[Avodah] The Disappearing Doctor of Iyyar: Virtual Vanishing of a Venerable Minhog

[Kenneth Miller via Avodah]

R' Yitzchok Levine posted:

> See http://tinyurl.com/mdz6883

That article has only slight relevance to anything medical. It is actually about the practice of abbreviating HaShem's Name with a double (or triple) Yud in siddurim, and how this practice is losing ground recently, with more siddurim using the Four-Lettered Name. That article says:

> ... even in the printing of siddurim, where in the past, Shem
> Hashem was not written out explicitly, based on venerable, old
> practice. In other words, the spelling out of the letters, Yud
> – Kay – Vov – Kay in the past was done in Biblical texts, such
> as Sifrei Torah and Sifrei Nach. In texts of tefilos, however,
> it was not done. Instead, Yud – Yud was substituted.

I am very curious why this distinction was made, that the siddurim use the Yuds, while the printed Tanachs do use the Four Lettered Name.

I note that towards the end of that article, he refers to an "Azharah L'Madfisim (Warning To Printers)" on this topic, written by the son-in-law of the Nesivos Hamishpat. Curiously, he writes that the Two Yuds should be printed in siddurim *and* *chumashim*.

On the other hand, a few lines later, the Azharah explains a point I've long wondered about. The Four Lettered Name is just one of the *seven* Names Which May Not Be Erased. Why did this abbreviation arise for the Four Lettered Name and not for any of the others? I always figured it was because this one is *truly* a Name; "the Most Holy among equals" one might say. But the Azharah gives an entirely different explanation. Namely, the difference between this Name and the other six is that no matter how you spell it, it is not to be pronounced normally, so what is to be gained by using the correct letters? Therefore, find an abbreviation of some sort for this one, but the others should be spelled as they will be pronounced.

Akiva Miller
KennethGMiller at juno.com


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