[Avodah] HaShem as God's Name

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Yaakov Feldman commented:
> It has gotten to the point, interstingly enough, where
> Orthodox actually blush when we say "God" between
> ourselves (or when in the presence of non-observant Jews
> along with other Orthodox) and quickly mutter the term
> "Hashem" as an aside.

Yes, it's gotten to that point, but I think it has actually advanced even further beyond that point: I've seen some write it as "H-shem" or as "Hash-m" so as to avoid desecrating it when the writing is discarded.

There was a time when I would bemoan such spelling, or even make fun of it. But I've adopted a different attitude recently. Those who would make fun of the spelling "Hash-m" surely feel that way because it is not among the Names of G-d. And I agree that it is not a Name in the English language, certainly not in Lashon Hakodesh, and not in Yiddish either.

But perhaps it *IS* a Holy Name in the language (dialect, creole, whatever) known as "Yeshivish". Those who speak Yeshivish certainly use it in that sense: "Hashem said this. Hashem did that." But I cannot find my copy of Chaim Weiser's authoritative dictionary on the subject (ISBN: 1568216149). Can someone else look it up?

I would concede the possibility that the name "Hashem" has no kedusha by the logic that whenever it is used, there is an implicit kavana of "shelo lishma".

Akiva Miller

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