Calling the name of God

Question

Chapter 3 in Joel:

א וְהָיָה אַחֲרֵי-כֵן, אֶשְׁפּוֹךְ אֶת-רוּחִי עַל-כָּל-בָּשָׂר, וְנִבְּאוּ, בְּנֵיכֶם וּבְנוֹתֵיכֶם; זִקְנֵיכֶם, חֲלֹמוֹת יַחֲלֹמוּן--בַּחוּרֵיכֶם, חֶזְיֹנוֹת יִרְאוּ.‏
ב וְגַם עַל-הָעֲבָדִים, וְעַל-הַשְּׁפָחוֹת, בַּיָּמִים הָהֵמָּה, אֶשְׁפּוֹךְ אֶת-רוּחִי. ‏
ג וְנָתַתִּי, מוֹפְתִים, בַּשָּׁמַיִם, וּבָאָרֶץ: דָּם וָאֵשׁ, וְתִימְרוֹת עָשָׁן. ‏
ד הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ יֵהָפֵךְ לְחֹשֶׁךְ, וְהַיָּרֵחַ לְדָם--לִפְנֵי, בּוֹא יוֹם יְהוָה, הַגָּדוֹל, וְהַנּוֹרָא. ‏
ה וְהָיָה, כֹּל אֲשֶׁר-יִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה--יִמָּלֵט: כִּי בְּהַר-צִיּוֹן וּבִירוּשָׁלִַם תִּהְיֶה פְלֵיטָה, כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמַר יְהוָה, וּבַשְּׂרִידִים, אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה קֹרֵא.‏

God said his name was יְהוָה and that is his name forever Exodus 3, 15:

וַיֹּאמֶר עוֹד אֱלֹהִים אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, כֹּה-תֹאמַר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב, שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם; זֶה-שְּׁמִי לְעֹלָם, וְזֶה זִכְרִי לְדֹר דֹּר.‏

Clearly, the passage in Joel says "whoever calls on the name יְהוָה will be saved."

How do you reconcile your tradition to not speak HaShem, with the prophecy in Joel, so that the tradition does not obscure, prohibit, or prevent calling on the name יְהוָה

Is the prohibition on speaking HaShem tradition or oral law? And, if it is oral law, could an appeal be made to the beit din on this matter?

The Psalmist actually calls upon His name to much avail, and many others as recorded in Scripture, I offer just one, Psalm 30:9-11:

ט אֵלֶיךָ יְהוָה אֶקְרָא; וְאֶל-אֲדֹנָי, אֶתְחַנָּן. י מַה-בֶּצַע בְּדָמִי, בְּרִדְתִּי אֶל-שָׁחַת: הֲיוֹדְךָ עָפָר;
הֲיַגִּיד אֲמִתֶּךָ. יא שְׁמַע-יְהוָה וְחָנֵּנִי; יְהוָה, הֱיֵה-עֹזֵר לִי. ‏

Answer 1

The Talmud in Pseachim 50a says

והיה ה' למלך על כל הארץ ביום ההוא יהיה ה' אחד ושמו אחד ... ושמו אחד מאי אחד אטו האידנא לאו שמו אחד הוא א"ר נחמן בר יצחק לא כעולם הזה העולם הבא העולם הזה נכתב ביו"ד ה"י ונקרא באל"ף דל"ת אבל לעולם הבא כולו אחד נקרא ביו"ד ה"י ונכתב ביו"ד ה"י סבר רבא למדרשה בפירקא א"ל ההוא סבא לעלם כתיב ר' אבינא רמי כתיב (שמות ג, טו) זה שמי לעלם וזה זכרי לדור דור אמר הקב"ה לא כשאני נכתב אני נקרא נכתב אני ביו"ד ה"א ונקרא אני באל"ף דל"ת

"And G-d will be for a king on the whole land. On that day G-d will be One and His Name will be One. (Zech. 14:9)"..."And His Name will be One" And now is His Name not One?

Rav Nachman bar Yitzchok said, 'This World is not like the World to Come. In This World [His Name is] written with יו"ד ה"י and is called with אל"ף דל"ת. But in the World to Come it is all one: written with יו"ד ה"י and called with יו"ד ה"י.'

Rava thought to expound on it at a sermon. A certain man said to him, 'it is written "לעלם"'

Rav Avina asked about a contradiction, 'It is written "This is My Name forever (Ex. 3:15)" [and it is written] "this is my Remembrance for generations (ibid)"? The Holy One Blessed be He said, 'Not the way I am written, am I called. I am written by יו"ד ה"י and I am called by אל"ף דל"ת'

Rashi explains on this passage:

לעלם כתיב - זה שמי לעלם חסר וי"ו לשון העלמה

'it is written "לעלם" - [When it says] 'this is My name forever (לעולם)' it is lack a וי"ו, a meaning of 'hidden'.

כתיב זה שמי לעלם - בהעלמה וכתיב זה זכרי דמשמע קרייה ולא העלמה לשון אחר כיון דכתב זה שמי פשיטא דזה זכרי היאך יקרא אלא בשמו:

It is written "This is My Name forever - With hiding. And it is written 'this is My Remembrance' which implies [actual] calling and not hiding. Another explanation: Since it says 'this is My Name' obviously 'this is my Remembrance'. How else would He be called except by His Name?

To paraphrase: The Talmud asks about the verse in Zech. 14:9 that says that in the Messianic Age G-d will be One and His Name would be One. The implication being that now, G-d's and His Name are not one. The explanation the Talmud gives is that today we are meant to call G-d's Name as Ad-nai (אדנ-י) when we are referring to the Tetragrammaton. However in the future, we will call G-d's Name by the way it is spelled.

The Talmud then mentions a story where a person teaches a Rabbi, that when it says "this is My Name forever" the word forever is spelled missing a letter to allude to the alternate meaning of that root - to hide. And the intent of the verse is to teach that this Name is meant to be hidden, not pronounced.

Lastly - following the theme of the passage, a Rabbi points out a contradiction within the verse of Ex. 3:15. Rashi provides two interpretations to the contradiction:

1. The first part of the verse is meant to teach us to hide and not utter G-d's Name, but the second part of the verse uses the word "Remembrance (זכר)". This word also has a connotation of 'calling' and indicates that G-d's Name is meant to be called this way.

2. Once the verse said, "this is My Name", obviously we are meant to call G-d by this name and the words "this is my Remembrance" is superfluous.

The Rabbi answers that its teaching us that the way we are meant to write G-d's Name is not the same as the way we are meant to say it.

In practice we are taught in Shulchan Aruch O"C 5:1

יכוין בברכות פירוש המלות. כשיזכיר השם, יכוין פירוש קריאתו באדנות שהוא אדון הכל, ויכוין בכתיבתו ביו"ד ה"א שהיה והוה ויהיה.

Have intent of the meaning of the words when making blessings. When mentioning the Tetragrammaton: intend its read form of 'Ad-nai' that He is the Master of all. And intend its written form of 'יו"ד ה"א' that He was He is and He will be.

Answer 2

In Judaism, there are 2 God concepts, there is the non-verbal transcedental awareness of God (atah - you) and there is a verbalised awareness of God known as the name of God.

We are promised that even if we only have access to the verbalised awareness of God, He will still respond to our situation.

In other words, even if God awareness has not penetrated to our inner core, He will still take care of us.

This does not mean that God's name is a magic charm, it means that we are aware of our incapacity to always remain at a level of pure conciousness.

Answer 3

In this particular question, the citations are referring to two different ideas.

The first citation from Joel is referring to the time of the final redemption and the days of Moshiach. Particularly at the beginning of this time period, it is potentially dangerous both spiritually and physically.

The name of G-d is understood to be referring to the entire text of the written Torah (the five books of Moshe) which is considered in both Midrash and the kabbalistic parts of Torah to be one whole name of G-d from beginning to end.

What the prophet is referring to is associated with the mitzvah of writing a personal Sefer Torah. On a practical level, an individual can fulfill this mitzvah by purchasing a letter in a Sefer Torah while it is being written by the scribe. That way, they are partners in the writing of the whole sefer.

This was the motivation behind the Lubavitcher Rebbe's active campaign to have sifrei Torah written all over and for people to become partners in that writing. Those who are partners in that writing are according to the prophecy of Yoel, all who will be read in the name of G-d will be saved from those dangers.

The second citation brought from Tehillim is teaching that the proper and effective usage of G-d's name in prayer is the combining of the written name and the pronounced name. One does not pronounce the written name. How that written name is to be pronounced in a given text is indicated by the vowel points associated with it in that location.