Some of our customers write the Name freely. Others will not wear it. Both are acting out of reverence, and we have tried to build a shop that does not force either one to compromise.
The concern
In Jewish practice, certain divine names may never be erased or destroyed. The prohibition is old and specific — it covers erasing a name written on parchment, and it explicitly covers unravelling one embroidered in cloth. Related custom holds that an item bearing the Name should not be carried into a bathroom unless it is fully covered, and that the Name should not be written on paper likely to be thrown away. That last custom is why you will see people write G-d in a letter.
Apply that to a T-shirt and the problem is obvious. A garment gets worn into every room of a life, and eventually it wears out and is discarded.
Why not everyone shares it
This is a rabbinic concern, and not all of our customers accept rabbinic authority. For many in the Hebrew Roots and Sacred Name communities, speaking and displaying the Name is not a risk to be managed but a duty to be fulfilled — a restoration of something the church obscured. To them, a shirt bearing the Name is a witness, not a hazard.
We do not think either group is being careless. They are reasoning from different premises about the same holiness.
Our convention
So we made a rule and we are telling you what it is:
- On apparel — transliterated and English forms, and the name Yeshua. These are worn, washed and eventually worn out, so we keep the Hebrew-character divine names off them.
- On wall art, banners, plaques and jewelry — the Name in Hebrew characters, where it belongs to a piece that is kept rather than consumed.
- On anything disposable — napkins, gift wrap, paper goods, stickers — no divine name in any form. There is no reading of this question under which that is a good idea.
If our line is not your line
That is fine. If you want a piece with the Name in Hebrew and we have only made it in transliteration, write to us and we will tell you honestly whether we can source it. If you would rather we had drawn the line more strictly, tell us that too.
We would rather publish a convention and be argued with than have no position and quietly offend everyone.