为什么希伯来语被称为“神圣语”（Lashon Hakodesh）？
为什么希伯来语被称为“神圣语”（Lashon Hakodesh）？
作者：Yehuda Shurpin
图片：Sefira Lightstone
希伯来语有大能。妥拉告诉我们直到巴别塔事件前，全人类都是讲同一门语言：圣书希伯来语。事实上，神圣语的能量给建塔者先期的成功助力。为了阻止他们，神“弄乱”他们的语言，而各种各样的语言由此诞生。
什么使得这门语言神圣？
创造的语言
在创.世记中，我们读到神创造世界：“神说，‘要有光’，于是就有了光”。这并不仅仅是用词问题，这些词含有神的创造光的大能。妥拉描述了10句这样的句子——创世10言。万物都借着那些希伯来语句中的大能而造。
卡巴拉学者解释道，神的“话语”与人类的话语不同，后者说完就消失了，而前者却亘古长存，正如诗.篇所说，“耶.和.华啊，你的话安定在天，直到永远。”所以这创世10言至今仍在诸天之上，始终在重塑这个世界与给它供能。
因为万物都是接着话语造的，事物的希伯来语名字表达了那让它存在的能量。这就是为什么是亚当命名了动物，因为要抓住每个动物的特征给予名字需要巨大的智慧才行。
洁净的语言
迈蒙尼德，在他的《迷途指津》中，提出希伯来语是神圣的因为它并没有明确地命名私密的身体器官和行为：“希伯来语没有男女生.殖.器的专门名称，也没有生.殖.行为，没有精子或排泄物。希伯来语词汇中并没有这些事物的原本名称，而它们只是通过形象化的暗指和暗示来描述……”
预言的语言
纳赫马尼德（Nachmanides）不同意迈蒙尼德的观点，他认为不能仅仅因为避免使用粗俗的词语就把一门语言定义为神圣。而那些词汇，他认为，并不是粗俗的，因为xing爱事实上也是神圣的，只要该人的动机是纯洁的。纳赫马尼德认为希伯来语天生就是神圣的，因为它是神在西奈山上用以沟通十诫和妥拉的语言。它是神与先知沟通的媒介，也是神名和天使之名的语言。
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.
