God in Judaism

The traditional conception of God in Judaism is strictly monotheistic. God is generally understood by Jews to be the absolute one, indivisible and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Jewish tradition teaches that the true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable, and that it is only God's revealed aspect that brought the universe into existence, and interacts with mankind and the world. The one God of Israel is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who is the guide of the world, delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and gave them the Law of Moses at biblical Mount Sinai as described in the Torah. Traditional interpretations of Judaism generally emphasize that God is personal, while some modern interpretations of Judaism emphasize that God is a force or ideal.

God has a proper name, written YHWH (Hebrew: יְהֹוָה, Modern Yehovah, Tiberian Yəhōwāh) in the Hebrew Bible. In Jewish tradition another name of God is Elohim.

Names

The name of God used most often in the Hebrew Bible is the Tetragrammaton (YHWH Hebrew: יהוה‎), frequently anglicized as Jehovah or Yahweh but written in most editions of the Bible as "the Lord". Jews traditionally do not pronounce it, and instead refer to God as HaShem, literally "the Name". In prayer this name is substituted with Adonai, meaning "Master" or "Lord".