Some thoughts on God’s proper, ineffable name, a d’var tefillah by Shoshana Michael Zucker

Contributor(s):

Shoshana Michael Zucker (translation)

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28 March 2018 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

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Shem Havaya, Ineffable Name, Tetragrammaton, Rashbam, Divine Names, דע לפני מי אתה עומד Know Before Whom You Stand

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Hebrew	English
לו היה לאלֹהים כרטיס ביקור, מה היה כתוב עליו? כתפקיד אפשר לרשום: ”בורא עולם“ ”גואל ישראל“ ”רופא חולים“ או פשוט ”אלֹהים“.	If God had a business card, what would it say? God’s position might be “Creator of the Universe,” “Redeemer of Israel” or “Healer of the Sick,” or just “God.”
אם התפקיד הוא ”אלֹהים“ מה שמו? אדוני? הקב״ה? ”מקור החיים“? כל אלו אינם שמות אלא כינויים. שמו הוא— יו״ד–ה״א–וא״ו–ה״א	If “God” is God’s role, what is God’s name? “Adonai,” “Holy Blessed One” or “Source of Life?” Those are designations but not God’s proper name. God’s proper name is Yod-Hei-Vav-Hei.
הוי״ה, השם המפורש שעליו נאמר: ”ואין לפרש עילום שמך“ למזלי ”ונתנה תוקף“ אינו טקסט הלכתי, כי באתי לפרש את עילום שמו.	The Ineffable Name of which it is said, “Whose mysterious Name cannot be interpreted.”^[1] Cf. Ba’er Hetev on Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 591:5, Kaf HaChayim on Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 591:38:1, et al Fortunately, “Unataneh Tokef” isn’t a legal text, because I would like to interpret that mysterious Name.
במעמד הסנה אלוהים אמר למשה: אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה… כֹּה תֹאמַר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶהְיֶה שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם.	At the burning bush, God said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh – I ‎Will Be What I Will Be… Thus shall ‎you say to the ‎Israelites, ‘Ehyeh – I Will Be sent me to you.’”^[2] Exodus 3:14 ‎^[3] Moses’ change from first to third person, and the possibility of switching yod for vav is based on Rashbam’s commentary on Exodus 3:14
כתוב ”אהיה“ בגוף ראשון, מדבר.	‎God calls Godself “‎אהיה‎ – I will be” in the first person, as the speaker
כשמשה מעביר את מסר לבני ישראל הוא צריך להחליף את הלשון לגוף שלישי, נסתר: יהיה (רשב״ם).	When Moses reports to the people he switches to the third person “‎יהיה‎ – He will ‎be,” for God is unseen.^[4] In Hebrew grammar, the first, second and third persons are also known as “speaker, ‎present, unseen (or hidden), respectively.
היו”ד השני הוחלף ב-וא״ו (רשב״ם) ויש לנו: יו״ד–ה״א–וא״ו–ה״א	The ‎letter vav substitutes for the second yod, yielding ‎the name as written, Y-H-V-H.
השם נגזר מפועל הקיום: היה, הווה ויהיה.	This name is derived from the state of being verb Is-Was-Will be. ‎
אפשר (לפחות ברמת הדרש) להבין את צורת השם הנכתב באות וא״ו כמאגד יחד את כל הזמנים הדקדוקיים, כי ”מֵעוֹלָם עַד עוֹלָם אַתָּה אֵל.“	The spelling with a vav can be understood as bringing together all three tenses in ‎Biblical Hebrew: future, present, and past, because God is God for all time.‎^[5] Psalms 90:2
בסנה האל דיבר בגוף ראשון. משה דיבר אליו בגוף שלישי. ואנחנו פונים אליו בגוף שני, אתה, כאילו נוכח.	At the bush God spoke in the first person. Moses spoke about God in the third person. We approach God in the second person, “You” as if God were present. ‎
מרב יראה לפני המסתורין, איננו מבטאים את שמו אבל השֵם כן מופיע בסידור.	Filled with awe by the mystery, we do not pronounce this name, but it is ‎printed in our prayer book.‎
בתפילת לחש אל תמהרו לומר מיד ”אדוני“ אלא נסו, מדי פעם, לשהות ולהשתהות עם היראה ומול ה-”היה, הווה ויהיה“ אשר מדבר, נוכח וגם נסתר.	When praying quietly, try not to rush to say “Adonai” immediately. Take a ‎moment to wait in wonder, in the presence of God who Is-Was-Will be, who Speaks, ‎is Present and is Unseen. ‎
הוד והדר, שבת משפטים תשע״ח

This insight was first taught orally by Shoshana Zucker in a d’var torah for Shabbat Mishpatim (5778/2018). It was first published on her blog (in Hebrew), here, and then in English, here.

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Cf. Ba’er Hetev on Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 591:5, Kaf HaChayim on Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 591:38:1, et al
2	Exodus 3:14
3	Moses’ change from first to third person, and the possibility of switching yod for vav is based on Rashbam’s commentary on Exodus 3:14
4	In Hebrew grammar, the first, second and third persons are also known as “speaker, ‎present, unseen (or hidden), respectively.
5	Psalms 90:2

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“Some thoughts on God’s proper, ineffable name, a d’var tefillah by Shoshana Michael Zucker” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Shoshana Michael Zucker (translation)

Shoshana Michael Zucker was first fascinated by the boundaries and history of Jewish liturgy as a teenager in NFTY in the early 1970s, the waning days of the Union Prayer Book. Since then, she has moved to Israel, raised a family and launched them into adulthood, while praying from varied siddurim with countless notes in the margin and extra notes stuck between the pages. A translator and editor by profession, she would rather study and teach Torah.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17