accustomed to I guess. I'm jewish and I've noticed that alot of other jews write it the same way too. I don't know why I do, but I was just wondering if someone out there does know.
2006-07-27 18:18:37 · 11 answers · asked by Lisa&Michael U 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It's common jewish practice to not write out his name because it would be blasphemous to write his name on any surface that can be destroyed (which is pretty much anything).
2006-07-27 18:23:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
This is a fairly new thing.
I'm also Jewish, aged 64, and we didn't write it in this way when I was a kid.
The only hard and fast rule was that you didn't use the word "Adonai" unless you were praying. In the last 25/30 years it has become the norm to substitute that word with "Hashem" which means "The Name".
Okee Dokee - now I've explained all that, let me tell you how this G-d thing got started.
It was all down to a bloke called Clive.
He decided to write a book all about religions around the world, about their unusual foods and the various sexual positions on a Thursday morning during lent if it was raining.
After writing 4 pages with a Bic pen, it started to leak and made a mess of the whole cotton-pickin' thing. So he threw it all away and decided to buy a typewriter. (This was taking place when Bill Gates was still wetting his nappies so there were no home computers at the time)
Clive went off to the local Cub's Jumble Sale - "Hey Buddy, do you have any junk for us? It's for a good cause!" which is held every 4th Saturday during the winter.
It was okay for Clive to go to a Saturday jumble sale because Clive was a goy who ate trife - and he bought the oldest typewriter known to mankind. He bought it real cheap because it had suffered flood damage when it fell off the Ark.
However, the only damage done was to the letter "O" - you can see where this is heading, can't you?
Okay - so for most of the time you can manage without an "O"
For instance, take the word "Frog". If you haven't got an "O" you could use an i. Yep, I know that Frig doesn't sound right, but when it's used in the right context you can get away with it.
For example - The pond was teeming with life. The goldfish were swimming round in circles, the toads were croaking and the little green frigs that had just changed from being tadpoles . . . . etc
Everyone will know you meant "frog" and presume it was the printers that made the mistake.
So . . . . . oh, sorry - the man with the white coat is calling me in for tea.
Gotta go
bye
Shalom and a kick up the tuchas
Love
Slartibartfast
2006-07-27 18:45:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe it's because you realize on an subconscious level that "G-d" cannot be categorized, written out, or named in any language because no language is capable of adequately portraying what an all-powerful and all-knowing being is. How do you name the unnamable?
And so the space is there to indicate that you acknowledge there is something lacking in the name you've given - something greater than any human can understand or conceptualize by any medium save...enlightenment/salvation/the grace of "G-od"/whatever.
2006-07-27 18:25:49 · answer #3 · answered by Magdalene 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Hebrew language has no vowels so the name of God was written YHWH which in English has been translated to Yahweh or Jehovah. Even now in Israel God is referred to as Hashem which means 'The Name'. God gave Moses His name as 'I am who I am'
Jews are very careful to show respect for the name of God and for them to not refer to His actual name was respectful. You probably were taught to put G-d because of you Jewish heritage.
2006-07-27 18:29:11 · answer #4 · answered by Vic Grace 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a Jewish tradition. It is part of the caution involved in following the rule that you shouldn't take the name of God in vain. Of course God isn't a name, but even so in an excess of caution Jews refrain from writing out fully even the word God. As for the name of God, it is never ever spoken so as to avoid taking it in vain.
2006-07-27 18:27:52 · answer #5 · answered by thatguyjoe 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Honestly, I have never known anyone else to do this. I think you should give God a little more respect and at least spell out His name. If you don't like "God," call him Jehovah or Yaweh -- He answers to all of those names.
2006-07-27 18:25:29 · answer #6 · answered by Ifeelyourpain 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes jews would never say oir write Gods name why we Got yhwh as Gods name translated to english as yahweh or Jahova. I do not think it matters to much to God he knows we are talking to gim
2006-07-27 18:22:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a sign of respect and originally done when written on paper, so as not to have to "throw away" the name of G-d into trash....
That's what I was told.
2006-07-27 18:20:25 · answer #8 · answered by gracefully_saved 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think it's just a coincidence.it's an abbreviation and abbreviations are popular cuz they save you time.i don't think it's a Jewish thing
2006-07-27 18:23:59 · answer #9 · answered by eva j 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i got no idea why don't you just add an o and call it good, oops i mean God
2006-07-27 18:21:48 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋