A surprisingly large amount of anxiety in Jewish life comes down to tiny questions like:
“What am I actually supposed to call G-d?”
If you’ve ever worried about saying the wrong thing, sounding ignorant, or accidentally outing yourself as “new,” you are definitely not alone.
In this video, we’re talking about common Jewish ways of referring to G-d, what terms like Hashem and G-d actually mean, why some names are avoided, and the bigger emotional reality underneath all of it: learning how to speak not just Hebrew, but “Jewish.”
If you’re trying to learn not just Jewish information, but how Jewish life is actually lived day to day, my membership Bayit Builders is open now through May 14.
Inside, we focus on the practical, emotional, and cultural side of building a Jewish life – the things that often aren’t written in the books but make a huge difference in helping you feel more grounded and less overwhelmed.
You do not have to figure all of this out alone.
Transcript below.
Transcript:
 Quick question. What are you actually supposed to call G-d in Judaism?
Because you’ve probably seen people using the word Hashem, or writing G-d with a dash instead of an O, or avoid saying the word at all. And if you’re new to Jewish life, It’s really easy to feel like you’re gonna say the wrong thing.
Hi, I’m Kochava. I’m a Jewish convert, and I’ve been helping people convert to Judaism since 2010 through my blog Building a Jewish Life.com. If you’re someone who lives in fear of “doing it wrong,” you’re probably exactly the kind of person I made my membership Bayit Builders for. We’re open to new members right now. If you can check out the link down in the description below, you can find out more about us.
So this language quirk is one of those small things that creates a surprising amount of anxiety. You’re in a conversation, you wanna sound respectful and knowledgeable… and not like an idiot. And suddenly you’re thinking like, “Wait, what do I call G-d again? Am I supposed to say Hashem? Is this one of those rules I’m about to mess up?”
So here’s the short version. There isn’t just one answer. There are lots of options for how to refer to G-d in conversation, but you will find the same ones popping up again and again.
And you’re not gonna mess up your Jewish life by using the wrong answer. It’s definitely a mistake you can come back from. People understand when people are newer, we see this happen, and we’re pretty used to it. So they’re probably not judging you as harshly as you think they are. Many of us were in that spot once too.
But there are patterns, customs, and contexts that are helpful to understand.
There’s two main options: G-d and Hashem. Both are fully correct. They are widely used across Jewish denominations. And when in doubt, use one of those two.
It is not disrespectful to say G-d in English.
Hashem is a Hebrew name that means “the Name.” Ha- the, Shem- name. Hashem.
At its root, it’s actually a stand-in for the four-letter name of G-d in the Torah, which you’ll hear many Christians call Yahweh. We’ll get to Yahweh later. Don’t say that. It’s just kind of a fill-in term so that we don’t treat sacred names casually.
Judaism puts a lot of emphasis on being respectful with the names of G-d. For instance, we’re very careful when they’re written down on paper and what we do with that paper, like throwing it away. We’re just as careful in our speech.
But on a practical level, saying the word Hashem instead of G-d is one of those, like, little catchphrases that shows you’re in the know… you’re one of us. And so most people who are converting or becoming more religious very quickly start saying Hashem because it makes you belong better faster.
But even the most religious person you will ever meet will say the word G-d in English whenever it’s appropriate. So you don’t have to say Hashem if that is not what is comfortable for you.
However, in writing, most Jewish people will put a dash in place of the O in the word G-d.
Now me, I’m lazy. It’s really hard to hit that dash because I’m a bad keyboardist. And so I actually just write Gd and no one’s ever called me on it. People get what I mean.
But this is a custom or a stringency. It is not required in any language that is not Hebrew.
Though I bet there are people who make the argument for Aramaic too. I don’t know the answer to that.
We traditionally don’t write out divine names fully.
So some other names you might see in conversation, especially in more Hasidic contexts, would be Abishtar.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
Ribono Shel Olam.
And Ein Sof, which is more of a Kabbalistic name.
If those aren’t words that people are using regularly in your community, don’t worry about them. You don’t need them. I just tell you so that you’ll recognize them and know what the person is saying if you hear them in conversation.
Now, things get a little more complicated with some of the other names of G-d that come up in, for instance, educational contexts.
Sometimes in, say, a, a lecture or a class, we might be talking about a specific name of G-d. In most cases, jews will alter the name in a way so that it’s not actually saying that name fully aloud.
However, it is fully acceptable to say these names if you are in an educational context and you’re teaching someone, and that is the clearest way to get that across. I will say that I have been surprised that one of the biggest sources of hate comments that I get from Jews, which I don’t have a lot of those, but most of them have been for saying names of G-d aloud when they were needed for the educational thing.
There’s a lot of people who insist that they can never be said. But that’s wrong. It is acceptable in an educational context.
So that’s what we’re gonna do here. So you might wanna look down in the comments below because I bet someone’s gonna be upset about this. Meh, can’t please everyone.
So the first one that you’re gonna see the most often is the name Elohim, which is often said as Elo-kim. You’ll find that that K sound, K, is, is a common thread here.
Similarly, you’ll find Eloheinu becomes Elo-keinu.
And then the last most common version that I have run into in my life personally is Adonai, which is often said as Adoshem or Hashem.
As an interesting side note, in Hebrew, the number 15 would normally be written with a yud and a hey, 10 and 5, (because Hebrew letters are numbers too). But in practice, it’s actually written as nine six, tet vav, because Yud Hey is a name of G-d.
Now, let’s get into the names to avoid. These are not part of Jewish practice.
First one we already mentioned: Yahweh. No Jew calls G-d Yahweh. None.
It was kind of a gibberish attempt by early Christian scholars to figure out how to pronounce the four-letter name of G-d, Yud He Vav He, which side note, is also said Yud Kay Vav Kay.  To again, with that Kay, K sound to change the name.
Only Messianic “Jews” and Christians and people who are criticizing Christianity use the term Yahweh. It’s 1,000% not a Jewish thing. If you say this in Jewish company, do not be surprised if they suddenly start backing away slowly and trying to get away from you.
Second one, Yeshua. This is the name of Jesus in Hebrew, and it’s primarily linked to Messianic “Judaism,” which is Christianity with Jewish cultural appropriation.
So again, if you use the word Yeshua to refer to G-d, the Jews in the room are gonna start slowly backing away and getting away from you.
However, don’t be like me and get so scared that you’re gonna accidentally say Yeshua, that you become afraid of saying the name Yehoshua, Joshua, because you are afraid that you are going to accidentally call him Yeshua. Yes, I did that for many years.
I guess I was just very observant of not using the word Yeshua. Very stringent in my practices.
So what’s behind all of these fears? Most of the time, this isn’t about vocabulary. It’s about wanting to not look stupid or stand out or “do it wrong,” and that’s a much bigger theme that shows up for you in all areas of Jewish practice probably.
But remember, you’re learning a language, not just Hebrew, but “Jewish.” And the culture of how Jewish life is lived. And like any language, you pick it up over time with lots of mistakes along the way. That’s how children learn to speak. That’s how you’re gonna learn to speak Jewish, too.
If you’re not sure what to say, keep it simple: G-d or Hashem. Try to mirror the people around you. Say what they say. And if over time you decide to switch how you handle this, that’s totally fine.
This is a perfect example of what building a Jewish life looks like. It’s not just learning information. It’s figuring out how things are lived day to day. And a lot of those things are not written in the books or talked about by your local influencer.
So if you’re trying to figure all this out, and you want more structure and support, my membership Bayit Builders is open to new members right now. And Bayit Builders is turning one year old, which means it’s the last chance for you to grab the $250 discounted annual membership. You can keep it for the life of your membership. Remember, you don’t have to get every detail right in order to build something meaningful and real.
And if you’re here, you probably are concerned about mistakes you might be making. So next, you should watch this video about common mistakes people make in the Jewish conversion process.
