If you’re wondering about the website name Yirat HaShem / The Awe of God, well “yirat HaShem” is Hebrew for “the awe of God”. It is that simple.
When you recognize God as the creator of all things – including you – and that you were created by Him to serve Him and give Him the glory for all things, you develop an “awe” for Him.
What does this “awe of God” look like? We ought to have a reverential respect for Him. As you are aware, God has many names in the Bible – names that are connected to His many attributes. He is One God and so indescribable that He has different names to try to describe those attributes. Of course, he is I AM. Moses asked who he should say sent him and God responded “I AM”.
םשה
The Jewish shorthand for God’s name is HaShem (“the Name”) which describes God’s many names and avoids saying His sacred name out of respect. You will find that some (not all) Jewish people write God as G-d or Lord as L-rd to avoid writing His name. It isn’t that writing HaShem’s name is a disrespectful thing. Instead, it circumvents the disrespect towards HaShem if the paper or other document on which His Name is written is destroyed. So, on the off chance that you wrote down His Name on a piece of paper and threw it out, you’d be throwing out the word “L-rd” instead of “Lord”.
It seems like a symbolic gesture. However, if you take a worldview that God is in every thing and every act, then it makes sense. If you wrote G-d you must have had a godly reason to write it.
Anyway, the goal here is to have God be so central to your life so that He permeates everything you do. Even if it is just writing His name on a piece of paper. You should be in such awe of HaShem that you tremble at uttering His Name and at the thought of one day standing before Him. Yet, you also have a personal relationship with HaShem through our Messiah Yeshua.
And when you have Messiah Yeshua, you have the peace that passes all understanding.