August 17, 2011 | 17 Av 5771 | Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25

I recently taught a class about blessings where one of the participants asked me “The God Question.” It wasn’t about God’s existence or role in history.  Rather, it was a question just as complicated: “What is God’s name?”  For Judaism, God’s name is tied into a lot of history and theology and even a thorough examination of these realms still leaves us with a disappointing discovery. The answer is: We don’t know. For the modern thinking, this explanation is not only unsatisfactory, it is simply unacceptable. We don’t know! In a world where so much of life’s wisdom and knowledge is literally at our fingertips, the Jewish answer to this question of God’s name is not fulfilling.  Unfortunately, “We don’t know,” is the best we can do.

Judaism uses many names in an attempt to describe God – Adonai, Hashem, Yud-hay-vav-hay, haMakom, none of which are really God’s name. Instead, these are words we assign to designate the Supreme Being (another assigned word) we are talking about. In truth, the use of any and all of these assignments simply reminds us that we just don’t know God’s name.  

When I left the class I kept thinking about the question. It made me wonder, “What is the role and purpose of a name?”  It appears that part of the problem of knowing God’s name is tied up in the nature of names in general.  What is the purpose of a name?  There seem to be two purposes. One is to identify.  For instance: My name is Laurence, which was assigned to me by my parents to help differentiate me from my other siblings, neighborhood children and the rest of the general public. The second purpose of a name is to draw attention. Let me explain:  Whereas the name Laurence might be useful when other people are talking about me, or when somebody is talking to me, the use of my name helps them identify who they are speaking to and helps me refocus my own attention towards the person trying to communicate with me.  This is where our word assignments for God fall short, making it difficult to know the actual name of God. Although words like Adonai and Hashem help us identify the deity when we are conversing amongst ourselves, it is unclear as to whether or not the use of these words actually draws God’s attention and brings God’s focus towards us.  

Historically, the only person who knew God’s name was the great high priest in Jerusalem. He used to utter that special name only on Yom Kippur in the sacred room of the Temple called the “Holy of Holies,” which was a place only the high priest was allowed to enter. The use of God’s name was to draw God’s attention towards us and expiate our sins. Without the Temple, the High Priest and knowledge of God’s name, does God ever look in our direction? The Zohar, the foundational text of Jewish Mysticism articulates an interesting answer to this question by way of this week’s parsha, Ekev.  

Focusing on the opening words, “And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully” (Deuteronomy 7:12), the Zohar explains:

Rabbi Yehuda opened his discussion, “Listen my people, I will testify on behalf of Israel if you will obey me.” How many places does the Torah warn humanity? How many times does God warn the people? Each warning is not of punishment but of profit because a person will profit by obeying the commandments of the Torah. Any person who obeys the way of Torah and busies themselves with Torah is as if they are busy with the Holy Name. We learned from an earlier source that the entire Torah is the name of the Holy Blessed One (i.e., God).

Although confusing, as the Zohar usually is, the basic idea is that the Torah itself is the name of God. Obviously, there are too many letters in the Torah to pronounce a single word-name for the sake of identification purposes. However, for the Zohar, one who busies himself or herself in the study and pursuit of Torah and its commandments draws God’s attention towards them.  

So for my student with the perplexing question, I guess the answer is not so unknown. We might not know the name of God well enough to print it on a business card or bumper sticker but we do have access to God’s focus and love. After all, that’s the best part of knowing a name anyway.  

Shabbat Shalom