Re: The sacred name (was: ach y fi etc)

On Thursday, March 4, 2004, at 01:43  PM, Isaac Penzev wrote:
> Benct Philip Jonsson eskriviw:
> <<Surely those standing on the other side of the Curtain
> could hear him on that one day?>>
> My impression from contemporary Yom Kippur liturgy passage telling
> about Y.K. service in the times of the Second Temple is that indeed
> the people could hear the High Priest, as the passage says: "And
> when the assembly heard him pronouncing the Holy Name, they
> prostrated on the groud reciting 'May the name of his glorious
> kingdom be blessed for ever and ever'". I can look for a precise
> reference and/or quotation from Y.K. mahhzor (prayerbook) at home if
> necessary.
> -- Yitzik
 From what i remember:

1. During First Temple (Biblical) times, the Name was common knowledge.
2. During Early Second Temple times, the Name was only pronounced by
the Kohein Gadol (High Priest) on Yom Kipur, out loud.
3. During Late Second Temple times, the Name was only pronounced by the
Kohein Gadol on Yom Kipur while muffling it with a chant of some kind,
or saying it at low volume, or under his breath, or something like that.

Ahah!

I will now quote for you from the part of the Yom Kipur liturgy
(Ashkenazic version) that describes the Yom Kipur service in the
Temple.  This part repeats a number of times, in connection with
different sacrificial offereings:

...And so he [=the kohein gadol] would say: "...[asking forgiveness for
sins]... as it is written in the Torah of Moses your servant, from your
honored words, 'for on this day he will atone for you to purify you
from all your sins before Y--H -'"
And the kohanim [=priests] and the nation standing in the courtyard [of
the Temple], when they would hear the honored awe-inspiring Name
explicitly come out of the mouth of the kohein gadol in holiness and
purity, they would kneel and bow and give thanks and fall on their
faces, saying "blessed is the name of his honored kingship for ever and
ever!"
And he [=the kohein gadol] would arrange to finish [pronouncing] the
Name along with those blessing, saying to them "'-you will be
purified.'..."

So in other words, the Kohein Gadol would among other things, read a
verse from the Torah ('for on this day he will atone for you to purify
you from all your sins before God you will be purified'), pronouncing
God's Name as written.  When everyone heard the Name, they would
prostrate themselves and respond with a long kind of proto-'amen'.  The
kohein gadol would draw out the Name until the people finished their
response, and then finish the end of the verse.


But anyway, back in the day in Biblical times, the Name was common
knowledge.  In the Scroll of Ruth, for instance, you find in 2:4 Bo`az
and his workers using it in greeting: "Y--H be with you!" and "may Y--H
bless you!".


-Stephen (Steg)
  "[would you like a] 'virgin'?"
      ~ what happens when you give silly English names
         to products in non-English-speaking countries