributed to various early Sufi Masters):
"Ana anta wa-anta ana." (I am He and He is I).
Our own Jewish Sufi Master, R.David ben Joshua Maimuni (1335-1414) was aware of both these texts. He actually quoted them and commented on them in the concluding sections of Al Murshid. In Rosenthal's translation of the passage in the Murshid, R.David Maimuni writes:
"I am whom I love, and whom I love is I .
When thou seest me, thou seest us both.
We are two spirits together in one body
With which God has clad us as a corporeal dwelling"
…
"Thou hast extinguished me through Thyself,
So that I was far from myself.
And Thou hast brought me near to Thee,
So that I believed that Thou art I ." *i
oooOooo
We might consider ANI and HU to be two Divine Names... ANI (I) because there is only G-d and none other exists ...and HU (He) because the Divine is ultimately totally OTHER.
But perhaps,according to the streamlined and simple path of Tariqa Eliyahu, the most appropriate way for our members to view the cryptic phrase וְהוּאאֲנִי is to regard it as a Single Divine Name.
With that in mind, we can recite it as a repeated dhikr mantra, allowing the paradox and the enigma of its true meaning to breathe through us . In this manner we may invite the Divine to give us the knowledge silently in the wordless language of the heart.
In some ways, it might be best if one does not translate the term but instead allows it to speak for itself in Hebrew.
ANI v'HU Hoshia Na
ANI v'HU Hoshia Na
ANI v'HU Hoshia Na
ANI v'HU Hoshia Na
ANI v'HU Hoshia Na
ANI v'HU Hoshia Na
ANI v'HU Hoshia Na .....
Nachman
Davies
Safed
October 12
2025