There are several names by which we refer to HaShem (=God). The most prominent name is A-M-O-N-A-Y (reading D for the M). As you can see, one should be very careful not to write down any of the names of HaShem (technically, there are seven such names as per MT, Yesode HaTora 6:2) in its original way because we do not want to risk that, inadvertently, one would erase HaShem’s name, which is an explicit prohibition in the Tora “lo ta’asun ken….” (Deut. 12:3-4).
The name A-M-O-N-A-Y is also known in Hebrew as the Shem HaMeforash, which means, the ineffable Name of God (“ineffable” means: too great or extreme to be expressed with words). In Latin the Shem haMeforash is known as the “tetragrammaton”, which means, the name of four (tetra) letters (gramma).
There is more to the Shem HaMeforash.
In the Tora every word is written without vowels. We know how to pronounce the words of our Tora thanks to the Mesora, the “Masoretic tradition”, which records and preserves the vocalization and punctuation (te’amim) of every word.
In the Mesora, the Shem haMeforash has three vowels. But these vowels do not indicate the original vocalization of the Shem haMeforash; rather, those three vowels indicate the way this Name should be read.
Confused?
Briefly, there are a few words in the Tanakh that for different reasons are written in one way and read in a different way. This event is known in the Mesora as keri ukhetib, which means: “Although this word is written in this way, you must read in this other way”. To signal this variation, the consonants of the written word are vocalized with the vowels of the word that should be read.
In the times of the Bet-haMiqdash the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) pronounced the Shem haMeforash with its original vowels, a tradition that was known only to the High Priests. When the name of HaShem was uttered during Yom Kippur all the people of Israel would bow down and prostrate while saying out loud barukh shem kebod malkhuto le’olam va’ed, which means “May the Glorious Name of His Kingdom be blessed forever”. This beautiful praise also served to maintain undisclosed the original pronunciation of the Shem haMeforash.
