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I'm taking an Aramaic class, and one of the words that came up in the text I'm reading is "yehuweh," meaning "he will become" (in context, "he will become my successor). It is spelled with the exact four letters as the name of God.

Since it's not actually the name of God - only spelled the exact same way - do I treat it as such? Should I not dispose of my notes?

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    I see no reason that would have any Kedusha. We have many instances of the letters of names of God being written with other meanings with no problem at all.
    – Double AA
    Nov 27, 2013 at 3:55
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    I made a similar argument here judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/10682/…
    – Double AA
    Nov 27, 2013 at 4:00
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    @DoubleAA Perhaps extra stringency is appropriate with the Shem Havaya, sort of in the same vein as T'rumas HaDeshen (P'sakim §171): אולי י"ל דהואיל והוא מן השם המיוחד בכתיבתו יש להחמיר יותר.
    – Fred
    Nov 27, 2013 at 4:10
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    @IsaacMoses The "Keset ha-Sofer" does say something like this, but only in the context of sofrut. Halakha 10:6 here: hasoferet.com/ritual/keset/chapter10.shtml Nov 27, 2013 at 10:56
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    Rambam (Hil. Y'sodei HaTorah 6:9) rules in accordance with the Tanna Kamma (Sh'vuos 35b; Sof'rim 4:7) and the Y'rushalmi (M'gilla 1:9) that usage of that name in Shof'tim (17,18) is considered profane. Even R' Eliezer who disagrees in the case of Micha (במיכה יש מהן חול ויש מהן קדש אלף למד חול יוד הי קדש) maintains that the letters of shem Havaya are profane in the case of pilegesh b'giv'a (see also Meiri on N'darim 25a and Sh'vu'os 29a). This seems to indicate that it is possible to have a profane form of the shem Havaya just as it is possible with other names of HaShem.
    – Fred
    Dec 2, 2013 at 18:13

2 Answers 2

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One may both write, erase, and speak the word יְהֻוֶה.

Source: Rabbi Leib Tropper, talmid muvhak of Rabbi Pinchas Sheinberg.


Please edit to include a dagesh in the vav (יְהֻוֶּה) if you know it should be there.

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The Shach in Yoreh Deah 206 #12 references a responsa of his where he rules that a mundane word which resembles a holy name such as והייתם כאלהים may be erased. This was said concerning a Seffer Torah.

Those are his words. There would be no reason to be more stringent with a word which resembles a holy name written anywhere else.

[The Shach mentions two more categories which I'll quote. Whereas a holy name written without kedusha can only be erased in order to fix what is being written. And a holy name with kedusha can never be erased. Even if it was written with intention to be cut out and put in geniza, it is not allowed to do this. ]

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