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Reverend Daniel Wolfe

A way of writing

  • I have already been asked;

    "Why do you not write G-d's name completely, instead of putting the letter "o", you put in a dash line?"

    The answer goes to my Jewish belief's.

    Jews do not casually write any Name of G-d. This practice does not come from the commandment not to take the Lord's Name in vain, as many suppose. In Jewish thought, that commandment refers solely to oath-taking, and is a prohibition against swearing by G-d's Name falsely or frivolously (the word normally translated as "in vain" literally means "for falsehood"). Observant Jews avoid writing any Name of G-d casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better.

     

    The commandment not to erase or deface the name of G-d comes from Deut. 12:3. In that passage, the people are commanded that when they take over the promised land, they should destroy all things related to the idolatrous religions of that region, and should utterly destroy the names of the local deities. Immediately afterwards, we are commanded not to do the same to our G-d. From this, the rabbi's inferred that we are commanded not to destroy any holy thing, and not to erase or deface a Name of G-d.

    It is worth noting that this prohibition against erasing or defacing Names of G-d applies only to Names that are written in some kind of permanent form, and recent rabbinical decisions have held that writing on a computer is not a permanent form, thus it is not a violation to type G-d's Name into a computer and then backspace over it or cut and paste it, or copy and delete files with G-d's Name in them. However, once you print the document out, it becomes a permanent form. That is why observant Jews avoid writing a Name of G-d on web sites like this one or in newsgroup messages: because there is a risk that someone else will print it out and deface it.

    Normally, we avoid writing the Name by substituting letters or syllables, for example, writing "G-d" instead of "God."

    I hope this answers the question for anyone else that was/is interested in why I write the way I do.

1 comment
  • Marc Kivel, M.A.
    Marc Kivel, M.A. A further comment on Rev. Wolfe's post...I'd offer the thought that traditionally it is only the four letter name of God (The Tetragrammaton) which defies pronunciation. In lieu of speaking the Ineffable Name the word Adonai ("Lord") was spoken when the ...  more
    July 13, 2010