Writing people's names that contain a Name of Hashem

['[A name] that is entirely for the sake of the Name of the Holy One, Blessed be He'¹] (halacha 323)

May they be written in full?

Care in writing people's names

Answer: It is stated in Maseches Sofrim¹: 'These are the names that are divided: בית אל, בית און, באר שבע, צפנת פענח, פוטי פרע, בן אוני, ידיד יה, הללו יה, וחרה אף, וחרה אפי; Rabbi Yosi says they are not divided. But all agree that one does not divide עמיאל, עמינדב, צוריאל, צורישדי.'

And the Meiri wrote in Kiryas Sefer²: 'And there are words that appear to be two words but are one word, such as עמינדב צורישדי צוריאל עמישדי, which are not divided; and this is what they said in Maseches Sofrim: these are the names that are divided, such as בית אל בית און באר שבע צפנת פענח פוטיפרע בן אוני ידידיה הללויה. Those that are not divided: עמינדב צוריאל צורישדי עמישדי ישראל ראובן געתם פוטיפר נבוכדנצר נבוזראדן .. [In the chapter Arvei Pesachim, folio 1[1]7, it appears that this is the explanation: "divided" means a word that has a name at its end — the name is holy, such as ידידיה: ידיד is secular, יה is holy, and accordingly it is not erased. "Not divided" means that the name at the end of the word is secular, for the entire word is one thing that is not divided; therefore אל in צוריאל, שדי in צורישדי, שדי in עמישדי are all secular and are erased. And so it is proven in the Yerushalmi of Megillah — thus it was found written in the margin].

And so wrote the Tashbetz³: 'And all the more so people's names, such as צורי שדי and עמנו אל and אליה and the like, for even though they are called by a Name of the Holy One, Blessed be He, they are people's names and were not sanctified. And so it is proven in the chapter Arvei Pesachim (117a), for it is taught there that ידידיה is divided into two, therefore ידיד is secular and יה is holy; and it is implied from here that if it is not divided into two, it is entirely secular, for one cannot say that it is entirely holy, since anything joined to the Name and preceding it is not holy, because the Name did not sanctify it, as it is stated in the chapter Shevuos HaEidus (ibid.). And likewise עמיאל עמישדי צוריאל צורישדי גמליאל בן פדהצור פדהאל — they said in the Yerushalmi (Megillah ibid.) that they are not divided; and all the more so אהיה in the verse כי אהיה עמך, that even by borrowing it is not a name among people's names, and it is a term of existence and was not sanctified at all'⁴.

But in Yosef Ometz⁵ he wrote that there are those who are careful even regarding names in which the letters י"ה are not part of the combination of Hashem's Name, as he wrote: 'There are also those who are careful not to write at all the letters of the Name in combination, whether at the beginning of the name or in the middle or at the end of the name, whether yuds or heis, such as יהודא or יהושע; and likewise at the end of names, אליהו, ישעיה and the like, they write an א in place of a ה, or they do not complete the name at all. And likewise in their names, such as יהניש — only יאנהש or יאנש and the like.'

And as is written in the Kuntres Be'er BaSadeh, in a letter that the gaon and chassid Rabbi Avraham Yechezkel Erlazarov, av beis din of Charkov, wrote to the author Rabbi Chizkiyahu Medini⁶: 'And in truth we see that most of the world is careful and writes יהודא with an alef⁷; and likewise His Honor signs חזקיאו with an alef, and in the name אליהו they sign אליאו or אלי' in a list. However, it appears that even as a stringency and mere refinement, one is careful only regarding a person's name, since in any case it is so called that the Name of Havayah, Blessed be He, would be included in it.

And in the parentheses there it is explained that we have not found people being careful regarding the letters of the Name א"ל, such as שמואל, '..because the Name of Havayah is truly the essential Name, whereas מיכאל, יחזקאל and the like they write in full .. And even though the Name א"ל is also an essential Name and is not erased, nevertheless, since it has an interpretation and meaning — namely, the One who possesses power and ability .. and since it is written and included within a person's name, we say regarding it only the interpretation.'

If so, we have seen that from the essence of the law there is no sanctity in the names of men and women even when the letters of His Name, may He be exalted, are combined in them; but despite this, many are careful not to write in full names that end with the letters of the Name י"ה, but rather they place a line above the letter י, as we see this care in the handwriting of our Rebbeim the Nesi'im [and as we see with regard to the name of the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka]. And likewise there are those who are careful not to write the name יהודה in its plain form but with a change⁸.

¹ Talmud Bavli, Maseches Sotah folio 10b, and see there in the Maharsha. And see the sicha of Parshas Va'eira, Shabbos Mevorchim Shevat, 5744 (Toras Menachem vol. 2 p. 787) ↩

² Chapter 5, halacha 12 ↩

³ Vol. 1, Ma'amar 2, Part 2 ↩

⁴ Responsa, Vol. 1, Siman 177 ↩

⁵ And so the Acharonim held for halacha; see the sefer Meleches Shamayim, Klal 9, end of Os 22; sefer Imrei Shefer, Klal 25, Os 22 ↩

⁶ Vol. 2, Kedushas HaSefarim VeSheimos, Os 29 ↩

⁷ Letter 7, printed in Sdei Chemed vol. 10 p. 1737 ↩

⁸ Regarding the change itself, we find several forms: some changed the last letter from a hei to an alef — יהודא; some changed the first hei and replaced it with an alef — יאודה (as is common among the Sephardic sages). And some wrote it in abbreviated form, יודא, such as the Maharsha ↩

⁹ In it there is also a concern that one may forget the letter ד and the name will be in its full form; and see Gittin 20a ↩

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