Ask the Rabbi
- Family and Society
- The Nation of Israel
- General Questions
Question
Could the pronunciation for the Hebrew letters that spell the name Yisrael have possibly ever been pronounced Yisharel?
Answer
As I wrote previously, the name is: Yisrael, meaning you have wrestled [in Hebrew: Sarita] with man and angels and have been victorious. There is a kabbalistic explanation cited by Rav Kook the the letters of YiSRaeL also comprise: ShiR-EL [= the song of God] and YaShaR-EL [=G-d is straight], but the aforementioned Torah verse is always explicitly read as the letter Sin not a Shin, so it's read Yisrael.

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