Why Do We Call G-d "Hashem"?

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

Hi, this is Rabbi David Wolpe with the question and answer series. Chana says, "I was just wondering why we call God Hashem." Uh So, one of the top 10 commandments of all time is thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain. Yeah? We're very careful about that. We go out of our way not to mention Hashem's name. Therefore, if you look in the Torah and you see Hashem's name, you will see that it is something we do not pronounce. There are a group called the blank witnesses who have no problem saying God's name, at least in the English. We don't say that. Only the Kohen Gadol in the Beit Hamikdash Ha Kohanim right? He would say Yud Kay Vav Kay out loud. We don't even spell it. When we say it, we say Yud Kay

Jump to a moment

1. 0:00Hi, this is Rabbi David Wolpe with the question and answer series. Chana says, "I was…
2. 0:31There are a group called the blank witnesses who have no problem saying God's name, at…
3. 1:02instead of letter Hay, Vav Kay. We don't even want to spell it. We don't pronounce…
4. 1:32davening or in Kedusha. We say Adoshem. But even that's too close to the real thing.…
5. 2:02Baruch Hashem. There were some people who didn't even want to write that hey. And so…
6. 2:33teach him how to say it. And then we say, "No, no, don't say it." But…

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