I have been asked many times why I spell G-d's Name with a slash rather than the letter o. I wanted to explain my reason now. Before giving my explanation though, I want to share some verses from the Bible that are important to me and play a role in my decision making in every area of my life on a daily basis…
“…thou shalt love the L-rd thy G-d with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:5)*
Serve the L-rd with gladness… (Psalm 100:2)
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might… (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
The fear of the L-rd is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
Now for my explanation…
It is customary in Judaism when writing the words “God” or “Lord” as “G-d” and
“L-rd”. This is done as a way of showing reverence and respect for God and His Name. The rabbis teach that God’s Name should not be written in a place where it might be discarded, defaced, or erased. [examples: emails or blogs that might be printed, magazine or newspaper articles, letters, cards, etc. that will be put into the trash, burned, or disposed of as garbage]
This practice does not come from the Bible verses instructing people not to take the Lord's Name in vain, as many believe. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
This verse refers solely to oath-taking and is a prohibition against swearing by God's Name falsely or frivolously. (The word is normally translated as "in vain" but literally means "for falsehood".)
The practice of replacing the letter o with a dash actually comes from Deuteronomy 12:3 & 4: “And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God.”
We see here that the Israelites were instructed that when they would take over the promised land, they should destroy all things related to the idolatrous religions of that region and should completely and utterly destroy the names of the local deities. They were then immediately instructed NOT TO DO THAT TO GOD.
We understand from this that erasing the Name of God should be avoided. The general opinion today among rabbis is that this only applies to the sacred Hebrew Names of God and not to the word "God" in English or any other language. But even among the very religious Jews who consider it unnecessary to practice this custom many, nonetheless, write the Name "God" with a dash rather than the letter o out of respect and to avoid erasing God's name even in a non-forbidden way.
There is no actual prohibition in Jewish law from writing “God” in any language other than Hebrew. It is simply practiced as a form of respect for The Holy One and His Name. The Name of God should be treated with respect at all times and in every situation.
The written Name could possibly be defaced, obliterated, or destroyed accidentally by someone who does not know better, so it is best to avoid casually writing it at all.
It is important to understand that words typed on a computer are not permanent . To delete, backspace over, cut and paste, or copy files with God's Name in them is acceptable. However, once a document is printed it becomes a permanent form. That is the reason it is customary to avoid writing a Name of God in emails, message boards, blogs, etc. There is a risk in doing so that someone reading it might print it out, then deface it in some way without knowing that it is disrespectful to God and His Name to do so.
Printed books are considered to be permanent, so the o is not replaced with a dash in bound publications that are used for reading, studying, and prayer. This includes Tanach, Chumash, Siddur (Jewish prayer book), and other holy books.
In making my decision (close to 10 years ago) to write G-d with a dash I did so as an act of “Kiddush Hashem” which means “sanctification of The Name“. I replace the o with a dash as a tiny way that I can increase my respect for G-d numerous times every day. Every time I type that little dash it serves to remind me to show utmost respect for the Almighty - even in my emails and blogs.
*Note: The above mentioned references are from the King James Version of the Christian Bible.
PLEASE DO NOT PRINT THIS BECAUSE I DID NOT REPLACE THE LETTER o WITH A DASH IN GOD'S NAME FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS EXPLANATION.
