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.
According to Jewish tradition, the number of divine names that require the scribe's special care is "the seven"; El, Elohim, Adonai, YHWH, Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh, Shaddai and Tzevaot. Rabbi Jose considered "Tzevaot" a common name (Soferim 4:1; Yer. R. H. 1:1; Ab. R. N. 34). Rabbi Ishmael held that even "Elohim" is common (Sanh. 66a). All other names, such as "Merciful", "Gracious" and "Faithful", merely represent attributes that are also common to human beings (Sheb. 35a).
Read more about this topic: Names Of God In Judaism
Famous quotes containing the words writing, divine and/or names:
“That isn’t writing at all, it’s typing.”
—Truman Capote (1924–1984)
“Why should not our furniture be as simple as the Arab’s or the Indian’s? When I think of the benefactors of the race, whom we have apotheosized as messengers from heaven, bearers of divine gifts to man, I do not see in my mind any retinue at their heels, any carload of fashionable furniture.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In a time of confusion and rapid change like the present, when terms are continually turning inside out and the names of things hardly keep their meaning from day to day, it’s not possible to write two honest paragraphs without stopping to take crossbearings on every one of the abstractions that were so well ranged in ornate marble niches in the minds of our fathers.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)