You mentioned the name for nothing.

שו”ת › Category: Halacha › You mentioned the name for nothing.

asked 9 years ago

Hello Rabbi, I have been doing daily seclusion recently and I wanted to ask if I am permitted to mention the name of Heaven during my conversation with the Holy One, blessed be He. Basically, the conversation includes supplications and requests, confessions, regret, claims, and the like.
I would be happy to know just what the answer is from the law without all sorts of harshness, and also which law is rabbinic and which is Torah.

Thank you very much,

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מיכי Staff answered 9 years ago

There is no problem with mentioning the name of God, neither from the rabbis nor from the Torah. The problem is only in mentioning it in vain, or in the context of a blessing that is not necessary (which is actually not really in vain, but nevertheless the Sages forbade it, and so on). —————————————————————————————— Pine: What about mentioning the name of the Lord in vain in writing? Is the name of the law also the same? And I also noticed that you tend to pronounce the name of God with a K even in places where it is not said in vain. Is this a measure of Hasidism? Or are there considerations of visibility here perhaps? Or a fear that the mention will be in vain perhaps? —————————————————————————————— Rabbi: It is also possible in writing if it is necessary for the purpose. Although there they used to be careful for fear that they would throw the name in the trash and violate the prohibition: “You shall not do so to the Lord your God” (here is a quotation, for fear of deletion on the computer, and one should be careful about this).
For me, it’s mainly a harmless habit, as there’s also the matter of using the name in vain (when it’s not needed) and perhaps even unintentionally (although if it’s not in prayer, then for the sake of argument, the intention is what one really means when speaking, and therefore there’s usually no problem with intention). The custom has become established to be careful with this, and it’s certainly a proper custom (to honor the name of God), and therefore it seems to me to be absolutely reasonable to do so.

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יונתן replied 9 years ago

Is there a prohibition against pronouncing the name of God while praying or reading the Bible?

מיכי Staff replied 9 years ago

There is no prohibition if you do so in the language of the name of lordship. See M”B si’ retu saki”d, as well as A”M o”h ח”b si’ no and more.

יונתן replied 9 years ago

So there is a prohibition. Because it is in the language of the Lord and not in the language of Lordship. I did not find a source for this in the Rambam. Is there no prohibition, according to the Rambam, on pronouncing the name in its letters?

מיכי Staff replied 9 years ago

In the Gemara (see Pesachim 5:1 and Sanhedrin 20:1), the ruling on the pronunciation of the name in its initials is presented in language that is not a prohibition but a threat: be uprooted from the world or have no part in the world. This is probably why Maimonides does not bring this prohibition. However, many poskim assume that there is such a prohibition, and so it is accepted.

איתן replied 3 years ago

Shalom Rav.
Isn't there some disrespect in pronouncing God's name? Just as you wouldn't want to be called Nikhal or Rabbi Kook Rabbi Mook?
Also, there is the matter of “let there be a name of heaven that is spoken by you“ which is canceled in this way

מיכי Staff replied 3 years ago

There are such claims, but I am not convinced by them. Unlike any other name, people are wary of using it and therefore distort it. This is not a distortion of disdain.