Q&A: Question about the book God Plays Dice
Question about the book God Plays Dice
Question
Hello and blessings,
I wanted to ask why you included the explicit Divine Name in the book and on the cover that way. True, I saw that there is a lone opinion (the responsa Mikveh HaMayim) that says it is indeed permissible to say the name with the letter "h" when necessary, but still, that is not the accepted view among almost all halakhic decisors. In addition, there will certainly be people who treat the book disrespectfully and perhaps read it in the bathroom and the like, in which case according to everyone this is a complete prohibition. So why "get into trouble"? Why not write "God" (or "G-d" if you are concerned about those opinions that hold one should not alter the Holy One's name)?
Wishing you a blessed rest of the week!
Answer
That is not a lone opinion. It is permissible to say the name "God" in the relevant contexts. Some say that using a different name is דווקא the prohibited thing, because that is a kind of disrespect toward Him. Indeed, in filthy places it is forbidden to say it. But I wrote it with a "vav," and that is not the Divine Name. I wrote an explanation about this here: https://mikyab.net/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%94%D7%A6%D7%93%D7%A7%D7%94-%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%9C%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A9-%D7%91%D7%9B%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%99-%D7%91%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8-%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%94%D7%99
By the way, you also wrote it here in the same way. How did you permit yourself to do that?