[Avodah] HaShem as God's Name

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

In Avodah 25:326, R' Moshe Y. Gluck wrote:
> ... see the example on Bava Metziah 16b, because Rashi over
> there explains that it is a Lashon of Shevuah. Like, "By God!"
> or "I swear to God!" These also should be OK (though the
> person saying them should really be very, very sure that
> they're swearing the truth).

Indeed? Is it really sufficient that one is very, very sure that he is swearing the truth? Aren't we taught to avoid swearing even in such cases? Are we being more machmir than they were?

In that same post, he continued:
> The "Shadai!" that I mentioned in my previous post, I
> understood to be used in the context of performing some
> mighty act. Like that would be the interjection used while
> trying to benchpress some phenomenal amount. Not OK.

That sounds very similar to what R' David Roth wrote in 25:327:
> It seems that this exclamation was part of the vocabulary of
> certain Amoraim, though perhaps it's more acceptable when
> they're engaged in and surprised about a matter of Torah.
> I tend to translate it as "(and) by God..." (He then gave a "quick list" of about 18 such places in the gemara.)

Okay, so it's not literally swearing, but it is still l'vatala, isn't it? Why would this be acceptable?

Maybe I'm grasping at straws, but the only guess I can come up with is this: Perhaps the Name "Elohim" has kedusha, but with the Heh as a prefix, "haelohim" becomes a mere non-kadosh word, the equivalent of spelling "god" with a lower-case "g". I still don't like the idea of referring to non-real gods in such a context (do any of us exclaim "jesus!" when we get surprised?) but it's the only guess I can come up with.

Akiva Miller

____________________________________________________________
Embrace e-commerce and sell your products or services online. Click now!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/Ioyw6i3nqoivY4ZNUBmsf4Yd7XWLpP4y1s5sBPEUg7uNjsEwok4tia/