[Avodah] Saying Sheimos Aloud
Akiva Miller
akivagmiller at gmail.com
Wed Dec 17 03:14:49 PST 2025
.
As usual, I failed to explain my question adequately. Thank you to R' Micha
Berger for pointing it out. He wrote:
> I must be missing something. I see sheim Hashem in sefarim all the time.
Yes, so do I. This has been bothering me for ages. I've long wanted to ask,
just never got around to it. Something about this case pushed me over the
edge. Perhaps I was surprised at seeing the Shem in ArtScroll's
fully-voweled version of the Kitzur - I suppose I expected them to censor
it. (This is not the first edition of the Kitzur to be vowelled, but
ArtScroll is in a special class.)
So I will be clear: My question is not about this particular example, or
even about this particular author. It is about every single sefer that ever
spelled one of the Sheimos She'einam Nimchakim *correctly* but outside of a
pasuk or tefila.
> And people who are nohagim not to say sheim Hashem in this context,
> which I assume would vehemently include RSGanzfried, simply say out
> loud "Elokim".
Now we get to my real question, thank you. You are assuming that Rav
Ganzfried would say "Elokim" out loud, but I can't imagine why he would
write it one way and vocalize it differently. If he would censor it when
reading aloud, how did his hand not tremble when writing it? It seems to me
that this constitutes evidence (admittedly not proof, but yes,
circumstantial evidence) that it is okay to pronounce these Sheimos
properly.
I would like to add that although I've seen this often regarding Elohim and
Shadai and some other Sheimos, I cannot recall EVER seeing Yud Kay Vav Kay
spelled properly outside of a pasuk or tefila. THAT Name is always
abbreviated or truncated or otherwise censored in some manner. To me, this
is further evidence that it might be okay to use these slightly-less-holy
Names when learning and/or in conversation.
> I mean, that's what every maggid shiur quoting (eg) the Rambam
> or the siddur does in every shiur I've been to.
Ditto. And I'm asking whether any posek has written anything on this topic.
Perhaps it is required, and perhaps it is a new chumra.
Akiva Miller
PS: I once saw a gemara in which Amora A was surprised by something that
Amora B said or did, and Amora A's reaction was to exclaim, "My God!
Seriously?", and "Elohim" was spelled properly. I was shocked that Amora A
would use Hashem's Name in such a context, and even more shocked that the
Gemara spelled it correctly. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find
that Gemara. Does it sound familiar to anyone? (I asked Google's AI, which
answered that the amoraim were Raba bar Avuha and Rav Huna in Bava Metzia
94b, and the phrase used by Rav Huna was "Elohim! Tzricha!", but I cannot
find it there. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, or maybe the AI was
hallucinating.)
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