This week’s parasha, Va’etchanan, contains a second reading of the Ten Commandments. The third commandment is the prohibition to take the name of God in vain. Some people mistakenly believe that this means we are not allowed to ever pronounce the Tetragrammaton, יהוה, commonly transliterated as YHVH or YHWH. This is not true at all, though it is true that later in history the Sages instituted using other words to be used instead of the Tetragrammaton (such as “Adonai” or “Hashem”) so that people do not accidentally take the name of God in vain, or misuse this powerful name of God. Since the Tetragrammaton is so sacred, it was thought too holy to invoke on a regular basis. Today, no one invokes the proper name at all. It’s gone so far that many believe we have forgotten how to properly pronounce the name. This is false. How can we be God’s people if we don’t even know His name? Continue reading →