July 23rd, 2010WRITING THE NAME OF GOD
Laws of writing divine names
According to Jewish tradition, the sacredness of the divine names must be recognized by the professional scribe who writes the Scriptures, or the chapters for the tefillin and the mezuzah. Before transcribing any of the divine names he prepares mentally to sanctify them. Once he begins a name he does not stop until it is finished, and he must not be interrupted while writing it, even to greet a king. If an error is made in writing it, it may not be erased, but a line must be drawn round it to show that it is canceled, and the whole page must be put in a genizah (burial place for scripture) and a new page begun.
In English
The words “God” and “Lord” (used for the Hebrew Adonai) are often written by many Jews as “G-d” and “L-rd” as a way of avoiding writing a name of God, so as to avoid the risk of sinning by erasing or defacing his name.
In Deuteronomy 12:3-4, the Torah exhorts one to destroy idolatry, adding, “you shall not do such to the LORD your God.” From this verse it is understood that one should not erase the name of God.
The general rabbinic opinion is that this only applies to the sacred Hebrew names of God — but not to the word “God” in English or any other language. Even among Jews who consider it unnecessary, many nonetheless write the name “God” in this way out of respect, and to avoid erasing God’s name even in a non-forbidden way.


