|
Listen to the post in audio
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Intro
In our age of digital abundance and casual language, it may seem “weird” to encounter the deliberate omission of a single letter when referring to the Divine: “G-O” instead of “GOD”. For some it may seem like superstition, for others reverence. But for those rooted in the Jewish tradition, the choice is neither trivial nor performative; it is the manifestation of a deeply spiritual worldview, shaped by sacred texts, halakhic principles and a profound desire to honor the ineffable.
There have been, and no doubt will continue to be, many ways in which people choose to write, or more precisely not to write, the Holy Name. According to Holy Scripture, the Divine Name should not be written in vain, nor treated with “lightness”. The reason is simple, but profound: GOD is the Most High, and human beings, in their finiteness, cannot fully comprehend Him, much less presume to know His Name in its fullness. This truth is beautifully reflected in the encounter between Moses and the Divine at the burning bush, when Moses asks for the Name of GOD and receives the enigmatic answer: “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” – “I Am Who I Am” (Exodus 3:14). It is not a conventional name, but a revelation of existence itself: timeless, limitless and beyond all understanding.
For this reason, over the centuries, the Jewish people have refrained from pronouncing or writing the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter Name of GOD, as a sign of reverence and humility. Instead, they have used alternative names and titles, such as Adonai or Hashem, and in many modern contexts, especially outside of sacred texts, terms such as “God” have become common, to avoid accidental profanation.
Here at the Abrahamic Study Hall (ASH) we follow a similar spirit of respect by writing G-O-D, all in capital letters, to remind us of the sacredness of the Divine Name and as a symbolic echo of the Tetragrammaton. However, we refrain from writing or attempting to pronounce the actual Name.
According to Jewish tradition, only one person, the High Priest, knew the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, and even he was only allowed to pronounce it once a year, on Yom Kippur, inside the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem. Such impressive restraint speaks volumes about the sacredness of the Divine Name and the spiritual awareness necessary to approach it.
From this point of view, the omission of a single letter becomes an act of devotion. It is not a question of superstition or linguistic formalism, but of recognizing the infinite distance between the Creator and the created, between the Name and the One it designates.
The warning of the Torah and the sacredness of the name
The basis for this practice is found in the Torah itself. In Deuteronomy 12:3-4, the Israelites are commanded to erase the names of foreign gods from the Land of Israel, followed by the imperative: “You shall not do the same to the Lord your God”. From this, the sages deduced a prohibition against destroying or disrespecting the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He (Talmud, Shavuot 35a).
Traditionally, this prohibition applies more strictly to the seven sacred names written in Hebrew, such as the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), Elohim and El Shaddai, but a divergence of opinion has emerged regarding the names of GOD written in foreign languages, such as “God” in English, “Gott” in German or “Boga” in Slavic languages. Some authorities, such as the Urim Vetumim, extend the prohibition to all languages, while others, such as the Shach, consider it praiseworthy but not obligatory in order to avoid defacing these translations of the Divine Name.
Beyond Law: The Call to Reverence
Legal nuances aside, the heart of the matter lies in kavod, or reverence. Even if erasing “God” in English does not technically transgress halakhic law, Jewish tradition places great weight on not treating such expressions of holiness in a disrespectful or casual manner.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi emphasized this point, noting that even names of GOD in secular languages should not be uttered in places of filth, as doing so is debasing. Though no inherent holiness is attached to these names in foreign tongues, they nonetheless participate in the Divine reality, especially when used with intention and blessing. As the Talmud teaches: “Any blessing that does not contain the name of GOD is invalid” (Berachot 40b). Thus, when one blesses using “God” in English, that invocation is deemed spiritually valid.
Why the Hyphen? Print, Paper, and Tradition
This brings us to the hyphen. The use of “G‑d” gained prominence among Orthodox Jewish publishers in pre-Holocaust Europe, motivated by a simple concern: printed newspapers or pamphlets bearing the Name might end up in the trash, on the ground, or otherwise desecrated. The hyphen was thus a practical way to mitigate potential disrespect—erring on the side of caution. This practice, born of reverence, eventually extended beyond print to the digital realm, particularly since printed pages from websites may still be physically handled or discarded.
Sacred texts, however, such as siddurim (prayer books) or chumashim (Bibles), usually spell out GOD’s Name in full, given the assumption that these volumes will be treated with dignity.
The Debate: Tradition Meets Thoughtful Dissent
Naturally, in a community as intellectually rich as the Jewish one, not all accept this practice without reflection. Some argue—philosophically and theologically—that the Creator, infinite and beyond human limitation, cannot be disrespected by mere letters on a page. One voice compares us to ants trying to insult a human by crawling on their garbage. “All creation is holy,” they say, “even the trash heap,” and so the notion of offending GOD through a printed word discarded in the landfill is, as they put it, “idolatry of oneself.”
Others point out that “God” is a general title, not a personal name. After all, Christians, Muslims, and others use the same word. It is not the shem ha-meforash (explicit Name) found in the Torah, such as in Exodus 3:14–15, where GOD declares, “This is My eternal Name, to be recalled for all generations.”
Yet even here, traditional Judaism would respond: in our covenantal context, “God” is not just a term—it becomes sanctified through use, through intention, through blessing. It is not the Name that sanctifies the utterance, but rather the utterance—when sincere—that invokes the Name.
Concluding Thoughts: Respect over Rigidity
Ultimately, this debate is not one of right versus wrong, but of depth versus breadth. For those immersed in halakhic tradition, spelling “G‑d” is an act of humility, of caution, and of reverence. For others, respect for GOD may be expressed differently, perhaps through words spelled fully but spoken with awe.
As the Prophet Micah taught:
“What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your GOD?” (Micah 6:8)
Whether you write “God,” “G‑d,” or use the Tetragrammaton in sacred context, the ultimate criterion is not typography, but the heart. May all our words reflect reverence, and may we each, in our own tongue and tradition, elevate the Name with love and care.
