600,000 Names

In my Tuesday night Kabbalah Discussion Group we have discussed the concept that is taught by the Ramban that the entire Torah is the names of Hashem. We understood this to mean that the name of Hashem in any context is never understood to mean the real or true name of Hashem, but rather it is an expression of how we perceive and experience God's will and presence revealed to us. The Torah is, by definition, completely an expression of His will. As such, it is entirely a record of His names.

One of the participants mentioned tonight that he heard in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that in Messianic times the Torah will become one name of Hashem. What does this mean? Does it mean that suddenly the Torah will turn into one long word, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious style?

I suggested the intent of the Baal Shem Tov is that in our current pre-Messianic consciousness we perceive the manifestations of Hashem as being piecemeal, as we do not have the capacity to see Hashem as being truly One. We see each word or concept in the Torah as a separate name or revelation as we cannot perceive the total unity behind it all. By contrast, in the Messianic era we will have the Unity
consciousnesswhich will enable us to perceive the entirety of the Torah as one unified expression of the will of Hashem - as one name.