Talmudic Justifications for Biblical Stories that Contradict Halacha: Hora'at Sha'ah and Et La’asot - Pt. 1
Saying God’s explicit name (שם המפורש - the 4-letter name ‘YHWH’ - Tetragrammaton)
Two-part series on Hora'at Sha'ah and Et La’asot. Pt. 1 is about Saying God’s explicit name (שם המפורש - the 4-letter name ‘YHWH’ - Tetragrammaton). Pt. 2 will be about other Halachot being contradicted in Biblical stories
Parially based on: הוראת שעה (הלכה)1
The Talmud states in a number of places the concept of "הוראת שעה" (Hora'at Sha'ah), which can be translated as "a temporary ruling" or "a ruling for the hour." Hora'at Sha'ah is a halachic decision made by the Sanhedrin, a prophet, or a leading sage that deviates from the usual law. It is determined for a limited time due to special circumstances. Meaning, a temporary deviation from the established halacha (Jewish law) is permitted due to extenuating circumstances. In other words, in certain situations, a temporary deviation from the established halacha is permitted to achieve a greater good or to address an immediate need.
Isaac Hirsch Weiss (1815 – 1905) in his monumental Dor Dor VeDorshav (available here) critiques this at length. He points out that this is apparently only done to justify earlier stories, to “rabbinize” them. On the rabbinization of Biblical figures, Isaiah Gafni writes (“Rabbinic Historiography and Representations of the Past”, in The Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature, 2007, also cited in an earlier piece of mine, “Was Abraham a Lamdan?” - July 4, 2023):
The rabbinic ideal of "Talmud Torah" as the driving force in Jewish religious behavior is projected as a constant factor in the lives of the patriarchs: The children of the patriarchs study in the batei midrash of Shem and 'Ever, Jacob strives to establish "a house of Talmud where he might teach Torah" in Egypt (Genesis Rabbah 95:3); Abraham was well versed in the prohibition of carrying on Shabbat without an 'eruv, Joseph kept the Sabbath in Egypt (Genesis Rabbah 95:3); Abraham was well versed in the prohibition of carrying on Shabbat without an 'eruv, Joseph kept the Sabbath in Egypt, and therefore prepared his Sabbath needs on Friday (Genesis Rabbah 92:4); he and his father Jacob even studied Torah together before they were separated, and because both remembered the last chapter they had covered together, it could serve as a sign through which Joseph made himself known to his father (Genesis Rabbah 94:4) […]
The phenomenon of rabbinization has been noted by numerous scholars, with the most succint and cogent discussion being that of Izhak Heinemann (1940, 35- 39), as in so many other aspects of aggadic literature. Heinemann notes that the very same rabbis who impose their contemporary rabbinic ideals on the biblical figures also express a keen awareness of this anachronistic approach. To his mind, these seemingly opposite approaches do not suggest two opposing schools of thought, but rather the tension created by the dual goals of attempting, on the one hand, to describe the heroes of the past in historical terms while simultaneously searching for the timeless truths of their acts and words, on the other.
Saying God’s explicit name (שם המפורש - the 4-letter name ‘YHWH’)
Tetragrammaton - Wikipedia, sections intro, “Judaism” and “Spoken prohibitions”, with adjustments:
“The Tetragrammaton (from Ancient Greek '[consisting of] four letters'), or the Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym יהוה (transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are yod, he, vav, and he.
The books of the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Bible except Esther, Ecclesiastes, and (with a possible instance of the short form יה in verse 8:6) the Song of Songs contain this Hebrew name. Observant Jews and those who follow Talmudic Jewish traditions do not pronounce יהוה nor do they read aloud proposed transcription forms such as Yahweh or Yehovah; instead they replace it with a different term, whether in addressing or referring to the God of Israel. Common substitutions in Hebrew are אֲדֹנָי (Adonai, lit. transl. My Lords, Pluralis majestatis taken as singular) or Elohim (literally "gods" but treated as singular when meaning "God") in prayer, or HaShem ("The Name") in everyday speech.
[...B]iblical scholars widely hold that the Tetragrammaton and other names of God were spoken by the ancient Israelites and their neighbours.
By at least the 3rd century BCE, the name was not pronounced in normal speech, but only in certain ritual contexts. The Talmud relays this change occurred after the death of Simeon the Just (שמעון הצדיק) [...] Some time after the destruction of the Second Temple, the spoken use of God's name as it was written ceased altogether, though knowledge of the pronunciation was perpetuated in rabbinic schools.
Rabbinic sources suggest that the Tetragrammaton was pronounced only once a year, by the Kohen Gadol, on Yom Kippur. Others, including Maimonides, claim that the name was pronounced daily in the liturgy of the Temple in the priestly blessing of worshippers, after the daily sacrifice; in synagogues, though, a substitute (probably "Adonai") was used. According to the Talmud, in the last generations before the fall of Jerusalem, the name was pronounced in a low tone so that the sounds were lost in the chant of the priests.
Since the destruction of Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Tetragrammaton has no longer been pronounced in the liturgy. However the pronunciation was still known in Babylonia in the latter part of the 4th century.
The vehemence with which the utterance of the name is denounced in the Mishnah suggests that use of the Tetragrammaton was unacceptable in rabbinical Judaism. "He who pronounces the Name with its own letters has no part in the world to come!" [...I]t is sometimes called the [...] "Explicit Name" ("Shem HaMephorash" in Hebrew).
[...W]hen someone wants to refer in third person to either the written or spoken Name, the term HaShem "the Name" is used [...]
Boaz
The first source that appears for an exceptional ruling against the technical halacha is in the Mishnah, Berakhot 9:5. It is regarding saying the Tetragrammaton:
והתקינו, שיהא אדם שואל את שלום חברו בשם,
שנאמר (רות ב) והנה בעז בא מבית לחם, ויאמר לקוצרים יי עמכם, ויאמרו לו, יברכך יי.
ואומר (שופטים ו) יי עמך גבור החיל.
ואומר (משלי כג) אל תבוז כי זקנה אמך.
ואומר (תהלים קיט) עת לעשות ליי הפרו תורתך.
רבי נתן אומר, הפרו תורתך עת לעשות ליי:
The Sages also instituted that one should greet another in the name of God (בשם), i.e., one should mention God’s name in his greeting,
as it is stated: “And presently Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, YHWH is with you, and they said to him, May YHWH bless you” (Ruth 2:4).
And it says: “And the angel of God appeared to him and said to him, YHWH is with you, mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12).
And it says: “And despise not your mother when she is old” (Proverbs 23:22), i.e., one must not neglect customs which he inherits.
And lest you say that mentioning God’s name is prohibited, it says: “It is time to work for YHWH; they have made void Your Torah” (Psalms 119:126), i.e., it is occasionally necessary to negate biblical precepts in order to perform God’s will, and greeting another is certainly God’s will.
Rabbi Natan explains the interpretation of the verse: “Make void Your Torah” because “it is the time to work for the Lord,” i.e., occasionally it is necessary to negate biblical precepts in order to bolster the Torah.
Ezra
ויעמד עזרא הספר על־מגדל־עץ אשר עשו לדבר [...]
Ezra the scribe stood upon a wooden tower made for the purpose [...]
ויפתח עזרא הספר לעיני כל־העם
כי־מעל כל־העם היה
וכפתחו עמדו כל־העם
Ezra opened the scroll in the sight of all the people,
for he was above all the people;
as he opened it, all the people stood up.
ויברך עזרא את־יהוה האלהים הגדול
ויענו כל־העם אמן אמן במעל ידיהם
ויקדו וישתחוו ליהוה אפים ארצה
Ezra blessed YHWH, the great God (האלהים הגדול),
and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” with hands upraised.
Then they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before YHWH with their faces to the ground.
Talmud Bavli, Yoma 69b:
״ויברך עזרא את ה׳ האלהים הגדול״.
מאי ״גדול״?
אמר רב יוסף אמר רב: שגדלו בשם המפורש.
רב גידל אמר: ״ברוך ה׳ אלהי ישראל מן העולם ועד העולם״.
Apropos the verse in Nehemiah, the Gemara interprets an adjacent verse homiletically. It is stated: “And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God” (Nehemiah 8:6).
The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of “great” (גדול) here?
Rav Yosef said that Rav said: It means that he ascribed greatness to Him by enunciating God’s explicit name (שם המפורש - the Tetragrammaton).
Rav Giddel2 said: He established that one should say at the conclusion of every blessing: “Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, from eternity to eternity” (I Chronicles 16:36).
אמר ליה אביי לרב דימי: ודילמא שגידלו בשם המפורש?
אמר ליה: אין אומרים שם המפורש בגבולים.
Abaye said to Rav Dimi: Why does Rav Giddel interpret it this way? Perhaps the meaning of “great” is that he ascribed greatness to Him by enunciating God’s explicit name?
Rav Dimi said to him: The explicit name may not be enunciated in the provinces, i.e., outside the Temple courtyard.
ולא? והכתיב: ״ויעמוד עזרא הסופר על מגדל עץ אשר עשו לדבר״.
ואמר רב גידל: שגדלו בשם המפורש!
הוראת שעה היתה.
The Gemara asks: And is this really not permitted? Isn’t it written: “And Ezra the Scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose... and Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God” (Nehemiah 8:4-6);
and Rav Giddel said: “Great” in this verse means that he ascribed greatness to Him by enunciating God’s explicit name. Since this event took place outside the Temple (see Nehemiah 8:3), it suggests that God’s explicit name may indeed be enunciated outside the Temple.
The Gemara answers: That cannot be proven from here because the permission to use God’s explicit name in that context was a provisional edict (הוראת שעה) issued in exigent circumstances, since the people had uniquely come together in a prayerful commitment to God.
See also:
Provisional Legal Decision - Sefaria ;
עת לעשות לה' הפרו תורתך – ויקיפדיה ;
עבירה לשמה – ויקיפדיה, with bibliography.
There is likely a wordplay of the word interpreted ( גדול ) and the Sage interpreting (גידל). For more on the general phenomenon of connection between names of Sages and their statements, see my “From Abba to Zebedee: A Comprehensive Survey of Naming Conventions in Hebrew and Jewish Aramaic in Late Antiquity”, section “Aptronyms” (Academia.edu, registration required)