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Education: The Holiness of the Divine Name JHWH
Associazionoe Amicizia Ebraico-Cristiana di Roma

Although it is addressed to Editors and Publishing Houses it is applicable also to teachers and preachers and all those reading the Bible in public. The English edition of the Jerusalem Bible does in fact print the word Jahweh which makes this letter important for those using this translation in the liturgy.

Assocazione Amicizia Ebraico-Cristiana di Roma,
Settore Informazione e Documentazione, Via Ulpiano, 29
00193 ROMA

With respect we ask Publishers and Editors of journals and periodicals to replace the word "YAHWEH" (which is offensive to Jews, who consider the divine name to be unpronounceable) by the tetragram JHWH.

When the divine name cannot be avoided, our advice is to substitute "Lord" for the tetragram this is already done in the greek Septuagint, the latin Vulgate (translated by S. Jerome) and in every modern translation of the Bible.

JHWH (jod, he, waw, he) are the consonants used in the Hebrew biblical text to indicate the divine name.

Very ancient Jewish tradition holds that the divine name was pronounced in this form only by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies on the day of Kippur (Atonement).

The fact that the Seuptuagint, the oldest portions of which may date back to the third century BCE, translates the tetragram by the Greek word KYRIOS, shows that already at that time the divine name, when it occurred in the biblical text, was pronounced Adonai, which means Lord.
This usage was maintained without a break, witness both the Latin translation of S. Jerome, which translates the tetragram by the latin word Dominus, and traditional Jewish usage down to our own day.

Signed:
Prof. Sofia Cavalletti, Member of the Ecumenical Commission of the diocese of Rome and Directress of the Catechetical Centre muon Pastore".
Rev. Ary Roest Crollius S.J., Directer of the Centre for "Religions and Cultures", at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Prof. Paolo de Benedetti, Faculty of Catholic Theology for Northern Italy.
Prof. Tommaso Federici, Pontifical Urbaniana University.
Prof. Alessandro Galuzzi, Dean of the Theology Faculty, Pontifical Lateran University.
Rev. Edward Kaczgnok OP, Rector of the Pontifical University of S. Thomas Aquinas.
Rev. Roger Le Deaut S.P.P., Professor of the Pontifical Biblical Institute of Rome.
Mons. Jorge Melia, Secretary of the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews
Prof. Reinhard Neudeker SJ, Professor of Rabbinic
Literature, Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome.
Mons. Clemente Rive, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome. Mons. Piero Rossano, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome and Rector, Pontifical Lateran University.
Professor Lea Sestieri, Professor of Judaism, Pontifical Lateran University.
Professor Carlo Slcaliskj, Professor of Fundamental Theology, Pontifical Lateran University. Professor Alberto Soggin, Professor of Hebrew
Language and Literature, Roman University of "La Sapienza".
Don Giuseppe Sorani, Secretary General of the Orioni Congregation.
Rev. Bartolomeo Sorge SJ, Former Director of La Civitt5 Catto!Ica. present Director of The Centre for Social Studies in Palermo.
Professor Elio Toaff, Chief Rabbi of Rome.