Pronouncing Hashem's Name when Saying L'shem Yichud

Pronouncing Hashem’s Name when Saying L’Shem Yichud

 

The tefilah (prayer) of L’Shem Yichud focuses on the unification of both aspects of the Shem Hameforash (Hashem’s ineffable name, Y-H-V-H), represented by the Hebrew letters Y-H and V-H, a concept explained in Kabbalah and expounded upon in Chassidus. When mentioning Hashem’s name during this prayer (“L’yachada Shem Y-H b’V-H”) it is important to be aware of the prohibition of pronouncing the word Y-H-V-H as it is written, which would be Hogeh es Hashem b’osiyosav. According to many poskim, we also may not utter the names of the four individual letters which comprise the Shem Hameforash (enunciating each of the letters consecutively), or even just the letters Y-H, since they form another one of Hashem’s Names. We therefore have to choose between the following options when saying L’shem Yichud: 1) We can omit Hashem’s name, i.e. the words “Y-H b’V-H,” and only say “l’yachada Shem” instead, while contemplating the meaning of the Name Y-H-V-H, and the concept of unifying the two aspects of His Name. 2) We can say “Yud Kei b’Vov Kei”, pronouncing both Heis as Kei. 3) When the Arizal wished to say the letters of the Shem Hameforash, he would say “Yud, Ee, Hei, Vov, Ee, Hei, thereby making a hefsek (separation) between the letters by adding a vowel sound between them. We may do the same here as well. 4) We can say “Yud Im (with) Hei b’Vov Im Hei”, for the same reason. Similarly, the names of malachim (angels) which are mentioned in certain tefilos should only be read in our minds, but may not be pronounced. #320⁠1

https://halacha2go.com?number=320

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.