為什么希伯來語被稱為“神圣語”（Lashon Hakodesh）？

作者：Yehuda Shurpin

圖片：Sefira Lightstone

希伯來語有大能。妥拉告訴我們直到巴別塔事件前，全人類都是講同一門語言：圣書希伯來語。事實上，神圣語的能量給建塔者先期的成功助力。為了阻止他們，神“弄亂”他們的語言，而各種各樣的語言由此誕生。

什么使得這門語言神圣？

創(chuàng)造的語言

在創(chuàng).世記中，我們讀到神創(chuàng)造世界：“神說，‘要有光’，于是就有了光”。這并不僅僅是用詞問題，這些詞含有神的創(chuàng)造光的大能。妥拉描述了10句這樣的句子——創(chuàng)世10言。萬物都借著那些希伯來語句中的大能而造。

卡巴拉學者解釋道，神的“話語”與人類的話語不同，后者說完就消失了，而前者卻亙古長存，正如詩.篇所說，“耶.和.華啊，你的話安定在天，直到永遠?！彼赃@創(chuàng)世10言至今仍在諸天之上，始終在重塑這個世界與給它供能。

因為萬物都是接著話語造的，事物的希伯來語名字表達了那讓它存在的能量。這就是為什么是亞當命名了動物，因為要抓住每個動物的特征給予名字需要巨大的智慧才行。

潔凈的語言

邁蒙尼德，在他的《迷途指津》中，提出希伯來語是神圣的因為它并沒有明確地命名私密的身體器官和行為：“希伯來語沒有男女生.殖.器的專門名稱，也沒有生.殖.行為，沒有精子或排泄物。希伯來語詞匯中并沒有這些事物的原本名稱，而它們只是通過形象化的暗指和暗示來描述……”

預言的語言

納赫馬尼德（Nachmanides）不同意邁蒙尼德的觀點，他認為不能僅僅因為避免使用粗俗的詞語就把一門語言定義為神圣。而那些詞匯，他認為，并不是粗俗的，因為xing愛事實上也是神圣的，只要該人的動機是純潔的。納赫馬尼德認為希伯來語天生就是神圣的，因為它是神在西奈山上用以溝通十誡和妥拉的語言。它是神與先知溝通的媒介，也是神名和天使之名的語言。

The Dilemma

We now come to a paradoxical dilemma. On the one hand, as Maimonides points out, sexual acts and organs do not have Hebrew names because they are seemingly vulgar. On the other hand, since everything in this world exists only because of the energy within its Hebrew name, they must have Hebrew names—which means they must be holy, as Nachmanides believes.

The Rebbe resolves this dilemma by delving deeper into Maimonides’ own musings about pre-sin reality and post-sin reality. Before the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, sexual actions and organs were like any other acts and organs, and there were surely names for them in the Holy Tongue. But after the sin, Adam and Chavah became aware of their sensuality, and these actions and organs became inextricably linked to lust. We therefore don’t know their names, because their holiness is beyond us.

(Interestingly, the Rebbe’s explanation draws the opinions of Nachmanides and Maimonides closer together, since both are of the opinion that sexuality can be holy or profane depending on the context.)12

Unique Spiritual Energy

Rabbi Yeshayah ha-Levi Horowitz, known as the Shaloh, points out that the words and letters of other languages were arbitrarily chosen by man. In the Holy Tongue, however, there is significance to the name, shape and sound of each letter, each alluding to unique spiritual energy and attributes.13

Should I Speak Hebrew?

Our sages tell us that one who lives in the land of Israel, eats in a state of ritual purity, speaks in the Holy Tongue, and recites the Shema every morning and evening is assured a portion in the world to come.14 Furthermore, the Zohar states that when we speak in the Holy Tongue, the Shechinah (Divine Presence) rests upon us.15

Yet, on the flip side, it is precisely because of the holiness of the language that many reserved it as a special language to be used only for Torah learning and prayer.16

But as important as it is to speak, pray and study in Hebrew, it is much more important to actually comprehend what you’re saying and learning. It is for this reason that the Talmud was written in Aramaic. And it is for this reason that, despite all we have said, if one does not understand Hebrew, he should pray in the language that he understands.

To learn more about the uniqueness of the Hebrew letters, you can read (or watch) Letters of Light by Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin, or watch the fascinating KabbalaToons series KabAlefBet!: The Kabbalah of every one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.