This week, in Leviticus 24:16, we read: “Anyone who blasphemes the Name of God—noqev shem Adonai—shall surely be put to death.” The verb נקב (naqav) doesn’t just mean to curse; it means to pierce, to puncture. The image is visceral—someone boring a hole through the sanctity of the Divine Name.
As Jews, we’re taught to question. Critical thought, argument, and even doubt are core to Jewish theology. So what’s the difference between poking holes and puncturing something sacred?
Epistemology—the study of knowledge—teaches us to question in order to understand. Ben Bag Bag, in Pirkei Avot, says: “Turn it, turn it, for everything is in it.” Torah, like faith itself, can be deconstructed and reassembled—refined through honest curiosity.
But to puncture is to destroy. When holes are drilled in God’s name; when God’s name is used for violence as opposed to justice; when God’s name is mocked or scorned with inquisition instead of approached with curiosity; when God’s name is used to make promises that will never be kept—or worse, to deceive—these holes cause irreparable damage, not to God, but to us.
It is my hope that this verse challenges us to ask: Are our words vessels for reverence—or weapons that pierce and fracture what is left of the sacred?