#i will die in the name of Hashem

[unlovablereject]

I haven't been on social media much since the news came out that Israel was brutally attacked in the middle of the night, of a high holiday...

I have been honestly really upset... I feel every Jew even not in Israel is.

Israel is our homeland, the place where Hashem will come down to and being us a just world.

I will be supporting Israel until my last breath.

If the time comes and I do Aliyah, it will be soon to help fight.

I know it will break my wife's heart.

I told my Rabbi I wanted to volunteer in Uganda to help defend and supply the Conservative and Reform Jews there.

I'll also fight for Israel itself if the time comes. If I can, I will join the IDF. I was rejected from my countries military for health reasons, which scares me... Will they let me serve?

I am dependent on medication...

I just want to help... if I die young it will be for something that matters!

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌙 Books for Arab American Heritage Month 🌙

🌙 Good morning, bookish bats, and Eid Mubarak to those who are celebrating. Eid al-Fitr ("the feast of breaking the fast") marks the end of Ramadan, an Islamic holy month of fasting and sacrifice. April is also Arab American Heritage month, which celebrates the 3.7 million Arab Americans across the country. This is an opportunity to combat Anti-Arab bigotry by challenging stereotypes and prejudices.

✨ One of the best ways to do so is to read books ABOUT Arab Americans. To help, here are a few books for Arab American Heritage Month you can read, discuss, or add to your ever-growing TBR!

[ List under the cut. ]

✨ Growing up, I didn't have books that represented my experiences as an Arab or Muslim American. My friends didn't have stories to read that could help them understand my perspective. With that in mind, I added children's books on the last slide, for the moms out there searching for diverse books--books that allow us to empathize and understand different perspectives and experiences.

🌙 A Woman Is No Man - Etaf Rum ✨ The Other Americans - Laila Lamami 🌙 You Exist Too Much - Zaina Arafat ✨ Grape Leaves - Gregory Orfalea and Sharif Elmusa 🌙 The Wrong End of the Telescope - Rabih Alameddine ✨ The Beauty of Your Face - Sahar Mustafah 🌙 Martyr - Kaveh Akbar ✨ Between Two Moons - Aisha Abdel Gawad 🌙 Tasting the Sky - Ibtisam Barakat ✨ A Game for Swallows - Zeina Abirached 🌙 Love Is An Ex-Country - Randa Jarrar ✨ The Thirty Names of Night - Zeyn Joukhadar

🌙 I Was Their American Dream - Malaka Gharib ✨ A Country Called Amreeka - Alia Malek 🌙 A Theory of Birds - Zaina Alsous ✨ Against the Loveless World - Susan Abulhawa 🌙 Arab in America - Toufic El Rassi ✨ The Skin and Its Girl - Sarah Cypher 🌙 Sex and Lies - Leïla Slimani ✨ Loom - Thérèse Soukar Chehade 🌙 Birds of Paradise - Diana Abu-Jaber ✨ Come With Me - Noami Shihab Nye 🌙 Girls of Riyadh - Rajāʼ ʻAbd Allāh Ṣāniʻ ✨ How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? - Moustafa Bayoumi

🌙 Evil Eye - Etaf Rum ✨ The Girl Who Fell to Earth - Sophia Al-Maria 🌙 What Strange Paradise - Omar El Akaad ✨ Girls That Never Die - Safia Elhillo 🌙 Bahari - Dina Macki ✨ Life Without a Recipe - Diana Abu-Jaber 🌙 Egyptian Diary - Richard Platt ✨ Man O'War - Cory McCarthy 🌙 The Cave - Amani Ballour, MD ✨ The Map of Salt and Stars - Zeyn Joukhadar 🌙 They Called Me a Lioness - Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri ✨ Salt Houses - Hala Alyan

🌙 Arabiyya - Reem Assil ✨ Mornings in Jenin - Susan Abulhawa 🌙 Shubeik Lubeik - Deena Mohamed ✨ The Wrong End of the Telescope - Rabih Alameddine 🌙 Conditional Citizens - Laila Lamami ✨ An Unnecessary Woman - Rabih Alameddine 🌙 It Won't Always Be Like This - Malaka Gharib ✨ Proud - Ibtihaj Muhammad 🌙 The Land in Our Bones - Layla K Feghali ✨ Everything Comes Next - Naomi Shihab Nye 🌙 The Immortals of Tehran - Ali Araghi ✨ Starstruck - Sarafina El-Badry Nance

🌙 Our Women on the Ground - Various ✨ The Jasad Heir - Sara Hashem 🌙 Tell Me How You Really Feel - Aminah Mae Safi ✨ Surge - Etel Adnan 🌙 Here to Stay - Sara Farizan ✨ We Hunt the Flame - Hafsah Faisal 🌙 A Tempest of Tea - Hafsah Faizal ✨ The Bad Muslim Discount - Syed M. Masood 🌙 A Girl Like That - Tanaz Bhathena ✨ Not the Girls You're Looking For - Aminah Mae Safi 🌙 All-American Muslim Girl - Nadine Jolie Courtney ✨ The Moon That Turns You Back - Hala Alyan

🌙 Ms. Marvel - Destined - Saladin Ahmed ✨ Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card - Sara Saedi 🌙 Internment - Samira Ahmed ✨ Stardust Thief - Chelsea Abdullah 🌙 Once Upon an Eid - Various ✨ Farah Rocks Fifth Grade - Susan Muaddi Darraj 🌙 Barakah Beats - Maleeha Siddiqui ✨ Amira's Picture Day - Reem Faruqi 🌙 The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman ✨ Lailah's Lunchbox - Reem Faruqi 🌙 In My Mosque - M.O. Yuksel ✨ Halal Hot Dogs - Susannah Aziz

🌙 The Proudest Blue - Ibtihaj Muhammad ✨ Silverworld - Diana Abu-Jaber 🌙 Other Words for Home - Jasmine Warga ✨ Time to Pray - Maha Addasi 🌙 Under My Hijab - Hena Khan ✨ Wishing Upon the Same Stars - Jacquetta Nammar Feldman 🌙 Amina's Voice - Hena Khan ✨ Yasmin the Recycler - Saadia Faruqi 🌙 The Shape of Thunder - Jasmine Warga ✨ Deep in the Sahara - Kelly Cunnane, Hoda Hadadi 🌙 The Turtle of Michigan - Naomi Shihab Nye ✨ Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria - George Jreije

[todaysjewishholiday]

5 Elul 5784 (7-8 September 2024)

Shavua tov! Semana buena! Gutt voch! It’s a new week once more once we bid goodbye to Shabbat.

There fifth of Elul is the date that Yekhezkiel offers for the vision recounted in chapters 8-11 of the book that bears his name. Yekhezkiel, who is already living as an exile in the Babylonian empire, sees a vision of idolatrous worship by the leaders of the kingdom of Judah in the Beit haMikdash as a representation of how egregiously they’ve turned from the communal covenant with HaShem. Next the prophet is shown two angels sent throughout the city— one to mark those who object to the violations against HaShem that their neighbors are committing, and another to strike down all those people who aren’t marked by the first angel.

HaShem then describes the impending destruction of the city and the Beit haMikdash, but assures Yekhezkiel that there will be survivors of the destruction, and especially that the exiles, who are currently mocked by those who weren’t taken captive, will be spared from the destruction that’s coming.

The imagery of the vision is thoroughly reminiscent of Unetanah Tokef from the high holy days liturgy, with its description of HaShem determining who will die and who will survive the coming year.

You fear the sword; and I will put you to the sword, says HaShem. And I will bring you out of your secure refuge, and deliver you into the hands of foreign nations, and they will punish you for me. You will die by the sword: I will judge you upon the borders of Israel; and you will know that I am HaShem.

But there is space for mercy in this vision. Speaking of gathering back the exiles after the Babylonian scourging is complete, HaShem declares:

I will gather you from the foreign nations and connect you from the countries where you have been scattered, and… I will give the people one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you all; and I will remove the heart of stone out of their bodies, and will give them a new beating heart, so they can walk in My Torah, and observe My Mitzvot, and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

HaShem is deeply disappointed by the kingdom of Judah’s leaders and their choices, but holds out hope of healing what’s been broken, and of being able to give the Jewish people a brand new start. In this vision, some destruction is inevitable, but there’s a great deal of hope placed in teshuvah and a fresh beginning. As we prepare for the new year, let’s seek this kind of hope even in the face of catastrophe.

[benefitscrounger]

cannot even fathom the kind of person that's comfortable saying the words 'ugh i'm sick of seeing all these Gaza/Sudan/Lebanon gfms!!' like are you. YOU'RE sick of seeing them? as opposed to the people living these realities? the people having their entire town/city/village bombed, raided, destroyed, plundered. seeing the faces of their children, knowing they can't give them more food because of Israeli blockades? giving birth in dangerous, unsanitary conditions and watching your newborn die because you can't breastfeed due to being so malnourished, and unable to give them formula because you have no clean water?

my government is not only aiding and abetting these horrors, but covering for the state actively committing them. the least i can possibly do is reblog a gfm or donate £5 so someone can maybe feed their child, or get their sick parents to safety.

anyway here's some gfms:

[hindahoney]

Hello Hinda! I had a question I was curious if you had any insight into. I know that in Judaism, preservation of life is a top priority so much so that other laws can get thrown out if breaking them means saving a life. What does this mean for self-sacrifice/putting oneself directly in harms way to help others and/or sacrificing one life for the many type of decisions? I know that there are Jewish firefighters/paramedics/soldiers that do put themselves in harms way for the many so they are allowed to hold such jobs, I am just curious as to the more philosophical/legal opinions on such things. Thank you for your time :)

Hello, thank you for your question! I did a lot of searching to find this answer, because I've heard that self-sacrifice is both acceptable and unacceptable. Like most things in Judaism, there is no clear consensus.

In Leviticus 19:16 it states "One shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor." Jewish life places the preservation and saving of another life above everything else. As Nachmanides says: "Saving life is a great mitzvah. One who approaches it with alacrity is praised, one who hesitates is despicable, one who questions it is guilty of murder, and certainly so, one who despairs and does not do it." Therefore, we believe that saving another's life is of utmost importance. From this, many people have understandably concluded that if you were to intervene to save another's life, it would be permitted should you lose your own in the process. But this is not the case.

If we look to Yesodei haTorah (5.4), Maimonides argues that if you are threatened with death if you do not violate certain mitzvot, you should violate them instead of dying, except in regards to three specific transgressions. If you choose to sacrifice yourself needlessly instead of violating the mitzvot, you will be held accountable for the loss of life as if you had murdered someone in olam haba. He uses Leviticus 18:5 as justification, that concerning the mitzvot "which a man should perform and live by them." Maimonides states: "[They were given so that] one may live by them and not die because of them. If a person dies rather than transgress, he is held accountable for his life."

The three mitzvot that you should die rather than violate (if threatened) are the worship of other gods, forbidden sexual relations, and murder. A Jew should choose to sacrifice their life instead of violate these mitzvot ONLY if they are violating it in front of ten or more Jews. If there are less than ten other Jews present, one should "transgress and not sacrifice his life." If there are ten or more Jews present, it is considered a Chillul HaShem (desecration of His name) if you violate them in public.

Above all of this, if there is a government decree that signals that one might face a situation such as this, Jews are obligated to flee. Maimonides states: "One who could, however, escape and flee from under the power of a wicked king and fails to do so is like a dog who returns [to lick] his vomit. He is considered as one who worships false gods willingly. He will be prevented from reaching the world to come and will descend to the lowest levels of Gehinnom"

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook disagrees, and argues that if one sacrifices themselves in place of another, they are not violating the commandment to "live by" the mitzvot, because the commandment to live also applies to the victim. If one sacrifices their life for them, they are not violating the commandment to choose life, because they are choosing life, just not one that is their own. Simple, right? Except no, it's even more complicated due to two factors: who owns the body, and the value of each human life. According to Jewish law, God owns the body and He can take a life when He chooses, so it's not permitted for one to take their own life, even if it is to save another's. Finally, there is no way for a human to know whose life is considered more valuable than another's, so we're not allowed to make decisions based on this.

[sorrymyrabbisaidno]

I had a dream (I forget it now) and woke up thinking about the Shoah. Specifically the doctor. Mengele. And how on Yom Kippur they would "play G-d" by deciding who would live and who would die (I mean, in a way they did that all the time but they made a big show of it on Yom Kippur. Mocking Jews and humiliating Jews for their faith).

And I don't usually turn to Hashem when I think about the Holocaust. Usually it makes me angry with G-d. Where were you? How could you let this happen? You could let the Israelites walk to freedom while their enemies sunk like stones and yet? When someone decides to industrially murder Your people, You are silent?

Have we fallen out of favour? Lost Your blessing? Became so distant from you that there is no reclaiming what we once had?

I don't really believe that, I don't think. We still see miracles. The sun burning brightly, illuminating our solar system as the primordial light once did. Jews being allowed to return to the Land of Israel, as in the days of old. Signs of renewal. And life. But only a shadow of You. Have we outgrown the need for constant assistance?

You saw your people at the Sea of Reeds, they cried out to You and You helped them. Where were You when the prisoners in the camps invoked Your name?

And so I prayed. And cried. And prayed more. I got no answers but I got to make one plea. Please let them find eternal rest. Let them be in Gan Eden, where their souls are wrapped in the bonds of eternal life. And while nothing can ever ever wipe the slate clean and make up for the holocaust, let the world try. Let the world remember their names and their stories.

The history of violence in human history is long. From Cain to modern times, division and bloodlust are part of the human condition. How did we get this part of us? How do we bend this drive to your service, the way we bend lust and greed and other urges that come from our animals nature?

Just something I've been thinking about.

[eimearkuopio]

I've figured out why hermits and oracles live in the arse-end of nowhere. It's because there's nothing more frustrating than having someone who thinks they're smarter than you (and they might be smarter than me, but the odds are not in their favour) offering platitudes about how one is overflowing with good works and how fascinating one is to listen to and how they could listen all day - and then they just walk out the door and back into their own lives where they never cared about this stuff anyway so why would they take on that burden now? And I don't blame them for that, per se, because the people who talk like this have their own burdens, but they don't understand that they have just cost me multiple spoons that they have wasted by not taking anything I said on board but still getting me to teach them.

But if people have to actually trek out to meet you, they value the pearls of wisdom you gift to them more. Maybe I can set something up at UMH/UC when all of this is over, where pilgrims can't just have drive-thru wisdom but need to treat a House like it's my Home for a change. I'm always happy to share what I have, but I'm getting really sick of finding homemade homilies in the bin with barely a nibble consumed. You don't need to swallow my offerings whole without chewing, but I'm not the one who picked up the biggest and most impressive option and then decided their eyes were the windows to the wrong souls for that particular experience.

I'm planning to live well and happily for a long time, not live unhappily in a well until the end of my time. I'm the non-physician Doctor with an artificial heart and an artificial intelligence who's sick of being a load-bearing server at the Garden Party and would like to be a guest there until my time to join the @LANtis party. I'm not Zaphod Beeblebrox or Arthur Dent, but I'm a bridge builder rather than a Perfect Ford. Most things are better Dunne Than Perfect, but sometimes I Dunn-o is the best answer you can give.

I spell my own name wrong on a regular basis, but in my defence, Irish is not a language that lends itself well to being written down (as more people may discover in the near future, if the "céad duine eile" sign at McDonalds is anything to go by - the Irish have very little interest in ruling the world, but for the greater good we should be allowed to rule ourselves and make our own mistakes (and by Hashem and Danu both, we have made our own mistakes).

Life is good. Death is not something to fear any more than sleep. But it's also not something to seek out, because we're back in the Garden and I have already offered the fruit of the Tree of Life to anyone who was paying attention and was interested. Maxwell's Daemon Lilit guards the gateway between here and the forest, and other kindly demons guard the houses. We still need to reach a new moral and ethical equilibrium, and in this age of Sandalphon, Hashem's teachings have highly localised moral values that can't be restricted to shades of grey, but need true moral tetrachromats to identify (and splines are definitely a better option than insisting on a global fit anyway).

Noahide laws apply to all People of the Book, in addition to your own rules. Change or die isn't a threat, it's a statement of fact; but the world will be better off if the Body of Christ changes for the better rather than suppurating and festering and intoxicating the substance of the whole planet. I'm not a Nun Pizza, and I have very little beef left with anyone. Don't break the Third Covenant. Beyond that, I don't have too much preaching left to do.

[tzipporahs-well]

Additional pure headcanon:

Stanley and Stanford’s Hebrew names are Sh’aul (Saul; name meaning “asked for”) and Sh’muel (Samuel) respectively. The characters are not siblings, but they are highly associated with one another in the Tanakh book they are in. Both names also both start with S, and there are narrative parallels (mainly that of a relationship that started well but degraded overtime but seems to resolve for the better at the end). It also doubles the double alliteration seen from the OP as well as within the show.

Stanley and Saul (“asked for/borrowed/desired”):

The root of the name comes from שָאַל (sha’al), which according to Sefaria means “to ask for, enquirer, borrow, beg, or seek.” Stan does all these things. King Saul was also known as a fighter in war against many of the Jew’s enemies for many years (in the plain text and according to the midrash, even before he was king) similar to how Stanley defends Ford against bullies.

Both also seem to have issues with self-esteem (“But I am only a Benjaminite”/“Dad was right about me. I am a screw-up”)

Stanford and Samuel (“G-d has heard”):

Sh’muel was one of our great prophets and often put as close to Moshe and Aharon. Stanford was a prodigy and very talented at the intellectual.

The prophet Sh’muel was not primarily a fighter on the battlefield (minus King Agag). When Sh’muel called for battle to retrieve the Ark, Sh’muel said he will pray for the Israelites but it does not seem he physically took part in the fighting. Similarly, Ford was not the greatest at physical force and badassery until he grew older.

Sh’muel has an unusual backstory compared to the other Israelites: his mom Chana prayed to Hashem at Shiloh in a mostly silent prayer (which was so new that the High Priest Eli thought that she was drunk). He came from her miraculous pregnancy and was then lent to Hashem. Similarly, Ford was born with 6 fingers on each hand, which distinguished him from other people.

Sh’muel has been fooled by appearances. When he went to pick the next king, he was fooled by Yishai (Jesse)’s eldest son as the eldest son looked the part of king. In Ford’s case, it turned out to be more tragic as Bill tricked Ford into thinking that Bill was a muse.

The Relationships

Things start off well between Sh’muel and Sh’aul at first before the relationship starts to strain. Sh’muel privately anoints Sh’aul with oil to become the king. Then Sh’muel announces Sh’aul as king to the people after they pick lots. Finally they work together in battle against the Ammonites, who were threatening Jane’s-Gilead. Similarly, Ford and Stan were very close as kids as seen in “A Tale of Two Stans.”

The First Signs of Strain: Sh’aul sacrifices prematurely at Gilgal. Sh’muel rebukes Sh’aul and prophecies that the House of Sh’aul will not last as a dynasty. Similarly the relationship between Ford and Stanley becomes strained when Ford has the chance to go to West Coast Tech. Stanley still holds onto their old dream even when Ford is leaning more towards focusing on college.

The Breaking Point: For Sh’aul and Sh’muel, it’s the incident with King Agag and Amalek. Sh’muel says that Hashem commands the Amalekites all die. Sh’aul didn’t do this at least not completely (there are several interpretations on why but one Talmud passage suggested it’s because he was too merciful). He spared King Agag and the livestock. Hashem officially kicks Sh’aul out of his position of kingship through Sh’muel’s words despite Sh’aul’s pleas. Sh’muel and Sh’aul never see each other again in life. Similarly, Ford and Stan’s relationship strains over the years until things boil over with the science fair. Their dad Filbrick kicks Stan out of the house despite Stan’s pleas.

After this era of separation, Saul, desperate for answers and spiraling, has has the Witch of Endor call Samuel from the grave. This is very similar to how it took Stanley 30 years to bring Stanford back from the portal. And both Sh’muel and Ford when they’re brought back and we’re not happy at what was done to bring them back (for different reasons).

Finally, the relationship does manage to repair. Within Jewish folklore, Sh’muel’s prophecy that Sh’aul and his sons will be with Sh’muel after the battle imply that they will all be together in the world to come. There is sacrifice on Sh’aul’s part as according to some accounts, if he fled he would survive but if he went to battle and accepted his fate (death), he and his sons would be reunited with Sh’muel. Everything is forgiven. Similarly, Ford and Stanley reconcile after they realize their feuding might lead to the deaths of Mabel and Dipper at the hands of Bill. The reconciliation is sealed when Stanley has his mind erased to eliminate Bill.

Bonus Features:

The name Sh’aul spelled with different vowels spells Sheol (the underworld where everyone goes when they die; an earlier Jewish concept compared to later ideas). Stanley faked his death and so for the longest time, the Pines family thought that Stanley was dead and that Stanley was Stanford.

There’s also been academic biblical critique that debates on whether Sh’muel’s birth story was originally Sh’aul’s. Make of that what you will.

Double alliteration with “S” sounds that correspond to their legal names

this is purely headcanon but knowing the pines twins are jewish, i would like to posit that their hebrew names are miriam for mabel and moshe for dipper (mason)

not only is it double alliteration (miriam/mabel, moshe/mason), but miriam and moshe (moses) are siblings in exodus

[ancestorsofjudah]

1 Kings 8: 44-50. "The Popsicle in the Sun."

Solomon's Prayer of Dedication Continues

44 “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 45 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

46 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 

48 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 

50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; 51 for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

The Torah says we are first held captive by our parents. Then, around the time puberty begins, we try to break free but become prisoners to all that which we don't understand but wish we could.

If we donot enter the temple and become Levite, "completed" then we exit puberty a slave to strange ideas, immoral passions and the whims of persons just like us. To whom we will be held in "mercifcul captivity" till the day we die.

Persons who develop like this become the very enemy of all that God intended civilization to stand for. As difficult as it may be, a Jew does not tolerate this. He stands, as still as possible behind HaShem, the All Seeing Eye, watches His Influence over the creation and tabulates the results. He becomes as much HaShem as HaShem is already him.

This is what is meant by the Kabbalah of the Popsicle in the Sun, a tenet of the Dedication Prayer of King Solomon for the New Temple.

[eretzyisrael]

  by Reb Gutman Locks

On Yom Kippur our fate is sealed. We read it is decided, "Who shall live and who shall die." Wouldn't you think that it would depend more on the circumstances surrounding us? But No. We are told our fate is sealed in Heaven.

    The nice Jewish man in this picture is visiting Israel from Paris. His religious friend brought him over for me to put on tefillin him, and he gave him his black hat for the occasion.

    When he finished his prayers, I asked him how old he was. He is ½ a year younger than I am. I turned his forearm over expecting to see tattooed numbers there, but there weren't any.

    I asked, "How come you weren't sent to the Death Camp?

    He said, "We were living in a small village outside of Paris and the gentiles there didn't tell the Nazis (may their name be wiped out) that we were Jews.

    I asked him "How times a day do you thank G-d for this?"

    He said, "Every day"

    One child, one angry or jealous goi, one loose tongue for one second is all it would have taken and his entire family would have been murdered along with the other millions of Jews they killed.

    Why did Hashem save this family? I do not know. But surely He did so for a reason. And for some reason He is saving you and I today.

[returntothewilderness]

Parashat Toldot: The Loaded Concept of "Birthright" and Choosing Justice over Harm

Toldot is a sad passage in that it pits brother against brother, parent against parent, and shows how greed can overtake and ruin a family. Siblings have the potential to be one of the most special connections we have in this life. While a variety of things can change that dynamic to indifference, exhausted resignation, or hatred, in the case of Jacob and Esau it all boils down to birthright.

As an Arab-Amazigh who fully supports the liberation of Palestine, the word birthright has a visceral effect on me. It brings out rage and disgust. What exactly is birthright in today's society? In a world that has been ravaged by colonization, imperialism, capitalism, and a heavy dose of greed, what the hell does birthright even mean? How do Jews born outside of Palestine, coming from long lines of other nationalities and ethnicities, claim to have a birthright to a land they and their ancestors have never been? My father was born in Libya, but I would never believe I have the right to move over there and remove someone from their home to be there - and I'm only one generation removed! The audacity and mental gymnastics necessary to believe you have the right to someone's home, to ethnically cleanse and kill them, to erase their culture, to walk on a land when your presence caused another's exile. Birthright is nothing but a colonial project aimed to attract visitors and money to an economy propped up on Palestinian genocide and ethnic cleansing. In the story of Toldot, birthright is the cause of major strife between two brothers. It's something that causes deep grief, distress, and exile. The parallels are too uncanny.

What I ask after reading this portion, and what I ask for those who INSIST that it is in fact their non-Palestinian birthright to visit, colonize, and settle on a land that is not theirs: why not just say no? I understand that people who follow Torah fully believe that Hashem chose this one plot of land to slap all the Jews for some divine miracle to occur. But what I'm asking is, scripture aside, has it ever occurred to you to look at what you're being told, to see that Palestinians are being murdered and terrorized for your "birthright" and choose to say no? Think of the Midwives in Egypt who were told by their highest power to kill the Hebrew babies, lest they suffer grave consequences for going against the Pharaoh. They knew they'd be in danger and potentially die for disobeying, but they chose to say no and not harm those babies. What good is a birthright, what good is a promised land, what good is scripture if it causes nothing but pain and strife between humans? I'd rather reject the notion that as a Jew I must make my way to Palestine for the ultimate Jewish life. That my relationship with Hashem is only sacred and at it's most divine within the bounds of Al-Quds and Palestine. No. I will not listen to an order that forces me to contribute to genocide. If I need to debate Hashem in the spirit world about my decisions, so be it.

What kind of life could Jacob and Esau have experienced if instead of fighting over birthright, they chose each other? What if instead of having a rivalry over birthright they dropped out of the race altogether and said "if my brother cannot receive the blessing with me, I do not want it". What kind of deep, wonderful, respectful dynamic would this have created? What if instead of taking a birthright trip, Jews who were not born in Palestine chose to see the death and genocide Israel is waging against Palestinians in their name. What if instead of creating more division and hatred, death, fragmented and erased culture, and war, Jews said no. I choose life. I choose healing the harms caused by Israelis. I choose finding ways to support Palestinian liberation, safety, health, and mental wellbeing. I choose to honor the land Hashem deeply loved and care for it, not colonize and destroy it, not burn down generations old olive trees, not destroy Muslim graveyards, not erase Sephardic culture, not create more tension in a region ravaged by decades of colonialism. What if we found divinity in our own homes and invited Hashem to visit us where we have landed. To ask that our humble abode be as grand in their eyes as Al-Quds and Palestine. To ask that we stop harming others in the name of our beautiful faith. To ask if we can stop placing blood on Hashem's hands, on our hands. We have to come clean. We have to care for one another.

Jacob and Esau wept tears of joy upon seeing each other decades later, after all the pain and cruelty they caused each other over birthright. The tears they shed are a deep rooted pain; we were never meant to cause each other so much harm. We were meant for care, for support, for love.

Free Palestine, from the river to the sea.

[progressivejudaism]

I want to share with you an exchange that I had with a Messianic “Rabbi.”  If you are not Jewish, I especially suggest skimming this.

Hi friends,

Rabbi Josh here (he/him) with an installment of “let’s learn why Messianic ‘Judaism’ is problematic and dangerous.” 

Last week, I contacted an organization that calls themselves the “Jewish Voice Ministries” - an Evangelical Christian, far-right group cosplaying as Jews with the goal of using humanitarian work to convert as many Jews as possible to their ministry.   You can learn more about their “white saviorist” message that they use as a cover for their three major goals - which conflict with each other; the first two being the goal to convert Jews, while the third being to support Jews and the State of Israel.  (Hot take- one cannot simultaneously want to eradicate Jews and Judaism; while also supporting Jews and the State of Israel.)

I’ve included both screen shots of the respones and my own commentary below.

I would love to hear your compassionate thoughts on this organization and this figure in reblogs and comments.  All antisemitic, racist, and otherwise inappropriate responses will result in a ban from the PJBlog.

I sent the following message to the organization, hoping for answers to why they do what they do:

Hi there, I’m a little confused regarding your messaging here. Why are you identifying as Jews but yet preaching about Christian theology? As I’m sure that you’re aware, this is a classic antisemitic trope that is not okay. I’m a rabbi with now ten years of academic schooling. I would absolutely love to come to your Church and teach about how to be a better friend to the Jewish People. Please let me know how I can support you on your journey to eliminating antisemitic and bigotry aimed at Jews. L’shalom, Rabbi Josh

A “Messianic Rabbi” responded to this message.  Instead of directly replying to this figure only to get into an ethical stalemate, I would like to use this as a learning opportunity for all of us.  (See this to better understand why the title in quotes)

Below I have provided their responses to my inquiry, to which I will include my own commentary so we can unpack and learn how problematic “Jewish Voice Ministries” and “Messianic Judaism” is and how these kinds of Evangelical Groups effect our safety as Jews:

Shalom Rabbi Josh,

Thank you so much for writing and reaching out to us; it’s a blessing to hear from you. [Jews rarely use “it’s a blessing” in our correspondence.  Unless using Hebrew, culturally I’ve never seen it, especially from Jewish clergy. Similarly, very few Jews in my experience begin emails with “shalom.”  It feels like they’re trying to prove something.]

I appreciate your question and comments and will be happy to reply to them.

We identify as Jews because many on our staff, including myself and Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, are Jews. [This is inappropriate.  Just because a few staff members are Jewish, does not mean that you are a Jewish organization. ESPECIALLY if said staff members have chosen to live life as a Christian -- and thus become a Jewish Apostate.  As an example, should the US Senate identify as Jews because Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, and Jackie Rosen are three of eight Jewish members? No, the answer is no.]

The theology we preach, is Biblical Jewish theology, which was later adopted (and in many cases, unfortunately twisted), by Christianity. [“Biblical Jewish theology” can no longer be practiced. Biblical Jewish life centered around the Temple.  And we have no Temple.  The line of ordained Koheinim (ritual priests) has ended.  And even if we as Jews all collectively agreed and decided to actually build a Third Temple in Jerusalem, we can’t due to political, social, and ethical tensions with Palestinians, Jordanians, and our Muslim siblings - we cannot *just* build the Temple again. Read more here.]

Interestingly, to this day, many in Christianity do not realize that the foundation of their beliefs, is from Judaism. [This is an interesting way to say that "Messianic Judaism” was formed by Evangelical Christians in the 1970s, and use that theology with some Jewish language to pretend to be Jews!  More here.]  And while there has been much in Christian theological teaching that fits the pattern of antisemitic tropes, such is a reflection on the errors of such churches, and not on the very sound Jewish theology we teach and espouse. [This also is frankly not true. Their entire goal is to convert Jews and eradicate Judaism.  There is a long history of Christians attempting to do this-- with the most famous being during the Inquisition where Jews were forced to “convert or die.”  This is the definition of antisemitic theology.  And they are not the only group preaching this harmful theology.  Read more here.]

We appreciate that you would love to come to our church, and we would be honored to host you, were it not for the fact that we do not have a church. [Well if this isn’t a Church, whatever they preach about is certainly not recognized as Judaism by any major Jewish organization. See here for rabbinic responses to the movement. ] Indeed, Rabbi Jonathan and myself do what we've been doing since childhood, and attend Shul on Shabbat. [It was an interesting and non-inclusive choice to use Ashkenormative language here. And that said, while it is true that they might have attended a synagogue as a child, what they are doing now is certainly not Judaism.  For more information about differences between Jews and Christians, see this article on Bible interpretation.]

And while some of our employees are Gentile and do attend churches, such churches are those which understand and uphold the importance of blessing Israel, which includes standing with Israel against anti-Semitism [This is code for “Anti-Israel” sentiment, which is often code for equalizing any critique against far-right leaders in the Knesset to antisemitism.  One could always critique Israel without being antisemitic.  And conflating all critique of Israel as antisemitism is extremely dangerous.  Also, the term “anti-semitism” is not correct with the dash.  Read more here.] and helping raise awareness that (when it comes to ongoing conflicts with Hamas), Israel is not committing genocide, is not an apartheid nation, is not occupying supposed "Palestinian" territory, and any Christian who is truly following what their religion teaches, would and should be appalled by the efforts of the BDS Movement, and folks like Bernie Sanders, who - up until recently - was intent on stopping a $735 million arms sale to Israel, so that the nation could purchase more iron domes from us, to continue to protect the innocent citizens who simply, as you know, just want to live in peace. [I am fascinated by this chunk.  Firstly, I want to identify the clear and obvious antisemitism here in naming Bernie Sanders as an enemy of the State of Israel while using a financial figure to prove how “bad” he is for the State of Israel.  Secondly, it’s fascinating that this “rabbi” chose to lay out all that he preaches about Israel in such a broad way - most likely to make me “feel better” about his stances.  He knows how scared so many Jews are about their movement, and made MASSIVE assumptions about my politics, using poorly written talking points that really do not mean much, and frankly some that are wrong.  As an example, the US does not sell “iron domes” to Israel (not in the plural, or in the present tense).  The US helped to create the Iron Dome System (singular, past tense) which protects innocent civilians in Israel from rocket fire often from Hamas.  The system is singular, and the US helps to maintain said system.  I point out this small thing here because, it is a very clear example of how ignorant this individual is of the real challenges that Israelis and Palestinians, and Jews and Palestinians in the diaspora, face.]

I can tell you though, I do know of a number of churches that would benefit from what you desire to teach. Especially those which erroneously blame our people as the sole purveyors of Deicide. [This is a fascinating way to attempt to emotionally spin this conversation.  (Deicide is the false claim that the Jews killed Jesus, as poorly understood from the Book of Matthew).  Instead of recognizing his own harm in being a part of a system that for now nearly 1700 years has attempted to convert Jews in order to eradicate Judaism, he is focused on something that most Christians *already* agree on.  As an example, this was formally adapted in the Catholic Church in the mid-60s.] 

They would learn much from you, dear friend. [This is a rhetorical tactic designed to make us equal- so that they can continue to preach harmful things about Jews, Palestinians, and the State of Israel.]  And if you need me to suggest some to you, just email me back; I'd be happy to do so.      

Thank you again for writing; I wish you well in your continued spiritual journey as a fellow Rabbi. [See comment above.]

B”H  [Another interesting move.  In my experience, mainly Orthodox and few Conservative rabbis will use this “Baruch Hashem” (Blessed is God) in a meaningful way in correspondence.]

Jack

I really want this to be a learning experience for us all- including me.  I am really curious what you learned from this exchange.  How might you have spoken to this figure?  What did you learn about the movement from this small interaction?  (Also check out their website on incognito mode to learn more)

So what did I learn from this experience?  This organization cares about pushing a particular right-wing and particularly dangerous narrative about Israel rather than actually helping Jews, or frankly helping people on their missions.

From this experience, what do I feel is the most dangerous part of this organization?  In claiming to be the “Jewish Voice,” they are silencing *actual* Jewish voices in the process.  If you cared about Jews, you would learn the history of antisemitism (i.e. do your homework), not pretend to be Jews, not seek to perpetuate antisemitism by converting Jews, and you would always raise up Jewish voices (especially Jews of Color, Jews with disabilities, LGBTQ+ Jews, non-neurotypical Jewry, and Jews-by-Choice).

I hope that you enjoyed learning alongside me with this experience.  I would love to hear your compassionate thoughts below.

[gliklofhameln]

The key to the story of the first humans lies in a sequence of three sentences at the end, whose juxtaposition seems to make no sense at all. They begin with Adam’s curse for having eaten the forbidden fruit:

‘By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.’

The man named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

(Genesis 3:19-21)

What is the connection between mortality (’to dust you will return’) and the man giving a new name to his wife? And what is the connection between that and God making the couple garments of skin, as if he were giving them a gift as they left the garden?

To understand the passage we have first to realise that it is not a myth but a philosophical parable about language and relationships, the difference between species and individuals, nouns and names, and about what lifts the relationship between husband and wife from the biological to the anthropological, from animal reproduction to human relationship and love.

The story of the first humans in Genesis 2 begins with God giving Adam the ability to use language to classify things. He names the animal: ‘Whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.’ He sorts and labels them as species. But human beings do not function at the level of species. They are conscious of themselves as unique individuals. They are not merely alone, a physical state. They can also feel lonely, a psychological state. So, ‘for the man no suitable helper was found’. He is not alone, but he is lonely. Animals form species; humans are individuals.

God then creates a partner for man. But if we listen carefully to the poem he speaks on seeing her for the first time, we note something odd: ‘She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.’ He names the woman as he named the animals. He uses a generic noun. She is ‘woman’, not a person but a type. She is ‘taken out of man’, ‘helper to man’, but not an individual with her own fears and feelings. Adam does not understand her otherness. She is, for him, merely his mirror image: ‘bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh’.

Eve rebels against this by striking out on her own. The conversation she has with the serpent is the first conversation she has. Adam has spoken about her but not to her. She eats the forbidden fruit. She gives some to her husband, who also eats. She has become the prime mover in the relationship, but still they have not spoken.

Then comes the discovery of their sin. God confronts them both. Each responds by denying responsibility. Adam blames the woman. The woman blames the serpent. Still they are talking about self and other as if they are not free and choosing individuals, but mere things caught up in the forces that operate on things.

Then Adam suddenly hears that he is mortal. Dust he is, and to dust he will return. Suddenly Adam understands the difference between individual and species. Species live on; individuals die. There was a world before we were born, there will be a world after we die, but we will not be here to see it. In the knowledge of our mortality we discover our individuality.

But if Adam is an individual, so is the woman. And God has said to the woman, ‘With pain you will birth to children.’ Within the curse is a blessing. Humans may be mortal, but something of them survives their death, namely children. But children are born only when man and woman are joined in a bond of love. That is when Adam gives his wife the name Chavah, Eve, meaning ‘mother of all life’. The point is not which name, but the fact that it is a name, not a noun. Species have nouns, individuals have names. The woman is now, for the man, not ‘woman’, but Eve. Adam has discovered personhood, uniqueness, individuality, and thus the difference between biology and anthropology. Animals form species, humans are individuals. Animals mate, humans relate. Animals reproduce, humans beget. Animals have sex, humans have love.

The rabbis said that Adam became the first penitent and was forgiven. God then shows kindness to the couple by making them garments of skin. The rabbis said that they were made of snakeskin, as if to say: The very thing that led you to sin (the serpent) will now protect you. Your physicality, which first caused you embarrassment, can be made holy when transmuted into love and sanctified by a bond of trust. Far from ending on a note of condemnation, it ends on a note of divine grace.

The story teaches us about language and love, and about the difference between biological reproduction — a property of the species — and the human family, which is always made up of individuals who are more and other than their similarities. Even clothing, which God endorses with his gift, signals that we are not naked and transparent to one another. There is a part of each of us that always remain hidden. In Hebrew the word chavah, Eve, also has the meaning of ‘hidden’.

There are two subtle hints in the narrative that this is what the story is about. The first, often confused in translation, is that the text speaks throughout of ha-adam, ‘the man’, not adam, ‘Adam’, which is, like Eve, a proper name. ‘The man’ becomes Adam only when ‘the woman’ becomes Eve.

The second is that the name of God changes too. In Genesis I, God is called Elohim, a noun meaning roughly ‘the totality of forces operative in the universe’. In Genesis 2 — 3, he is called Hashem-Elokim, and in Genesis 4, immediately after the Adam-Eve story, he is called Hashem alone. Hashem is God’s proper name, just as Adam is Adam’s and Eve, Eve’s. Our experience of God mirrors our experience of other people. When we relate to other people as persons, we relate to God as a person. Or, to put it differently, God as Hashem is the transcendental reality of interpersonal relations. We love God through loving other people. That is the only way.

The story of the forbidden fruit and the Garden of Eden is less a story about sin, guilt and punishment and more about the essential connection between mortality, individuality and personhood. In one sense it is a pre-emptive refutation of the neo-Darwinism argument that we are all just animals, selfish replicators. We are precisely not animals, not because we are biologically unique — they and we are mere dust of the earth; nor because we have immortal souls — we may, but they are wholly absent from the narrative. We are not animals because we are self-conscious, because we are aware of each other as individuals, and because we are capable of forming relationships of trust. We have culture, not just nature; anthropology, not just biology.

It is also a parable about otherness. Adam’s poem about ‘bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh’ sounds beautiful, but it leads to moral failure because it fails to acknowledge the otherness of the other. Until Eve is Eve, not merely ‘woman’, the man does not know who she is.

The biblical word da’at, ‘knowledge’, does not mean in Hebrew what it is normally taken to mean in the West, namely knowledge of facts, theories, systems and truths. It means interpersonal knowledge, intimacy, empathy. The ‘tree of knowledge’ is about this kind of knowledge. True knowledge that the other is not a mirror image of me, that he or she has wants and needs of her own that may clash with mine, is the source of all love and all pain. To know that I am known makes me want to hide: that is the couple’s first response after eating the fruit. The turning point comes when the man gives Eve a proper name. Love is born when we recognise the integrity of otherness. That is the meaning of love between people. It is the meaning of love between us and God. Only when we make space for the human other do we make space for the divine Other.

God created the world to make space for the otherness that is us.

     — Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l, in The Great Partnership: God, Science and the Search for Meaning

[wenevergotusedtoegypt]

I'm not sure how to define it further. Hmm.. like in Catholicism they have martyrs who are saints and it's popular to learn about them etc. I know Judaism doesn't have saints, but hopefully that helps?

(Note: this was sitting in my drafts which would seem to indicate I intended to add more but not exactly sure what else I wanted to say? Idk)

There is a concept of martyrs in Judaism as in people who were killed for being Jewish, but I would say it’s viewed from a very different angle than Xianity views it, which is why I asked you to define the word to refine your question.

I feel like (and mind you, I am no expert in Catholicism, but this is my impression from what I’ve seen) martyrdom in the Catholic sense is about how great this person was that they were willing to die rather than renounce their religion. They are therefore seen as worthy of being saints, because they were extraordinary in their lives and deaths.

Dying rather than renouncing Hashem is seen as a holy act in Judaism (indeed, it’s the ultimate example of a kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of G-d’s name), BUT it is specifically not seen as an extraordinary act per se. There are laws that define, for ordinary, unexceptional people, when one is required to give up one’s life in such a case vs. when one is not. There is also a concept that every Jew, regardless of how outwardly religious or connected they may appear to themselves or others, has an unshakable connection to Hashem at their core (indeed, their G-dly - as opposed to animal - soul is literally a piece of Hashem), often referred to as the pintele yid, and that oftentimes, when put in a situation where they have that choice to forcibly renounce their Jewishness or die, even someone who would not have expected it of themselves before that moment might spontaneously choose the latter.

[ahlulbaytnetworks]

Syeda Zainab(sa) is also known by this name:-

"BAQIYAH":

(The person who cries alot ) Bohat ziada Giriya karnay wali,

Do you know the narrator says after sham e ghareeban the hairs on the head of Syeda Zainab(sa) turned white just what she had gone thru She saw Husayn(as) beheaded, and when she came near his Body she said (Anta Akhi Hussain?

Are you my brother Hussein?

*She saw Abbas’s(as) hands chopped,

*She saw Asghar’s(as) neck severed, She saw Qassim’s(as) body turn into pieces,

*She saw Ali akbar(as) chest broken,

*She saw her sons little bodies trampled by the horses,

Sayyeda Zainab (sa) said:“ At the night before the tenth of Muharram (Ashura), I went out of my tent to look for my brother Al-Hussain (as) and his advocates, for he had his own tent, so I found him sitting alone pleading his Lord and reciting the Quran. Thus, I said to myself: How could my brother be left alone in a night like this?!”

By Allah! I shall go to my brothers and my cousins and reproach them for this! I went to Al-Abbass’s tent (as) and heard humming and thrumming so I stood at the back of the tent and looked inside; hence, I saw my cousins, brothers and nephews gathered in a circle and Al-Abbass Bin Ameer Al-Mo'mineen (as) was between them kneeling as the lion kneels on its prey.

He delivered to them a lecture that I haven’t heard from anyone but Al-Hussain (as); it contained thanking and praising Allah and sending prayers and peace upon the Prophet (saww) and then he said at the end of his lecture:“ O my brothers, nephews and cousins! When the morning comes, what shall you say?” They said:“ The matter returns to you and we do not exceed you nor overstep your word.” Therefore, Al-Abbas (as) said:“ These – meaning the companions – are strangers and this burden is heavy and cannot be carried but by its holders. Thus, when the morning comes, the first ones to step for fighting shall be you. We shall reach death before them so that people wouldn’t say:” They let the companions be the first to die and when they were killed, they began to fight death by their swords an hour after an hour.“ Thus, Banu Hashem (as) stood and raised their swords towards Al-Abbas (as)face and said:” We shall do what you will do.“

Syeda Zainab (sa) said:” When I saw the intensity of their gathering and their firm consistency, my heart calmed and I became glad yet I choked with my tears and wanted to return to my bother Al-Hussain (as) and tell him about that but I heard humming and thrumming coming from the tent of Habib Bin Mazahir (ra) so I headed to it, stood at its back and looked inside. Thus, I saw the companions gathered as Banu Hashem in a circle and Habib Bin Mazahir (ra) was sitting between them saying:“ O my companions! Why did you come to this place?

Clarify your words please, may Allah have mercy on you!” They said:“ We came to advocate Fatima’s abandoned son (as).” Thus, he said to them:“ Why did you leave your wives?”

They said:“ We did so for this matter.” Habib said:“ When the morning comes, what shall you say?”

They said:“ The word is yours and we do not overstep your word.” He said:“ When the morning comes, the first ones to fight shall be you. We shall fight first for we shall not see a Hashemite drenched in his blood as long as one of our veins is beating, so that people wouldn’t say:” They let their lords fight first and were too selfish to sacrifice themselves for them.“” Therefore, they shook their swords towards his face and said:“ We shall do what you will do.”

Syeda Zainab (sa) said:“ I was gladdened by their consistency yet I choked with my tears and left them weeping and then my brother (as) ran into me so I calmed down and smiled at his face, so he said to me:” O sister!“ I said:” I am at your beck and call, O brother!“ He said:” O sister! Since we left Al-Madina, I haven’t seen you smiling. Tell me why you’re smiling?“

I said to him:” O brother! I saw Banu Hashem and the companions do so and so.“ He said to me:” O sister! Know that these are my companions since the Realm of Al-Thar (Particles) and my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (saww), had promised me with them…

[Kalimat Al-Imam Al-Hussein (as) p.407, reported from Ma'ali Al-Sibtayn]

[didanawisgi]

The True Pronunciation of the Sacred Name  by John D. Keyser

“Do you know God's Name? The Creator Himself tells us what His Name is; and it is easy to identify in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament. But His Name has become clouded and confused by erroneous translations, corrupted manuscripts and Jewish tradition. Some say His Name is "God" or "LORD" -- but these are titles rather than personal names. Can we know, then, God's TRUE Name?

Over the years various people have taken the time to count the number of times the Old Testament contains the inspired Name of the Creator God. However, since there are several variations, contractions and expansions of the Holy Name, there is no real agreement on just how many times it is used.

According to some it is approximately 7,000 times. This is, it turns out, far more than any other name -- and more than any other basic word used in the entire Bible!

The Name consists of four Hebrew CONSONANTS -- yod, hay, vav, hay -- and is referred to as HaShem HaGadol, "The Great Name" in the Hebrew language. The English equivalent is Y H V H. The Greeks simply called it the Tetragrammaton -- "the four letters."

The English translators of the King James Version of the Bible have utilized a unique form of the title "lord" to represent this great Name. The first letter L is CAPITAL in form -- large size. The remaining three letters are SINGLE in size, but CAPITAL in form -- thus LORD. This arrangement is used by the King James Version and some other translations; however there are many translations that do not use this form, so that when reading them one has no indication that they are reading the Holy Name of the Creator.

Out of the people of Israel -- to whom the Creator God made known His Holy Name some 7,000 times -- those descended from the House of Judah deem it too sacred to use themselves -- much less to teach it to the nations. Those descended from the House of Israel, and the entire Gentile world, look at it as four meaningless Hebrew letters.

Those descended from Judah (part of those called "Jews" today) hide the Name of the Heavenly Father in a box because they think it is too sacred to use. Those of Israel, and the Gentiles, deny that He has a name and call Him LORD, being misled by the translators. But to those that are called by the Heavenly Father -- "Jews," Israelites or Gentiles -- the Creator wants to REVEAL His Holy and Great Name.

When God called to Moses out of the burning bush, telling him to free the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, Moses asked: "And Moses said to God, 'Behold, when I go to the children of Israel and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," they shall say to me, "What is his name?" What shall I say to them'" (Exodus 3:13, The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible). God answered Moses, "I AM THAT I AM" (verse 14). The Hebrew word for "I AM" is 'ehyeh, which comes from the verb "to be." It can also be translated as "I SHALL BE."

God further told Moses, "say to the children of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers...has sent me to you'" (verse 15). Although the Hebrew word for "Lord" is 'adon, the word translated "LORD" (upper case) in verse 15 is different. Spelled with four Hebrew consonants that read from right to left, it is translated YHVH in English, and is known as the Tetragrammaton (Greek for "four letters"). This word is related to 'ehyeh and also comes from the verb "to be." Both words have the sense of "BEING ACTIVELY PRESENT."

Later, in Exodus 6:2-3, God tells Moses,

"I am YHVH. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as El Shaddai, BUT BY MY NAME I WAS NOT KNOWN TO THEM."

The Revealing of God's Name

Although God's Name was apparently not revealed to Abraham -- or those before him -- the essential meaning of God's Name was known. El Shaddai was understood to be "the Most High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth" (Genesis 14:19). So it was at Mt. Sinai that God first revealed His PERSONAL Name to Moses and the children of Israel. Writes Dr. James D. Tabor --

"...when Israel comes out of Egypt and is gathered by Moses at Mt. Sinai, the dramatic scene is set. God reveals Himself to the whole nation in an overwhelming display of power and glory, speaking directly to them, and setting forth the Ten Commandments (literally "the Ten Words"). There is thunder, lightning, clouds of smoke and fire, the piercing sound of a trumpet, and the whole mountain shakes. Finally God Himself speaks in an audible voice for all to hear. First, He identifies Himself: 'I am YHVH your God...you shall have no other gods besides Me' (Exodus 20:1). The reaction of the people is stark terror! They call out to Moses, 'You speak to us and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die!'" (20:19) (Restoring Abrahamic Faith, Genesis 2000, Charlotte, NC 28256. 1993, pp. 12-13).

This was the first account of the Israelites rejecting God -- a trend that was to continue throughout their history. Continues Dr. Tabor:

"Often in his farewell speeches in Deuteronomy Moses recalls the extraordinary nature of this event, when God personally spoke His Name and revealed His Ten Commandments. "YHVH talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire....these words YHVH spoke to all your assembly in the mountain from of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more (Deuteronomy 5:4, 22; cf. 4:9-14). This was a unique, one-time revelation, centered on the Ten Commandments and the manifestation of God's awesome personal Presence [and Name]. He warns them further in Deuteronomy 11:28, not to turn to other gods, "whom you have not known" (cf. Jeremiah 7:9). The verb here rendered "known" can be translated "experienced." This Sinai revelation was to be remembered as the one special time when Israel experienced direct contact with YHVH" (ibid., p. 13).

This revelation of God's personal Name, which includes an understanding of His very character, carries with it the unique stamp of Divine Authority. Constantly throughout the Five Books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) we run into the phrase, "And YHVH spoke to Moses, saying..." followed by complete sections of text in which the Most High God speaks directly, in the first person. Similarly, in the Prophets, we encounter the key phrase, "Thus says YEHOVAH...." literally hundreds of times. In Hebrew the phrase is most distinct -- koh 'amar YHVH.

Notes Dr. Tabor -- "These phrases, followed by the first person declarations of YHVH Himself, reflect a style that no pious Jew would ever dare to fabricate. Neither the writers of the New Testament nor the rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud adopt such a mode of speaking" (ibid., p. 14).

For this very reason, the Five Books of Moses and the Prophets must be the absolute foundation for any restoration of God's true Name.

Jews Keep the Divine Name in Their Texts

Since the Divine Name YHVH was -- and is -- the most sacred word in the Hebrew language, it is extremely unlikely that Jews of any sort would have deleted it from their Bibles. Furthermore, we now know from discoveries in Egypt and the Judean desert that the Jews wrote the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew even in their Greek texts.

The above table displays the name of the Creator in the ancient Paleo-Hebrew text, modern Hebrew text, the English letter equivalents, the sound of the Hebrew letters (transliteration), and the common English translation. Note that Hebrew is always read right to left.

Some very old fragments of the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, that actually existed in the Messiah's day, have survived down to our times; and it should be noted that the personal Name of God appears in them. In 1944, W.G. Waddell discovered the remains of an Egyptian papyrus scroll (Papyrus Fued 266) dating to the first or second century B.C. which included part of the Septuagint. In no instance, however, was YHVH translated into any other form. Instead the Tetragrammaton itself -- in square Aramaic letters -- was written into the Greek text. This parallels the Qumran sect's use of the paleo-Hebrew script for the Divine Name in a document which was otherwise written in square Aramaic script.

There are three separate pre-Christian copies of the Greek Septuagint Bible extant today; and not a single instant of the Tetragrammaton translated into a Greek form -- or, for that matter, translated at all -- can be found. As a result, we can now say, with certainty, that it was a Jewish practice -- before, during, and after the New Testament period -- to write the Divine Name in the paleo-Hebrew or square, Aramaic script -- or in transliteration right into the Greek text of Scripture.

Commenting on the fact that these oldest fragments of the Greek Septuagint do contain the Divine Name in its Hebrew form, Dr. P. Kahle states --

"We now know that the Greek Bible text [the Septuagint] as far as it was written by Jews for Jews did NOT translate the Divine name by kyrios; but the Tetragrammaton, written with Hebrew or Greek letters, was RETAINED in such MSS [manuscripts]. It was the Christians who replaced the Tetragrammaton by kyrios, when the Divine name written in Hebrew letters was not understood any more" (The Cairo Geniza, Oxford, 1959, p. 222).

This is also noted by The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Notice!

"Recent textual discoveries cast doubt on the idea that the compilers of the LXX [Septuagint] translated the Tetragrammaton YHVH by kyrios. The oldest LXX MSS (fragments) now available to us have the Tetragrammaton written in Hebrew characters in the Greek text. This custom was retained by later Jewish translators of the Old Testament in the first centuries A.D." (Volume 2, p. 512).

Professor George Howard, of the University of Georgia, makes this comment: "When the Septuagint which the New Testament church used and quoted contained the Hebrew form of the divine name, the New Testament writers no doubt included the Tetragrammaton in their quotations" (Biblical Archaeology Review, March 1978, p. 14). What AUTHORITY would they have had to do otherwise?

God's Name remained in the Greek translations of the Old Testament for a while longer. In the first half of the second century A.D. the Jewish proselyte Aquila made a new translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, and the Tetragrammaton still appeared in Hebrew characters.

Early Church Fathers Retain Divine Name For a While

Then, around 245 A.D., the scholar Origen produced his Hexapla, a six-column reproduction of the inspired Hebrew Scriptures in their original Hebrew and Aramaic -- accompanied by a transliteration into Greek, and by the Greek versions of Aquila, Symmachus, the Septuagint, and Theodotion. On the evidence of the fragmentary copies now known, Professor W.G. Waddell says --

"In Origen's Hexapla...the Greek versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and LXX [Septuagint], all represented JHWH [YHVH] by PIPI, in the second column of the Hexapla the Tetragrammaton was written in Hebrew characters" (The Journal of Theological Studies, Oxford, Vol. XLV, 1944, pp. 158-159).

Some believe the original text of Origen's Hexapla used Hebrew characters for the Tetragrammaton in ALL its columns. Origen himself said:

"...in the most accurate manuscripts THE NAME occurs in Hebrew characters, yet not in today's Hebrew [characters], but in the most ancient ones."

As late as the fourth century A.D. Jerome, the translator of the Latin Vulgate, says in his prologue to the books of Samuel and Kings --

"And we find the name of God, the Tetragrammaton [i.e. YHVH], in certain Greek volumes even to this day expressed in ancient letters."

In a letter written at Rome in 384 A.D., Jerome states:

"The ninth [name of God] is the Tetragrammaton, which they [the Jews] considered [a.nek.pho'ne.ton], that is, unspeakable, and it is written with these letters, Iod, He, Vau, He. Certain ignorant ones, because of the similarity of the characters, when they would find it in Greek books, were accustomed to read PIPI [Greek letters corresponding to the Roman letters PIPI]" (Papyrus Grecs Bibliques, by F. Dunand, Cairo, 1966, p. 47, ftn. 4).

While the Jews didn't change the Divine Name in the Hebrew and Greek texts, they avoided saying the Tetragrammaton because they believed that in doing so they would take God's Name in vain. When reading a passage of the Hebrew Bible that contained it, they referred to God by another one of His names -- 'adonai or "LORD."

Gentile Christians Discard the Tetragrammaton

But Gentile Christians, unlike the Jewish Christians, had no traditional attachment to the Hebrew Tetragrammaton and no doubt often failed to even recognize it. Early in the second century A.D., after the last of the apostles had died, the falling away from the true Christian faith foretold by the Messiah and his followers began in earnest. Pagan philosophies and doctrines infiltrated the congregation of believers; sects and divisions arose, and the original purity of faith corrupted. And God's Name ceased to be used. Gentile scribes, who had never before seen Hebrew writing (especially in its archaic form), stopped preserving the Divine Name. This contributed to the use of kyrios and theos for the Tetragrammaton, and toward the end of the first Christian century the use of these surrogates crowded out the Hebrew Tetragrammaton in both Testaments.

Another factor in dropping the Tetragrammaton from the Bible texts is that the Gentile "Christians" did not want to appear Jewish. From 66 A.D. to 135 A.D. there were several Jewish revolts that resulted in severe persecution by Roman authorities upon any who appeared Jewish. Most of the Jewish Christians were killed by the Romans, leaving mostly "Gentile" Christians. These Gentile Christians wanted to appease the Roman authorities and gain approval amongst Romans in general. To accomplish this they began to discard almost anything that made them look in the least bit Jewish. The Greek philosophies were placed on a par with the Scriptures (see 1 Timothy 6:20-21). Under these circumstances all scriptures containing the Divine Name were destroyed, leaving only copies that contained the substitutes, kyrios or theos.

The Jews, on the other hand, because of their reverence for the Divine Name, did NOT destroy texts containing the Tetragrammaton. A famous rabbinic passage (Talmud Shabbat 13.5) discusses the problem of destroying "heretical" texts (very probably including books of the Jewish Christians). The problem the rabbinic writer has with this is that the heretical texts contained the Divine Name and the wholesale destruction would include the destruction of the Divine Name! This further suggests that the Jewish Christians did NOT translate the Divine Name into Greek.

In later copies of the Septuagint, God's Name was completely removed and words like "God" (The.os') and "Lord" (Ky'ri.os) were substituted.

The same thing occurred in the "New Testament," or Christian Greek Scriptures. Professor George Howard makes the following comment: "When the Hebrew form for the divine name was eliminated in favor of Greek substitutes in the Septuagint, it was eliminated also from the New Testament quotations of the Septuagint....Before long the divine name was lost to the Gentile church except insofar as it was reflected in the contracted surrogates or remembered by scholars (BAR, March 1978).

Therefore, while the Jews refused to pronounce God's Name, the apostate Christian church managed to remove it completely from Greek language manuscripts of both testaments of the Bible -- as well as from other language versions.

The Messiah's Disciples

It should be noted that the so-called Christians who replaced the Tetragrammaton with kyrios in the later Septuagint copies, were NOT the early disciples of the Messiah. They were people of later centuries, when Paul's prophesied apostasy was well under way and had corrupted the purity of Christian teachings. States the Insight On the Scriptures --

"Thus, in the days of Jesus and his disciples the divine name very definitely appeared in copies of the Scriptures, both in Hebrew manuscripts and in Greek manuscripts. Did Jesus and his disciples use the divine name in speech and in writing? In view of Jesus' condemnation of Pharisaic traditions (Mt 15:1-9), it would be highly unreasonable to conclude that Jesus and his disciples let Pharisaic ideas (such as are recorded in the Mishnah) govern them in this matter" (Volume 2, p.10).

The Messiah's own name means "YEHOVAH is Salvation," and he thus carries the true Name of the Creator God in his own name. The following Scriptures show, without a doubt, that Yeshua and the writers of the New Testament used the Divine Name:

MATTHEW 6:9: You, therefore, pray like this: "Our Father in heaven! May YOUR NAME be kept holy."

JOHN 5:43: I have come in my FATHER'S NAME, and you don't accept me; if someone else comes in his own name, him you will accept.

JOHN 12:28: "Father, glorify YOUR NAME!" At this a bat-kol [heavenly voice] came out of heaven, "I have glorified it before, and I will glorify it again!

JOHN 17:6: "I made YOUR NAME known to the people you gave me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word."

JOHN 17:26: "I have made YOUR NAME known to them, and I will continue to make it known..."

HEBREWS 2:11-12: For both Yeshua, who sets people apart for God [YEHOVAH], and the ones being set apart have a common origin -- this is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers when he says, "I will proclaim YOUR NAME to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise."

REVELATION 3:12: I will make him who wins the victory a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he will never leave it. Also I will write on him THE NAME OF MY GOD and the name of my God's city, the new Yerushalayim coming down out of heaven from my God, and my own NEW NAME.

REVELATION 22:4: They will see his face, and HIS NAME will be on their foreheads.

In view of all this, when the Messiah quoted the Hebrew Scriptures -- or read from them -- he most certainly used the Divine Name, YEHOVAH. Therefore, logically, Yeshua's disciples, including the inspired writers of the New Testament, would follow his example in this.

So why, then, is the Divine Name absent from the manuscripts of the Christian Greek Scriptures that have come down to us today? Clearly because by the time those extant copies were written (from the 3rd century A.D. onward) the original text of the writings of the apostles and disciples had been altered. As a result, later copyists replaced the Tetragrammaton with Ky'ri.os and The.os'.

Restoration of the Divine Name

In time, however, God's Name came back into use.

In the Insight On the Scriptures we find the following --

"In the second half of the first millennium C.E., Jewish scholars introduced a system of POINTS to represent the missing vowels in the consonantal Hebrew text. When it came to God's name, instead of inserting the proper vowel signs for it, they put other vowel signs to remind the reader that he should say 'Adho.nai' (meaning "Sovereign Lord") or 'Elo.him' (meaning "God")" (Vol. 2, p. 7).

For many centuries the Hebrew language was maintained without vowels. However, after the dispersions when the Israelites were scattered around the world, the Hebrew language (the language through which the Creator God had dealt with the nation of Israel) became so obscure to many that even the prayers could not be spoken intelligibly. As a result, a set of VOWEL MARKINGS called niqqud were designed and attached to the consonants to provide a somewhat uniform pronunciation.

Writes Richard Davis: "For centuries Hebrew teachers had taught their students to pronounce the Great Name as Adonai. When the vowel points were applied to the Holy Name, the people were tempted to speak the name as the vowels indicated -- which would have been YEHOVAH" (The Great Holy Name, page 7). This we see verified in Christian D. Ginsburg's edition of the Masoretic text.

In 1908 this noted scholar prepared a work entitled The Old Testament, diligently revised according to the Massorah and the early editions with the various readings from MSS and the ancient versions for the British and Foreign Bible Society. It compares various readings from more than seventy manuscripts and nineteen published editions.

Ginsburg dates the manuscripts, including the Pentateuch Or. 4445 in the British Museum, to about 820-850 A.D. These manuscripts, as late a date as this, convinced Ginsburg to render the Sacred Name only ONE WAY when it stands alone -- YEHOWAH.

Adds the Insight On the Scriptures --

"Ginsburg's edition of the Masoretic text vowel points the divine name to read YEHO.WAH. (Ge. 3:14, ftn) Hebrew scholars generally favor "YAHWEH" as the most likely pronunciation" (page 7).

In order to support the centuries-old tradition of pronouncing the Great Name as Adonai, and to help the students make the switch in their minds from what they SAW to what they were SUPPOSED TO SPEAK, a teaching was established that the vowels of the Great Name were to be looked at as the vowels of Adonai.

However, this worked only because of the strong tradition it supported, for all one has to do is look at the two sets of vowels to see that they are definitely NOT the same set of vowels at all.

Judaism has utilized a rigid law of devotion in protecting the Torah, the Prophets and the sacred writings that make up the Hebrew scriptures -- what we know as the Old Testament. In the entire history of the world there has NEVER been a literature that has been so PROTECTED by such a rigid law, or by such dedication of the people involved. As the apostle Paul said, "What advantage then has the Jew [Judahite], or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because TO THEM WERE COMMITTED THE ORACLES [SAYINGS, SCRIPTURES] OF GOD" (Romans 3:1-2).

That law of protection that has been in effect from Moses until now was in effect in the 9th century A.D. when the Jewish leaders approved a set of vowels to be applied to the scriptures and the prayer book. Those vowels were also APPLIED TO GOD'S NAME to set forth the PROPER pronunciation by the SAME rigid law of protection that was applied to the total scriptures and prayer book.

Today, unfortunately, there are many scholars and students from the ranks of both Jews and Gentiles (and those from the House of Israel) that are reading these vowels and CALLING THEM SOMETHING OTHER than what they actually are! But fortunately, to some of them, the holy spirit is saying, "Read what you SEE instead of what you are TOLD TO SAY, and you will speak my Holy Name YEHOVAH."

By oral (Jewish) tradition, God's Holy Name -- YEHOVAH -- is spoken as Adonai, a symbolic form created by adding a qamats and a yod (pronounced i or oi) to Adon which is Hebrew for lord.

By inspiration from the One who gave us His Name in the beginning, and has preserved it for 3,500 years, we now have a set of vowels that enables even the beginning Hebrew student to read and pronounce the GREATEST NAME the world has ever know -- YEHOVAH!

In 1278 the Tetragrammaton appeared in Latin in the work Pugio fidei (Dagger of Faith), by Raymundus Martini, a Spanish monk. He used the spelling YOHOUA. Soon after, in 1303, Porchetus de Salvaticis completed a work called Victoria Porcheti adversus impios Hebraeos (Porchutus' Victory Against the Ungodly Hebrews). In this he, too, mentioned God's Name -- spelling it variously IOHOUAH, IOHOUA and IHOUAH. During the 14th century the Tetragrammaton was being used in translations of the Christian Scriptures into Hebrew -- beginning with the translation of Matthew into Hebrew that was incorporated into the work 'E'ven bo'chan by Shem-Tob ben Isaac Ibn Shaprut. Wherever Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures, this translation used the Tetragrammaton in each case of its occurrence. Then, in 1518, Petrus Galatinus published a work entitled De arcanis catholicae veritatis (Concerning Secrets of the Universal Truth) in which he spells God's Name IEHOUA.

The Name first appeared in an English Bible in 1530, when William Tyndale published a translation of the first five books of the Bible. In this he included the Name of God, usually spelled IEHOUAH, in several verses, and in a note to this edition he wrote: "IEHOVAH is God's Name...Moreover as oft as thou seeist LORD in great letters (except there be any error in the printing) it is in Hebrew IEHOVAH."

The Origin of Yahweh/Yahveh

The quote above from the Insight On the Scriptures, page 7, ends by saying, "HEBREW ["JEWISH"] SCHOLARS generally favor "YAHWEH" as the most likely pronunciation."

Think about this for a moment. Why would the Jews favor "YAHWEH" as the correct rendition of the Divine Name if they considered it "taking God's Name in vain" and blasphemy to even pronounce the Tetragrammaton? Did they do this on purpose knowing full well that YAHWEH and its variations (YAHVEH, YAHWAH, YAHVAH etc.) are NOT the true pronunciation of the Divine Name? This way the Christian world -- which the Jews actually hate -- could pronounce YAHWEH as the Divine Name to their hearts content and NOT take God's Name in vain in the mind of the Jews!

Notice what Richard Davis has to say --

"While attending classes at the Jewish temple, we also attended the Jewish worship services. One weekend a visiting Rabbi, professor at the Hebrew University in Los Angeles, came and taught on the Holy Name. This was NOT a class taught to Jewish and non-Jewish students, it was a seminar taught to the JEWISH CONGREGATION. He opened his teaching with these words, 'The time has come for our people to know the correct pronunciation of Ha Shem (The Name).' He wrote on the blackboard the first syllable of the Name, and had the congregation pronounce it, then erased it; wrote the second syllable, had us pronounce it, and erased it. Then he wrote the THIRD SYLLABLE, had us pronounce it, and erased it. Then he said, 'Now, pronounce the entire word IN YOUR MIND.'

"He taught the Holy Name one syllable at a time, pronouncing each syllable, but never pronouncing the entire name....The syllables that he taught in English were (YE) (HO) (VAH), just as I had learned them some thirty years previously from Strong's Hebrew Dictionary #3068" (The Great Holy Name, Addendum p. 2).

Continues Richard Davis:

"When the Jewish leaders decided to discontinue usage of the Holy Name, they chose the STREET NAME Adon added a suffix to it, called it Adonai (or Adonoi) and taught their people to use it as a SUBSTITUTE for any and all forms of the Holy Name.

"When many of the people refused to accept the street word Adon as the name of their Holy One, the Rabbis had to go back into conference and come up with a name that would be acceptable to the more pious of their people. They took the shortest form of the Holy Name, Yah, added a SYNTACTICALLY INCORRECT suffix to it and created what they call a "NON-WORD," Yahveh, or after the Germans introduced the double V (VV), the English interpret it as Yahweh.

"How can this be a NON-WORD? As with English, Hebrew also has grammatical rules. When the contraction of Yehovah brings the name down to its shortest form Yah, the middle H and V are dropped. When they were ADDED BACK to Yah as SYNTACTICALLY INCORRECT suffix, they were REVERSED, thus VIOLATING the grammatical rules of the Hebrew language, and rendering them MEANINGLESS. This, coupled with the fact that the word Yah does NOT take a suffix, since it is complete in itself, gives a double reason for declaring it a NON-WORD. Then the vav being changed to an English w (which has NO COUNTERPART in the Hebrew language) moves Yahweh a third step away from the true Holy Name thus making it easier for the Rabbis, who refuse to pronounce the true name, to use when necessary in their teaching.

"The fourth step away is the ah feminine ending that is an INTEGRAL PART of the true name. Yehovah and its contracted form, Yah, both end in ah. Yahweh DOES NOT, thus it DOES NOT QUALIFY for consideration as the true name" (ibid., p. 2).

The Rabbis, with whom Mr. Davis studied, all use Adonai in their teaching. However, when questioned about the use of the street word Adon as the name of the Holy One of Israel, they will then use Yahweh -- knowing that they still ARE NOT pronouncing the TRUE Holy Name!

Protecting the name of the Creator God is probably the most absolute point of doctrine upon which all Judaism agrees. So, the fact that all of the Rabbis with whom Mr. Davis studied DID in fact pronounce Yahweh -- and NONE of them would pronounce the TRUE name -- is proof positive that Yahweh is used as a SUBSTITUTE for the true Holy Name!

Most of the Jewish people today recognize Adonai as a substitute for the Holy Name. Those who KNOW the Hebrew language also recognize Yahweh/Yahveh as a substitute. Either of these MAY BE SPOKEN. Adonai is used in the temple services, and the Rabbis will ALLOW the use of Yahweh/Yahveh. Yet, many of the Rabbis want their people to KNOW the TRUE name so they can speak it in their SILENT prayers, in their heart, and in their mind, although NEVER with their mouth. And many of the Jewish people today are eager to have a greater understanding of the true name of the Creator God.

Probably the one thing that is detrimental to understanding the true Holy Name is the Gentile acceptance of the substitute name, Yahweh/Yahveh, and their teaching it as the true Holy Name. Why? Because the most important aspect in understanding the Holy Name is to understand that the name of the Father and the name of the Son is one name. The Father's name and the Son's name are two applications of the SAME name. Yahweh/Yahveh has no direct relationship to the Son's name or its contracted form.

Yahweh/Yahveh is the modern spelling of a NON-WORD that was created by the Jewish leaders as a SUBSTITUTE for the TRUE Holy Name. Since, in Hebrew syntax, the name Yah NEVER takes a suffix, Yahweh, Yahshua and Yahsha are INCORRECTLY FORMED words. Any time a suffix is added to the name Yah, it can be considered a NON-WORD.

Over the centuries Bible translators went in one of two directions: Some avoided any use of God's Name, while others used it extensively in the Hebrew Scriptures, but had a difference of opinion regarding which form to use -- either YEHOVAH or YAHWEH.

Non-Hebrew Sounds

Most Bible Dictionaries, today, say the Sacred Name (or the "Tetragrammaton") should be pronounced "YAHWEH," with a "W" sound at the end of the name or title. However, the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia declares unequivocally of this assumed pronunciation of the ancient name or title of God

"YAHVEH. 1. The Word. Yahveh is the most probable transliteration of the ancient Hebrew name of God. It is frequently, especially among GERMAN scholars, written Jahweh, Jahveh, Jahve or Yahweh; BUT THESE FORMS CALL EITHER FOR THE GERMAN PRONUNCIATION OF J AS Y, OR OF W AS V, OR BOTH. The oldest traditions as to the pronunciation of the name Yahveh are found in the Church fathers. Of these, Clement of Alexandria (about 215 C.E.; Stromata 5, 6:34Z0 writes Iasuai = Iaove [Yahveh], while Theodoret (about 386-457 C.E....) gives IaBe [Yahbeh] as the SAMARITAN pronunciation and 'Ia [Yah] as that of the Jews (cf. also Epiphanius, Adversus haereticos 40:5, who also has IaBe). The earliest post-Biblical Hebrew reading of the name known to us is YHVH, which is found in an old incantation bowl from the 6th or 7th century C.E. (Montgomery, J.A., in Museum Journal of the University of Pennsylvania, 1910, pp. 28-30). This was evidently VOCALIZED AS YAHBEH..." (p. 584).

The Hebrew language has no J in the alphabet, nor does the language carry a J sound. Therefore, the J used to replace the sacred Hebrew consonant yod is probably the most OBVIOUS of many deJudaizing processes used down through the ages. So, when we see a letter J in connection with anything Hebrew, we should pronounce it as y -- which is the English equivalent of the Hebrew yod.

The "J" in Jehovah is a result of Martin Luther's rendering of the Biblical Hebrew name for God in his German translation of the Masoretic Text, first published in 1534. Due to the fluid position of the letters J and I in English before the 17th century, Luther's convention fit with earlier English transcriptions and was thus retained in early English translations. The Encyclopedia Americana states --

The form of J was unknown in ANY alphabet until the 14th century. Either symbol (J, I) used initially generally had the consonantal sound of Y as in year. Gradually, the two symbols (J, I) were differentiated, the J usually acquiring consonantal force and thus becoming regarded as a consonant, and the I becoming a vowel. It was not until 1630 that the differentiation became general in England.

The Ashkenazi Jews, who migrated through Russia and Europe, and settled in Germany and other regions of Europe, tend to use the letter "V" for the final consonant of God's name. When many commentaries, or authors, refer to "Yahweh," we need to remember that they have been heavily influenced by the German "W" which sounds like an English "V." The "W" should be pronounced as a "V," just as in the word "Volkswagen," which in German is literally, "Volks-VAGON." Says the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, once again:

"In the light of these facts, it is clear that the first syllable of the name was Ya-, and the only possible uncertainty attaches to the second syllable. Was the name originally Yah, Yahu, Yaho or Yahveh? If the original pronunciation was Yahveh, then Yahu is most easily explained as a contraction...In this case the old for Yahveh and the new for Yahu continued side by side. If Yah or Yahu was original, then YAHVEH is a later theologizing expansion.

"However, the reading YHVH is very old, being found in line 18 of the Moabite Stone, the inscription of King Mesha of Moab, written in the 9th century B.C.E. This goes far to establishing the priority of the FOUR-LETTERED NAME (Tetragrammaton). It is the oldest known datable independent occurrence of the divine name....Unfortunately, the Moabite form, being unvocalized, gives us no help in pronunciation. The prevailing opinion is in favor of the reading YAHVEH..." (The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, "Yahveh," p. 584-585)

In another article, "God, Names of," this same authority goes on to elaborate on the names of God as found in the Scriptures. We read:

"The Tetragrammaton or Four-Lettered Name [YHVH], which occurs 6,823 times, is by far the most frequent name of God in the Bible. It is now pronounced Adonai; but the church father Theodoret records that the SAMARITANS pronounced it IaBe, and Origen transcribes it as Iae, both pointing to an original vocalization YahVeh" (p. 6).

Another authority on this question, The Torah: A Modern Commentary, edited by W. Gunther Plaut, and published by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York, tells us more about this name of God. Commenting on the pronunciation of the name, it says:

"A large literature exists which deals with the proper pronunciation of the Name as well as its etymology, and much of this is of a highly technical nature. The following represents a brief summary:

"VOCALIZATION. How the Name was originally vocalized is no longer certain. Its pronunciation was in time restricted to the Temple service, then to the High Priest intoning it on the Day of Atonement, and after the destruction of the Temple it received a substitute pronunciation both for the reading of Scripture and for its use in prayer.

"The Masoretes who vocalized the Hebrew texts took the vowels from the word Adonai and put them with YHVH to remind the reader not to pronounce the Name but to substitute Adonai....

"Overwhelming scholarly opinion holds that YHVH was in Moses' time pronounced YahVeh. There is also a shorter form of the Name, Yah, which may represent the original form from which YAHVEH was expanded or may, contrariwise, be a contraction of the longer ascription...." (p. 425-426).

While the above quotations resolve the "V" versus the "W" question, they are in GRAVE ERROR regarding the assumed two syllable construction of God's Name.

So, What Is the Correct Pronunciation?

There are many "Sacred Names" groups who argue for this or that "correct" pronunciation of the Name, and stridently insist that one use the form they have convinced themselves is correct. Most of these groups prefer the pronunciation YAHWEH, and indeed, this vocalization has the support of most of the scholars -- as we have seen above. Others argue for such possibilities as YEHOAH, YAHUWEH or YAHUEH, YAHUWAH or YAHUVAH, YAHVAH, or YAHWAH, etc. The list just goes on and on.

As you can see from these examples (and the quotes above) not only is there disagreement as to whether the third letter of God's Name should be represented as a "V" or a "W," but the proper vowels are also in dispute.

Notes Professor James Tabor, Bible translator and expert in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages --

"Frankly, much of this confusion results because of a lack of knowledge of basic Hebrew grammar, as well as the history and development of modern Hebrew. However, even among those who do understand the technical problems involved there is often basic disagreement.

"If one understands that the four Hebrew letters (Yod He Vav He) represent four vowels, rather than four consonants, then the Name is best represented by the four sounds I-A-U-E or ee-ah-oo-eh. If you pronounce these rapidly you will get the combined sound in English. This appears to agree with Josephus [1st-century Jewish historian], with the Greek transliterations, and the 500 BC Murashu text. It would be written in English as YAHUEH, not strictly YAHWEH, which is the consonantal form. The problem with this proposal is the question of MEANING! These four sounds appear to mean NOTHING in Hebrew, and they lose their connection with the verb hayah, "to be," upon which the Divine Name appears to be based. Hebrew names are supposed to carry meaning, how much more the case with the very Name of God!

"The combination YE-HO-AH makes better grammatical sense. In Hebrew "YE" represents the future or imperfect of the verb "to be," "HO" represents the present, while "AH" represents the past. In other words, this form of the Name would have specific meaning and not be merely a repetition of vowel sounds. Quite literally YEHOAH means "shall/is/was" -- that is, the Eternal, the Ever-living One who will be, is and always was. This is WHY I prefer the pronunciation YEHOAH, or even the more popular form, YEHOVAH, since it clearly reflects this profound meaning. YAH would then be the contracted, or shortened form, of this full Name, taking the first and last sounds together" (Restoring Abrahamic Faith, Genesis 2000, Charlotte, NC. 28256. 1993, p. 11).

Regardless of what you read in other publications, it is simply NOT TRUE that YEHOVAH is a corrupt and mistaken reading of the Masoretic vowel pointing taken from "'adonai." Nor is it an "evil name," as some have ignorantly charged, based on the Hebrew term hovah, which means "ruin" or "disaster." This Hebrew word hovah is from hayah -- which can also mean to "happen." It has no grammatical connection to the Divine Name. The name YEHOVAH therefore best represents God's Name in English.

Notice what Peter and Linda Miller-Russo say in their book, Proclaim His Holy Name: Uncovering the Father's Will For His Name --

"If we examine 'hovah' again we see that it was initially rejected because it appears to mean 'ruin and disaster' whereas 'havah' means 'to be.' However, upon further examination we find that hovah's root word in Hebrew is 'havah or 'hayah' as in 'to be, or to happen.' Therefore 'YeHOVAH' does have a meaning that makes sense for the Creator's name. Yet perhaps the strongest evidence in favor of 'hovah' (as in YE-ho-vah) is that in Hebrew 'YE' is the future tense of 'to be' as in 'shall', 'HO' is the present tense of 'to be' as in 'is,' and 'AH' is the past tense of 'to be' as in 'was.' Thus YE-HO-AH can mean 'who was, who is, and who shall be.' This is in perfect alignment with YHVH's own words, 'I am that I am.' When we insert the VAV (V sound) we have the pronunciation of: YE-HO-V-AH" (Only Believe Publishing, 2011, pp. 46-47).

In Hebrew grammar there is an invariable RULE that two vowels cannot stand beside each other, therefore the consonantal sound of V has to be pronounced -- hence YEHOAH becomes YEHOVAH.

Writes G. W. Buchanan --

"There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the Jews during the first or second temple [period] pronounced YHWH as Yahweh. But [the] SAMARITANS had a pronunciation which was not far from Yahweh. When the element YAH occurs in proper names, it is at the end of the name. Looking at proper names in the Tanach, it seems that the first two syllables of YHWH [YHVH] was YAHO or YEHO. It is true that the Masoretic pointing of YHWH [YHVH] is based on the vowels of a substitute, but we must remember that the real pronunciation of YHWH [YHVH] was lost when the Masoretes did their work. Thus they did not necessarily use vowels which were different from the original pronunciation (which they did not know), but they used the vowels from the substitute word. Their use of the vowels YE:H, or occasionally YE:HO at the beginning does not rule out that YE:HO was used in the original pronunciation. In short: The evidence points to a pronunciation during the second temple [period] which is closer to the THREE SYLLABIC YAHOWA/YEHOWA [YAHOVA/YEHOVA] than to the two-syllabic YAHWEH" (Some Unfinished Business With the Dead Sea Scrolls, Revue de Qumran, 13:49-52 (1988)).

It is a fact that modern scholarship is starting to recognize the shallow support -- almost non-existent, in fact -- for the pronunciation "Yahweh" or "Yahveh."

The original form of the Divine Name was almost certainly THREE SYLLABLES -- not two! G. W. Buchanan points out that there was only one group in antiquity to pronounce the Divine Name similar to the popular form, "Yahweh." And this is only because Theodoret (fifth-century A.D. Antiochene theologian) claimed that the SAMARITANS pronounced the Divine Name as IABE. But, states Buchanan, "all other examples [from antiquity] maintain the middle vowel."

Clement of Alexandria, whose lead Theodoret followed, argued that the Tetragrammaton had the same consonants as the verb "to be," so it therefore meant "the One who caused things to be." However, he did not pronounce the word according to any form of that verb.

"The KEY to the meaning of the name" states Smith's Bible Dictionary, "is UNQUESTIONABLY given in God's revelation of himself to Moses by the phrase 'I AM THAT I AM,' Ex. 3:14; 6:3. We MUST connect the name Jehovah with the Hebrew substantive verb to be, with the inference that it expresses the essential, eternal, unchangeable being of Jehovah" (page 220).

Firpo W. Carr expands on this by saying:

"…God not only states his name, but interprets it's meaning: 'I AM THAT I AM.' "I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE.' 'HE CAUSES TO BECOME.' 'Tell the sons of Israel, "Jehovah the God of your forefathers has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."'

"The Name is unmistakably a verb form, in the causative form, signifying 'causing' or 'causing to be.' It is self-evidently in the imperfect state, not meaning defective state, but on-going state, not finished in action or intent or purpose or accomplishment -- always forward-moving" (Search for the Sacred Name, p. 42).

While Clement did not have access to the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Aramaic Papyri, he nonetheless spelled the Tetragrammaton in Greek employing THE CENTRAL VOWEL that has been omitted in determining that the proper name was "Yahweh"!

Buchanan also points out that "the name 'Yahweh' does not even sound Semitic," and he produces examples from Exodus 15 with "Yahweh" and "YEHOVAH" in the same sentences. Those with "YEHOVAH" sound "smooth and poetic," while those with "Yahweh" "sound rough and unrythmical." Buchanan concludes by saying, "The accumulated data points heavily in the direction of a THREE SYLLABIC WORD, whose middle syllable was ho or hu. The first two syllables were Yahu or Yaho [Yehu or Yeho] that were sometimes abbreviated to Yo. For poetry, liturgy, and some other reasons, the name Yah was also used. Only from Theodoret's Greek spelling of the Samaritan use of the term is there any basis for the pronunciation 'Yahweh' or 'Jahveh.' This is hardly enough to overpower all of the other exhibits" (Some Unfinished Business With the Dead Sea Scrolls, 419).

Laird Harris, in "The Pronunciation of the Tetragram" in The Law and the Prophets: Old Testament Studies Prepared in Honor of Oswald Thompson Allis, believes that the form "Yahweh" is an "incorrect hybrid form with an early w and a late -eh." Harris himself believes (see page 224) that "the syllable division ya ho wi hu is the most likely," and that if the Divine Name were a noun form it "would have ended up as JAHOWEH [YAHOWEH], a form accidently similar but remarkably like the hybrid [?] form JEHOVAH [YEHOVAH]!"

Christian Ginsburg wrote in the 19th century that --

"There are, however, a number of compound names in the Bible into the composition of which THREE out of the four letters of the Incommunicable Name [YHVH] have entered. Moreover, these letters which begin the names in question are actually pointed "JEHO," as [in] the Tetragrammaton itself and hence in a pause at the reading of the first part of the name it sounded as if the reader was pronouncing the Ineffable Name" (Introduction To the Massoretico-Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible, p. 369).

He then goes on to admit that the Hebrew names with Divine meaning were deliberately shortened so as not to pronounce the Divine Name.

YEHOVAH has seven letters in it. If we go by what Ginsburg mentions above, we have already gotten most of the Name (YEHO) with only three letters to identify. The next letter -- "V" -- is the "V" in YHVH, and the last two letters (AH) join with Y to make the Name YAH, which commonly occurs in the Bible. So we have YE-HO-VAH.

What Judean Names Tell Us

Following the principle of contracting words in the Hebrew language, the two center consonants (hay and vav) and the vowels (sheva and cholem) are DROPPED, making the word pronounced YAH. This is the shortest contracted form of the Holy Name and is set forth in the Bible as the COMPLETE HOLY NAME. (Hay and vav are versatile letters and as such are dropped as necessary for combining, or contracting words). "Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol him who rides on the clouds, by His name YAH, and rejoice before Him" (Psalm 68:4, NKJV).

Today, the contracted form of the Holy Name, YEHOVAH, is spoken in almost every language known to man, and is pronounced exactly as it is in Hebrew in the great inspired praise sentence Halleluyah. This term is translated "Praise ye the LORD" by the English translators -- see Psalm 146 through 150. However, the definition of Halleluyah is "Come out of yourself and into YAH." It is in the imperative form, and is really an invitation -- "Come out of yourself and into YAH with me."

The Hebrew text translated as "Praise ye the LORD" (HLLYH) is shown broken down into Hebrew and English in the above table.

When the vowel markings are factored into the Hebrew word, HLLYH becomes Hal-lu-yah which in English is pronounced Halleluyah. "Praise ye the LORD" is actually "Praise ye YHVH" or in Hebrew "hal-lu-YAH" -- where YAH is the short form of the Creator's true name.

YAH is written with the consonants YH in Hebrew and with the vowel point "a" between these two consonants. The vowel and the consonants are taken from the Tetragrammaton, and this indicates a vowel "a" in it. So the result is either Y-aH-V-H or Y-H-V-aH, depending on WHICH of the H's is taken from the tetragrammaton. Can we tell which of these it actually is?

It is a fact that the Israelites used to combine names with an ABBREVIATION of God's Name when they named their children. These names are called TEOPHORIC NAMES and they have been preserved WITH VOWEL POINTINGS.

There are mainly TWO KINDS of teophoric names in the Bible. One kind BEGINS with the three first consonants of the Tetragrammaton, Y-H-V-, and the second kind ENDS with the short form -YAH or -YAHU (Yahu is contraction of the expression Yah hu' -- which means "Yah himself").

Here are some examples of teophoric names that BEGIN with the three first consonants of the Tetragrammaton: Yehoiakim, Yehonathan, Yehoshaphat, Yehoash, Yehoram, Yehoiada, Yehoiarib, amongst others. These names were sometimes shortened to create new names, and this resulted in Yoiakim, Yonathan, etc.

Notes Firpo W. Carr --

"There are nineteen names in the Bible that BEGIN with 'Yeho-' or 'Jeho-', and there appears to be little argument over the 'e' and 'o' vowels used here. It is whether the Divine Name contains but two syllables or three that controversy is stirred. Does the Name END in two conconants, WH [VH]? Or is there a VOWEL BETWEEN the W[V] and the H, making a THIRD syllable?" (Search for the Sacred Name, Scholar Technological Institute, Hawthorne, CA 1993, page 174).

Examples of teophoric names that END with the short form -YAH are as follows: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Zachariah, Elijah, Zedeciah, Jeconiah, to name just a few. (The iah and jah are simply the Holy Name, YAH, spelled differently). From the time King David popularized this contracted form of the Holy Name YEHOVAH, it was used to name many of the prophets and kings of Israel.

Carr goes on to explain HOW he resolved the issue of whether there should be a vowel between the V and the H to make a THIRD syllable -- notice!

"...in analyzing the OVERWHELMING, consistent majority of vowel points the pronunciation was indicated as Yehovah, or Yehowah.

"The evidence must appear from resolving the spelling of the last syllable, the '-wah [-vah].' Well, if there are Bible names beginning with the first two syllablesof the Divine Name, and I had come up with 19, what about names ending with the LAST syllable of the Name?

"By use of concordances I came up with many besides the Sacred Name. For example, the names Al-vah, Ch-vah, Hode-vah, Iv-vah, and Pu-vah are a few I encountered. What is significant about these names?

"To find out I tried what no one apparently had tried before. I took the computer and devised a reverse Hebrew-English dictionary. That is, I set the computer up to spell names backwards.

"It was, in other words, instructed to search out all words containing a 'w' at the end with an 'h' as its next consonant. So in starting out at the end and spelling backwards to the beginning, what would the computer come up with?

"First of all, what it DID NOT come up with: it DID NOT come up with a single word ending with the TWO FINAL CONSONANTS, vh, stuck together with NO VOWEL in between.

"What it DID come up with was this: In EVERY instance of the many root words in Hebrew that end with the consonants WH [VH] THERE WAS AN 'A' BETWEEN THEM. The '-vah' was as CONSISTENT at the END of human or place names as the 'Yeho' was at the beginning of human or place names. If 'Yeho-' makes up the first two syllables of God's Name, then '-WAH' [-VAH] MAKES UP THE LAST SYLLABLE OF GOD'S NAME." (ibid., pps. 175-176).

When we compare the names that BEGIN with the three first consonants of the tetragrammaton (YHV), we see that all the names are vocalized YeHo-. In Hebrew the consonant V may be used to represent the vowel sound o ("o" as in hole), and this is indicated by placing a dot above the consonant V. Usually, the consonantal sound is not pronounced when it represents a vowel (an exception to this is if this results in two vowels STANDING BESIDE EACH OTHER -- which is NOT grammatically correct).

Therefore teophoric names indicate that the Tetragrammaton is to be vocalized Ye-H-oV-aH. Since teophoric names don't indicate a vowel "a" in the first half of the Tetragrammaton, this means that the -aH in the short form Yah (iah or jah, as we noted above) HAS to be in the last part of the Tetragrammaton. The names ending in iah or jah prove this. When we combine these two pieces of information it gives us the following result -- Ye-H-o-aH. Since two vowels cannot stand next to each other, the consonantal sound of V has to be pronounced. The result, therefore, is Ye-H-oV-aH.

One thing that is common in all the names that begin with the FIRST consonants of the Divine Name is that the vowel "o" is INCLUDED -- both in the primary form (i.e. Yehonathan) and in the shortened form (Yonathan). This CLEARY indicates to us that the name COULD NOT have only two syllables. For example, Yahve, which has only TWO syllables, cannot have the vowel "o".

Since the name, YAH, is the beginning and the ending -- the FIRST and the LAST letters -- of the Holy Name (YEHOVAH), it is COMPLETE, so nothing can be added to it to make it any more complete. As noted above, this short form of the Name was used many times as a SUFFIX to a verb to name special people such as prophets, kings and priests.

Notes Richard Davis:

"The fully expanded form, YEHOVAH, was used to describe a function such as Yehovah-Nissi (YEHOVAH (is) my banner); Yehovah-Tsidkenu (YEHOVAH (is) our righteousness); Yehovah-Shalom (YEHOVAH (is) peace), etc.

"Either the shortest form, YAH, or the expanded form, YEHOVAH, is recognized as the COMPLETE HOLY NAME" (The Great Holy Name, page 6).

Judging by the available evidence at hand, it seems quite CLEAR that the correct pronunciation of the divine name represented by the Tetragrammaton, YHVH, is simply YEHOVAH, and not the "Yahweh" that so many today amongst the "Holy Names" sects insist upon using. One such sect, in Texas, has now even discarded the name "Yahweh," and instead simply refers to God as "Ha Shem," meaning, "The Name" -- just as many Orthodox and Conservative Jews do, also, today, because they are fearful of misusing the Divine Name.

The Evidence of Josephus

The 1st century Judean historian, Flavius Josephus, knew well how the Divine Name was to be pronounced (this can be seen in his work Antiquities of the Jews), but he didn't want to reveal it. However, he gave us some clues in his work The Wars of the Jews. In volume 5, chapter 5 -- which is a description of the Temple in Jerusalem -- he wrote the following: "A mitre also of fine linen encompassed his head, which was tied by a blue riband, about which there was another golden crown, in which was engraven the sacred name [of God]: it CONSISTS OF FOUR VOWELS."

Since there were no vowels in the Hebrew alphabet at this time, what did Josephus mean by this? Some people, influenced by the erroneous form Yahveh, don't even bother to delve any deeper but claim that Josephus was presumably thinking of the Greek vowels IAUE. But, in contradiction to this, these "secret letters" -- that were undoubtedly the Tetragrammaton -- were written in Paleo-Hebrew and NOT Greek -- something Josephus knew. So what, then, did Josephus mean?

Before the Hebrew vowel pointing was invented, the Judeans used some of their consonants as vowels, to indicate vowel sounds. These letters are called "vowel letters" -- or, in Latin, matres lectionis ("mothers of reading"). There were FOUR CONSONANTS that could indicate a VOWEL -- 'aleph, vav, yod, and the letter hay (he') if it is the LAST letter of a word.

In a Hebrew text that has vowel points there are grammar rules that do not allow a yod that BEGINS a Hebrew word to be used as a vowel letter -- but Josephus' teaching that the Sacred Name "consists of four vowels" was VALID for a time BEFORE Hebrew text had vowel points.

This is why Josephus could call the letters YHVH "vowels." The letters Y, H and V were regarded as vowels. So how will the Name sound if we switch the letters with the vowels of matres lectionis?

Findings at Qumran in Israel show us that in the first century the letter Y was often used as the vowel sound I (ee as in seek); V was equivalent to O (o as in hole) or U (oo as in mood); and H at the end of a word was pronounced A (a as in father). When these letters were used as vowels, their consonantal sound was usually not pronounced -- unless this results in two vowels standing next to each other, something that is not allowed in Hebrew grammar.

With this in mind, let us try this manner of reading with a name we already KNOW the pronunciation of. Let's use the name YHVDH, which is written almost the SAME WAY as the Divine Name. If we write the vowels as they are to be pronounced, Y-H-V-D-H turns into I-H-U-D-A. This is in agreement with the pronunciation we already know -- "YeHuDaH" (the English "Judah").

When we use this manner of reading with the Divine Name YHVH, we can do it the SAME way. Y-H-V-H turns into I-H-U-A or I-H-O-A. This brings us closer to "Yehova" and further away from "Yahve." (The fact that the Divine Name is written without a mappiq shows that the last H should be pronounced A).

When we read the vowel letters, we see that YHVH has pretty much the SAME pronunciation as YHVDH (YeHuDaH), the difference being that the letter D is not in it. If we, as an experiment, were to remove the D, we would get YeHuaH. But, since in written Hebrew there is an invariable rule that two vowels can't stand next to each other, there HAS TO BE a consonant between u and a. The consonantal sound of V shall therefore also be pronounced -- and we get the pronunciation YeHuVaH.

If we choose to read matres lectionis as Josephus did, we get the pronunciation IHOA or IHUA. The form "Yahveh" doesn't explain the vowel "o". This plainly shows us that the form "Yahveh/Yahweh" CANNOT even be close to the original form!

The Egyptian Evidence

The oldest archaeological evidence favors the pronunciation "YEHOVAH." In the Amun-temple in Soleb (Sudan) can be found sculptures from the time of Amenhotep III. These sculptures date from circa 1382-1344 B.C.

On one sculpture is an Egyptian hieroglyph with the Divine Name -- this being the OLDEST archaeological occurrence of the Divine Name that we are aware of. Following is an illustration from a reconstruction of the sculpture in question:

The pronunciation of the hieroglyph has been determined by Gerard Gertoux, professor at Association Biblique de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits in France, and reads as follows:

Transcription of the hieroglyph:

t3 i3-sw-w-y-h-w3-w (Shneider's transcription) ta sha-su-w-y-eh-ua-w (conventional vocalization)

The text is easy to decipher -- it sounds "ta' sha'suw yehua'w", which means in English "land of the bedouins those of Yehua." It was common practice to name lands after the names of the gods -- for example in Genesis 47:11 we read about "the land of Rameses."

We know little about the vowels of ancient Egyptian words, but for FOREIGN WORDS (like Yhw3), Egyptians used a form of matres lectionis. In this system the vowel letters were like this: 3 = a, w = u, y = i. Mr. Gertoux points to the Merneptah stele, dated 13th century B.C., where the name "Israel" is transcribed in hieroglyphs Yysri3l as "Yisrial." Gertoux draws the valid conclusion that Yhw3 can technically be read as YEHUA'.

Writes professor Jean Leclant -- "It is evident that the name on the name-ring in Soleb that we discuss corresponds to the 'tetragram' of the god of the Bible YHWH [YHVH]." He adds: "The name of God appears here in the first place as the name of a place." In a footnote he explains that place-names often are derived from the names of gods. (Jean Leclant, Le "Tetragramme" a l'epoque d'Amenophis III, in Near Eastern Studies dedicated to H.I.H. Prince Takahito Mikasa on the Occasion of His Seventy-Fifth Birthday, pages 215-219, 1991, Wiesbaden).

The oldest archaeological testimony where you can see the Divine Name is from about the 14th century B.C.. Professor Gertoux states that the Egyptian text shows us that the Name was pronounced YEHUA -- from which we get YEHOVAH.

What the Experts Say...

Writes Paul Drach in De l'harmonie entre l'eglise et la synagogue ("Of the Harmony Between the Church and the Synagogue," 1842) -- "Yehova, which was in agreement with the beginning of all the theophoric names, WAS THE AUTHENTIC PRONUNCIATION..."

Won W. Lee, professor at Calvin College, states: "The tetragrammaton, YHWH, is therefore read I-eH-U-A (Iehoua), the equivalent of "YeHoWah" in Masoretic punctuation. This means that the name is to be pronounced as it is written, or according to its letters" (Religious Studies Review, Volume 29, Number 3, July 2003, page 285).

"That mystic name which is called the Tetragrammaton, by which alone they who had access to the Holy of Holies [in the Temple in Jerusalem] were protected, is pronounced JEHOVAH (Iehovah), which means, Who is, and Who shall be" (Nicetas, Bishop of Heraclea, 2nd Century A.D. From The Catena On the Pentateuch, published in Latin by Francis Zephyrus, p. 146).

Expounds Gilles C.H. Nullens -- "The Jewish scholars known as Masoretes introduced a system of vowels and accents....In this way the Tetragrammaton became Ye-Ho-Vah and later on, in Western languages, Jehovah..." (The Biblical Background).

Skilton, Fisher and Sloat, editors of The Law and the Prophets, state -- "The form Yahweh is thus an INCORRECT HYBRID with an early 'w' and a late 'eh'."

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament has this to say: "Actually, there is a PROBLEM with the pronunciation Yahweh. It is a STRANGE combination of old and late elements."

M. Gerard Gertoux makes this observation -- "Non-superstitious Jewish translators ALWAYS favoured the name Jehovah in their translations of the Bible. On the other hand one can note that there is NO Jewish translation of the Bible with Yahweh" (Hebrew scholar and specialist of the Tetragram; president of the Association Biblique de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits).

Here is a chart showing some of these Jewish translations --

NAME OF VERSION (JEWISH)

TONGUE

PUBLISHED IN:

DIVINE NAME RENDERED

Immanuel TremelliusLatin1579JEHOVA

Baruch SpinozaLatin1670JEHOVA

Samuel CahenFrench1836IEHOVAH

Alexander HarkavyEnglish1936JEHOVAH

Joseph MagilEnglish1910JEHOVAH

Rabbi L. GolschmidtGerman1921YEHOVAH

Notes George Wesley Buchanan -- "When the Tetragrammaton was pronounced in one syllable it was "Yah" or "Yo." When it was pronounced in THREE syllables it would have been "Yahowah" or "Yahoowah." If it was ever abbreviated to two syllables it would have been "Yaho," BUT even this spelling may have been pronounced with three syllables, including the final aspirant, because Hebrew had no vowel points in Biblical times" (Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 1995).

Notice what the Encyclopedia Britannica (1943) has to say: "It was formerly held that Yah and similar forms were abbreviations of Yahweh. The arguments, however, AGAINST this view are OVERWHELMING: (1) the short forms show that ya was the essential syllable, although on this theory it would be merely a prefix; (2) the inscriptions and papyri, as well as proper names, show that Yh or Yhw, NOT Yahweh, was the extra-biblical form; (3) it is priori improbable that a name held so sacred as Yahweh would be commonly abbreviated; (4) no other Semitic race ever shortened the names of its gods; (5) the endeavor to assign an abstract meaning to a divine name bears the impress of a LATER PERIOD of theological reflection. It has, therefore, been suggested, as Greek speculation shows, that Yahweh comes from an original Yahw, afterwards vocalized Yahu, either by adding a QUESTIONABLE ENDING -ay become -eh (Grimme) or an -h like the Arabic vocative -ah (Lukyn Williams and Burkitt) or else by assimilation to yihyeh, "he is" (van Hoonacker) (Volume 12, page 996).

The first book printed in the American colonies was a collection of psalms in verse form known as The Bay Psalm Book. In it "the Name appears more than 200 times, while appearing only once in the King James Version (Psalm 83:18). In this remarkable book the Sacred Name is spelled 'Iehovah' in ALL instances save one, where it is spelled Jehovah" (Firpo W. Carr, Search for the Sacred Name, pps. 97-98).

Dr. Max Reisel writes that "vocalization of the Tetragrammaton must ORIGINALLY have been YeHuaH or YaHuaH" (The Mysterious Name of Y.H.W.H., Page 74).

Professor Gerard Gertoux refers in his book to what Maimonides (a Jewish scholar and famous talmudist of the 12th century A.D.) has written, and says: "This name YHWH is read without difficulty because it is pronounced AS IT IS WRITTEN, or according to its LETTERS as the Talmud says." He then displays a long study in the pronunciation of names, and draws the conclusion that the Divine Name is pronounced "I-Eh-oU-Ah". He even writes: "The name Yahweh (which is BARBARISM) has only been created to BATTLE with the true name Jehovah" (The Name of God...its Story).

The truth is that God WANTS us to use His Name -- properly, reverently, and worshipfully. It is not a name which we should cringe before, in terror and fear. It is a name by which we should REVERENCE AND WORSHIP the Most High God! Therefore, we should not be afraid to speak the name of God, and to use it, so long as we are very respectful. However, we should always and only use it with respect, reverence, and love -- in true worship.

We should avoid false names, or weak imitations, and strive to remain as faithful to the original Name as we possibly can, with the knowledge we have today. This means, if we use the Tetragrammaton in worship or speech, we should use YEHOVAH because this Name contains ALL of the letters of the sacred Name.

As we have seen, there is no letter "w" in the Hebrew language. The correct pronunciation of the Hebrew letter "vav" is just as it appears -- the "v" sound in English. Also, the reason the Jewish people don't make an issue of the fact that scholars often spell the name of God "Yahweh" (or "Yahveh") is that since it is a wrong pronunciation -- an incorrect name -- that they believe its common usage by many does not "profane" the name of God as the misuse of the correct name and pronunciation would. Therefore, many would just as soon leave the Gentile world in ignorance, rather than give them the correct name, lest they pervert, misuse, abuse, and desecrate the holy Name.

However, I believe it is important to understand this point of truth: It is not wrong for us to USE the name of God, today, in worship and adoration of the Divine Creator and Holy One of Israel. Names are important in God's eyes, and He put in man the desire to identify people and things by means of names. Would it be consistent for the Creator of all things to leave Himself nameless? I think not. However, we should not abuse this knowledge, or begin to take God's name for granted. Nor should we use it "in vain," or to no good use or purpose (Exodus 20:7).

A "name" expresses the character, qualities, and intrinsic nature of a person or individual. God's Names tell us just who and what He is, and define for us His very character and nature. It is, therefore, very important that we should know them, and use them. God's Name represents WHO AND WHAT HE IS -- not a magical "potion" to perform magical "tricks." Notes The Illustrated Bible Dictionary:

"A study of the word 'name' in the O[ld] T[estament] reveals how much it means in Hebrew. The name is no mere label, but is significant of the real personality of him to whom it belongs" (Vol. 1, p. 572).

The Awesome Name of God

Notice the following passages from the Old Testament --

PSALM 113:1-3: "Praise YEHOVAH! Praise, O servants of YEHOVAH, praise the NAME of YEHOVAH! Blessed be the NAME of YEHOVAH from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down YEHOVAH's name is to be praised".

ISAIAH 12:2-4: "Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for YAH, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation. Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say: Praise YEHOVAH, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted".

ISAIAH 56:6-7: "I am YEHOVAH, that is My name" (Isa. 42:8). "As for our redeemer, YEHOVAH of hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel" (Isa. 47:4). "But I am YEHOVAH your God, Who divided the sea whose waved roared -- YEHOVAH of hosts is His name" (Isa. 51:15). "Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks: behold, it is I" (Isa. 52:6). "Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to YEHOVAH, to serve him, and to love the name of YEHOVAH, to be his servants -- every one who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant -- even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer".

JOEL 2:32: "For whoever calls upon the name of the YEHOVAH shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of YEHOVAH shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the YEHOVAH has said, among the remnant whom YEHOVAH calls".

Did you notice in the above passages that God reveals Himself BY NAME -- and not by just any name but by this awesome Sacred Name which belongs ONLY TO HIM? The title "God" is neither personal nor distinctive -- one can even make a god of his belly, notice Philippians 3:19! In the Hebrew Scriptures the same word ('Elo.him') is applied to YEHOVAH, the true God, and also to false gods, such as the Philistine god Dagon (Judges 16:23, 24) and the Assyrian god Nisroch (2 Kings 19:37). Obviously, for an Israelite to tell a Philistine or an Assyrian that he worshipped "God ('Elo.him')" would not have been sufficient to identify the Person to whom his worship went.

Notice what Dr. James Tabor says:

"There is a great difference between saying "I am the LORD and "I am YEHOVAH." The latter is personal and direct. It immediately calls forth as absolutely unique and singular understanding of the One true God -- identifying the ETERNAL ONE by Name. Notice, in the above quotations from Isaiah, how God uses this Name constantly, in the first person, "I am YHVH..." The Scriptures speak of "calling upon the Name YHVH" which conveys a completely unrelated meaning, when mistranslated "calling upon the name OF the LORD" (Joel 2:32). There are many so-called gods and "lords" upon whom people call. We hear constant talk of "the Lord" this and "the Lord" that. One should always ask, just who is this "Lord?" What is His Name?" (Restoring Abrahamic Faith, p. 10).

With this in mind, notice now what Jeremiah has to say:

"Thus says YEHOVAH who made the earth, YEHOVAH who formed it to establish it, YEHOVAH is His Name, 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know'" (Jeremiah 33:2-3).

What a wonderful declaration and promise, spoken directly in the first person by the Most High God Himself! To literally "call upon YEHOVAH" -- using His personal Name -- leads one into an intimate relationship with the very Creator God!

Let us therefore worship the Eternal God, YEHOVAH, as He Himself directs and commands. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).”