Questions tagged [shemos-sacred-names]
name of God printed in a way that may not be erased
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Are these Sheimos Hashem?
Someone just showed me an "ayin hara necklace" that has the words "אלד" and "סאל" on the charm and asked me to explain what it means. What are those words?
(Some websites ...
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Explicit shaimos printed in prayer books
The gemara in Shabbos 115b cites a Tosefta seemingly condemning those who publish prayer-books (and amulets) with G-d's name: "...מכאן אמרו כותבי ברכות כשורפי תורה". Nonetheless, it is common practice ...
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Using Zephaniah 3:8 as a pangram
Would usage of Zephaniah 3:8 solely as a pangram – it being the only option with both finals and cantillation – constitute shemos, and therefore require genizah?
לָכֵ֤ן חַכּוּ־לִי֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה ...
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Does using different Divine names in prayer have practical consequences and effects?
It is well known that there are different names for G-d, blessed be He, even shown in the Torah itself, where different references to Him emphasize different relations and attributes.
Having said that,...
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Doubled up names of God - pronounce יהו-ה as Elokim
Many times in Tanach, God is referred to as יהו-ה or אדנ-י. Individually, each of these is read as Adonai. However, when those two different names are mentioned consecutively, the custom is to ...
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Slicing up a cake with a verse written on it
Is it allowed to write a verse on a cake or slice such cake up? In your answer please bring sources!
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Name of G-d changing
Is there a Source for the statement that when Mashiach comes the Name of G-d will no longer be יהוה but יהיה ?
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Why is the name of mercy YHWH is mentioned exclusively in the story of Sodom?
The name YHWH is associated with mercy whereas the name Elokim is associated with justice (Refer to Rashi on Devarim 3:24 quoting the Sifrei here).
I noticed that the name of YHWH is used exclusively ...
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What is "the twice-uttered (double-spoken) Name of Names"?
In S. Ansky's 1916 play The Dybbuk — or at least in this English translation (from the Yiddish) by Fernando Peñalosa — there are two mentions in Act I of a "twice-uttered name of God":
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Source for story about a Rabbi being happy to bury Sheimot
I heard a story many years ago about a community that was burying Sheimot. Most of the people were sad/crying, but the rabbi was happy and singing. When they asked him why he was happy, he gave them a ...
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Should we never begin a sentence with God's name?
The Talmud (Nedarim 10b) says: Do not say "l'Hashem korban" but rather "korban l'Hashem" to avoid [possibly] saying God's name in vain.
Presumably, the fear is that you could collapse and die right ...
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Use of the name Yahu
I recently was shared an article about the new "oldest usage" of the tetragrammaton.
https://biblearchaeology.org/current-events-list/4896-abr-researchers-discover-the-oldest-known-proto-...
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Cursing in G-d’s name
The Gemara (Bava Kamma 93a) says that the reason why Sarah passed away before Avraham was because she told him: “may G-d judge between us”.
The Gemara learns from there that it is forbidden to call ...
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Where else is Hashem's name missing?
In Shmuel Aleph, when Shmuel becomes a Navi, he runs to Eli each time Hashem comes to him thinking it is Eli not Hashem. After the fourth time Eli realizes it is Hashem and tells Shmuel (in ...
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Which of Hashem's name is the name upon whom Israel is called?
We read the following (from Chabad Website) in Divrei Hayamim II 7:14:
וְיִכָּֽנְע֨וּ עַמִּ֜י אֲשֶׁ֧ר נִֽקְרָא־שְׁמִ֣י עֲלֵיהֶ֗ם וְיִֽתְפַּֽלְלוּ֙ וִֽיבַקְשׁ֣וּ פָנַ֔י וְיָשֻׁ֖בוּ מִדַּרְכֵיהֶ֣ם ...
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Do photocopies of torah need to be put in shaimos?
Do photocopied sheets (such as chumash or gemara) need to be put in sheimos or can they be thrown straight into the garbage?
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Erasing shiluv of A-donai H-avai
Some sidurrim (prayer books) have the name of G-d "A-donai" and "Havai" mixed together like this:
י א ה ד ו נ ה י
Is one allowed to erase such a sequence? or is it forbidden like A-...
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Is one permitted to change one of Hashem’s names to another in writing?
If someone had in mind to write the name א-ל, would he be allowed to turn it afterwards into א-להים?
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How to lovingly refer to Hashem?
Due to the fact that we cannot say His ineffable name, I would like to know what are considered ways of referring to Hashem that are loving, close and personal, rather than respectful (not to say that ...
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Who, why and when to say the prayer of Rabbi Nechuniyoh ben Hakoneh?
The prayer אָנָּא בְּכֹחַ is ascribed to Rabbi Nechuniyoh ben Hakoneh and appears in the section of the daily sacrifices, before Lecho Dodi in Kabbolas Shabbos and at other points.
According to the ...
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Why are the Niqqud different for the name of God sometimes? [duplicate]
Through my research of the Tanakh, I have observed that the tetragrammaton appears with varying niqqud in different locations. Additionally, I have noted that the niqqud used may differ but produce a ...
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Derivation of 42-Letter Name of G-d
I understand that from the first 42 letters of Breishis, it is possible to derive the 42-letter name of G-d that is indicated within the Ana Bekoach prayer. Where could find out more about the ...
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How can one achieve k'fitzat hadereh (miraculous speedy travel)?
Rav Hai Gaon in תשובות הגאונים החדשות, מהד' עמנואל סי' קטו, עמ' 125 states that there are books which contain the practical kabbalistic methods for achieving k'fitzat hadereh (miraculous speedy travel)...
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Spelling "Lord" like "L-rd"?
Is writing "L-rd" with a hyphen, either when reading יהוה or in general, also a Jewish custom? I first saw it it on some messianic website and thought it's rather missing the point and whole ...
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What does loving/trusting in Hashem’s name mean? [closed]
I read in the siddur it says to love Hashem’s name or to trust in Hashem’s name. Why His name and not Hashem himself?
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How to use the Tikkun HaKlali?
Not too long ago I bumped onto a video on YouTube by user Shaarei Binah entitled “Tikkun HaKlali General Rectification of the Soul with Kavvanot”.
I was looking at the video itself, in the description ...
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If you accidentally write the capitalized word "god", ought you delete the `o` and write a `-` in its place? [duplicate]
This question didnt provide a sufficient answer.
If I accidentally write Hashem's name, can I fix it?
If its true, that
he reason you don't write his name is so that nobody can destroy it.
and I ...
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Could the word shem (שם) means anything other as ‘name’?
Shemot 6:3 reads: “And I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak,
and to Ya'akov, by the name of God Almighty (El Shaddai), but
by My name, the Lord (the Tetragrammaton/Shem Hameforash) I was not known to ...
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Can One Say Y-A-H Before Doing Netilat Yadayim?
Is one allowed to proclaim the abbreviated form of the name of The Creator “יה” before doing netilat yadayim? Such as saying Hallelu-יה?
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Can one repeat the name of Hashem when reading from the Torah to get the singing note right (meaning changed)?
Someone reading from the Torah gets the singing note (trop) wrong for one of the names of Hashem, in a manner which changes the meaning of the verse. He then needs to go back and repeat the name of ...
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Why doesn't Kaddish include Hashem's name?
Why doesn't Kaddish, a prayer for the sanctification of God's name, not include Hashem's name?
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Changes to the name of Hashem in written texts
I have seen an article which cites a text called Massorah and this text supposedly catalogs 134 instances (referenced here) in which the written text "originally" used the 4 letter name of ...
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What name did the Kohen Gadol Say?
On Yom Kippur, the kohen gadol, during the day's service, said a particular name of Hashem. I had always thought that he said the 4 letter name, but in shul, the rabbi mentioned that it was the 42 ...
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Difference between רבון and אדון
In the Beracha of Elohai, we refer to God using a number of different descriptives. Towards the end, we give thanks to God as:
רִבּוֹן כָּל הַמַּעֲשִׂים, אֲדוֹן כָּל הַנְּשָׁמוֹת.
What are some ...
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According to the Halakhah, does stating that HaShem does not exist constitute a curse or a profanation of God's name?
I am an Italian ben Noach.
According to Rambam (Mishneh Torah-Avodat Kokhavim 2: 7;Hilchot Melachim 9:3):
a Jew commits the crime of blasphemy if he curses HaShem using God's unique name or one of ...
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What is the earliest use of Ein Sof as a marker of Hashem?
I was looking at the modern Hebrew word אינסוף (infinite, overwhelming) and wondered about how it was used in earlier times. The gemara has many instances of the words אין סוף but they all seem to be ...
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In what circumstances does the Tetragrammaton occur in non-Biblical literature?
I've tried to ask a very general question in the title, but I'll begin with the specific circumstance that gave rise to my question.
I was looking at the Maxwell House Haggadah and noticed this prayer ...
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How/Why do amulets work?
Assuming that kameot (Jewish amulets) do provide some real protection (not simply putting the mind of the wearer at ease) how/why do they work? Meaning, why would writing the various obscure names of ...
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Is it acceptable to utter a verbatim quotation that uses the name of G-d?
If two words have the same meaning, then they refer to the same thing.
Linguists (and especially philosophers of language) distinguish between using a word and mentioning a word. If I say 'Fido come ...
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What is ‘Atika Kadisha’?
In פתיחת אליהו it mentions the עתיקא קדישא, which literally means the Ancient Holy One. Is that a name of HaShem or referring to something else?
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Pronouncing Hashem's name in a song
Some people are very careful to say Hashem or Elokim when singing a song with one of G-d's names in it so as not to use His name in vain (related question), but I have also been told this is ...
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What does the introduction of ה' אלהים change in the creation narrative?
The second chapter of Genesis makes consistent use of ה"א, instead of אלהים in the first chapter (see here).
The researchers famously attribute the discrepancy to different sources.
How is this ...
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Where is the source of Yeshu (ימח שמו) hearing the Shem Hashem from the Kohen Gadol?
There is a Sefer "תם ומועד" which reportedly says that Yeshu (ימח שמו) was able to perform miracles because he was in the Beis Hamikdash when the Kohen Gadol said the Shem HaMeforash, wrote ...
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How could the numerals יה and יו be used irreverently?
I was told that in the sequence of numerals with Hebrew letters, the numbers 15 and 16 are rendered with טו and טז instead of יה and יו to prevent the tetragrammaton from being formed irreverently.
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Pronunciation of YHVH in the Pesel Micha story
The Minchas Shai on Shoftim 17:3 quotes the Gemara (Shevuos 35a) and Maseches Sofrim (4:6) regarding if the names יהוה and אלהים in the story of Micha's idol are holy or not. The Tanna Kama says that ...
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Did אָכִיש actually use Hashem?
וַיִּקְרָ֨א אָכִ֜ישׁ אֶל־דָּוִ֗ד וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵ֠לָיו חַי־יְהוָ֞ה כִּי־יָשָׁ֣ר אַתָּ֗ה
(שמואל א 29:6)
This has the פְּלִשְׁתִּי swearing by Hashem.
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Targum of Shem HaShem
Why do we find that there is no differentiation in targum between the The four letter Shem HaShem and Elokeinu; they are both translated as Yud Yud?
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The earliest source that states the disappearance of the names of God in the Book of Ester
IIRC, Abraham Ibn Ezrah mentions in his interpretation of the Book of Ester that:
"והנה אין במגילה הזאת זכר ה', והיא מספרי הקודש?" (How come that God's name is not mentioned in the Book and ...
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ALL Names of God
Where can I find an exhaustive list of all of the names of Hashem (preferably שמות and כינוים) in Tanach and elsewhere?
Is this too ill-defined a topic to have an exhaustive answer?
Do the 70 in the ...
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