Losing The Name

 

Hearing May is Jewish American Heritage month made me think about my friend John, who is Catholic, though he (tells me) he doesn't believe religiously any more. Once upon a time, though, we had some great discussions about God, and the one I  remember most involved one question:

How did Jews lose God's name? Or, technically speaking, the actual spelling of God's name? I first heard of this in third or fourth grade, and was young enough that I didn't ask questions. My teacher said the priests started using initials at some point and lost the full name of God.

When I think of it now, I imagine a woman standing at the gates to the Holy Temple, hot and dusty and trying to get inside to celebrate Sukkot, the harvest festival. A small, cranky boy is holding her hand, and her husband is trying to corral the other kids behind her.

The priestly assistant is blocking her and her family from moving forward. "Excuse me, marm, but I can't let you in today." (My guy has a British accent, because I've seen too many Monty Python movies).

"What?? the woman says. "It's Sukkot--"

The assistant apologizes again, and after some of what you might call "spirited back and forth," he admits they lost the name of God and can't find it.

The woman is completely flummoxed, as well she should be. "How did you lose the name of God?" she asks, which is just what my friend John asked as well. "What were you all doing that was SO important you lost The Name?" 

"I don't know," I said, which is just what the assistant would be saying, too. 

That doesn't satisfy anyone, and in my mind's eye the woman and her family refuse to leave. She and the assistant come up with some initials, corresponding in English to YHVH (not YHWH which doesn't seem like the right spelling).

Because of this, the woman, her family and the thousands of other pilgrims trying to celebrate the holiday are allowed in.

So that's my fictional idea, but what really happened? 

Still. I don't know. 

Some sources say the commandment about not taking God's name in vain led some (overzealous)? Temple officials to retire God's name in favor of those initials. Could that be the case?

I dug around a bit and found a fairly good explanation of the whole name business here. Makes for some interesting reading, if you have time.

If you don't, I can tell you what it boils down to:

The Name was lost because 2,500 years ago, Jews decided the name was too sacred to say aloud and (intentionally) failed to preserve the way it was said. (!!)  The article posits that the Name means something close to "Being" or "Creator" and/or I Am That I Am.

Leading me NOT into temptation, where I would ask if the creator of Popeye was Jewish.

(Of course he was). So.

Shall I say there you have it? (No, because the name is gone and you don't).

That's all folks?

Something like that, maybe. Yeah.

Jewish star photo: Zeeweez