Writing ט"ו instead of י"ה

[1] (Halacha 319)

Writing טו Instead of י"ה

Question: What is the source and reason that when one wishes to denote the gematria of 15, the practice is not to use the letters י"ה but rather to write ט"ו?

Answer: This care is very ancient among the Jewish people, and in certain communities it has been practiced already for more than 1,500 years. As was found in the ancient city of Tzo'ar, a gravestone whose date is approximately from the beginning of the fifth millennium, upon which is written: 'who died on the 15th (טו) day in the month of Shevat,' and so the Jews of southern Eretz Yisrael already practiced more than a thousand years ago,1 and over time this care spread and was accepted among the entire Jewish people.

The reason for this minhag is seemingly based on what is stated in the Gemara in Maseches Shavuos¹: 'There are Names that may be erased, and there are Names that may not be erased; these are the Names that may not be erased: such as Kel, Elokecha, Elokim, Elokeichem, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, Aleph Dalet, and Vav Yud Hei, Shakai, Tzevakos — these may not be erased .. The Rabbis taught: One who wrote Aleph Lamed from Elokim, Yud Hei from the Divine Name — this may not be erased.'

And so ruled the Rambam²: 'One who wrote Aleph Lamed from Elokim, or Yud Hei from the Tetragrammaton, may not erase it, and needless to say יה, which is a Name in its own right, for this Name is part of the Ineffable Name.'

The Raavad challenged the Rambam and wrote: 'One who wrote Aleph Lamed from Elokim. A.A. [this is the Raavad]: This is nothing, for they said it only regarding Aleph Lamed from Elokim and Yud Hei from the Tetragrammaton, but Shin and Dalet from Shakai, and Tzadi Beis from Tzevakos — these may be erased.'

However, the poskim were puzzled, for the Raavad wrote exactly as the Rambam wrote?

The Kesef Mishneh wrote to explain: 'And it is puzzling, for the words of the Raavad are the words of Rabbeinu [the Rambam] letter for letter, so how did he write upon him "this is nothing." And one may answer that the Raavad's intent is to say that only י"ה from the Tetragrammaton was mentioned in the Gemara — that is, specifically when one intended to write the complete Name and wrote י"ה on account of the exalted status of the Distinguished Name; but when one did not intend except to write י"ה with the intent of the Name itself, they did not say that it may not be erased .. And this is explained in the words of Rabbeinu, that one who writes י"ה with the intent of a Name in its own right may not erase it, and not as is implied from the Raavad that it may be erased. And it is possible that there came to the Raavad in the words of Rabbeinu this version, its content being: One who wrote Aleph Lamed from Elokim, Vav Hei from the Tetragrammaton, may not erase it. Thus it appears that this was the version of the glosses which wrote "י"ה from the Tetragrammaton is not comparable" etc., and upon this he says that they said it only regarding י"ה but Tzadi Beis and Shin Dalet may be erased, and the same applies to Vav Hei since it is not a Name in its own right.'

And the Radvaz³ wrote to explain according to the version that the Kesef Mishneh proposed, and this is his language: 'Furthermore, I found in a precise sefer: "One who wrote Aleph Lamed from Elokim, Vav Hei from the Name" etc. And this is what the Raavad of blessed memory challenges upon it, that we find only Aleph Lamed from Elokim and Yud Hei from the Name, but Vav Hei we do not find. And now the language of the Rav of blessed memory is well-settled, who wrote "and needless to say י"ה which is a Name in its own right." And if we read in the first clause "One who wrote Yud Hei from the Name," it is one and the same. And it appears to me that the Rav of blessed memory read thus in the Beraisa: Vav Hei.'

If so, we derive that according to the Rambam, writing י"ה is a Name that is forbidden to erase. [And according to the version of the Radvaz, the Raavad too agrees with this, and he differs only regarding Vav Hei.]

And so ruled as halacha the Mechaber in the Shulchan Aruch⁴: 'One who wrote .. יה from the Name, or who wrote the Name יה, may not erase it.'

And indeed, this is of course when one writes it for the sake of His Name, may He be blessed; but on account of distancing from desecration of His holy Name, it spread among the Jewish people to be very stringent not to write י"ה even when one's intent is not for the Name, but rather one's intent is for the gematria of the number 15 and the like.

As the holy Rabbi Shlomo Molcho⁵ wrote in the splendid sefer⁶: 'Just as we write טו in order not to write the Name י"ה.'

And so it is written in Yosef Ometz⁷: 'One should not write the Name in a letter, and likewise Elokim, but only with a Dalet [for the Divine Name] or a Kuf [for Elokim], as an abbreviation, so that it should not come to disgrace. And even "Shalom," there are those who practice not to complete it, but only "Shalo'" with a dot over the Vav — Shulchan Aruch, end of siman 276, in the name of the Maharil. And on account of this, people are accustomed to write in the count of their reckoning ט"ו and not י"ה.'

If so, we have seen that on account of caution regarding the holiness of His Name, may He be blessed, the minhag spread among the Jewish people not to write the letters י"ה⁸ for the gematria of 15, but rather the letters טו.

¹ ראה עמודים בתולדות הספר העברי - בשערי הדפוס ע' 381 - 392 ↩

² לה, א-ב ↩

³ הל' יסודי התורה פ"ו ה"ד ↩

⁴ בשו"ת ח"ה ללשונות הרמב"ם סימן לד (אלף תז). וראה גם ללשונות הרמב"ם הלכות יסודי התורה פ"ו ה"ד ↩

⁵ יו"ד סי' רעו ס"י ↩

⁶ ראה אודותיו בתורת מנחם חי"א ע' 161 ↩

⁷ וארשא תרמד דף ו טור ג ↩

⁸ ח"ב קדושת הספרים ושמות אות כט ↩

⁹ Some have noted (see also Kovetz Etz HaChaim 36 p. 531) that the basis of the minhag began when they would write a count in gematria without geresh marks, and therefore they were careful about this. But the minhag remained even when one makes geresh marks separating between the letters ↩

From the 'Shoneh Halacha' project — daily halacha with reasons and sources

Link to the (silent) group: 'Shoneh Halacha - Chabad Customs'