Question

When Orthodox Jews read a passage that includes the name of God, how is "God" actually pronounced? Is another word used--like ha-shem? For example, what would be used in reading the Haggadah text? I'm assuming all Orthodox Jews would use the same word--yes? Thanks in advance for clarifying this.

Answer

God's name is pronounced "Adonoi." (rhymes with annoy) Some Sephardim pronounce it - "Adonai." (rhymes with eye). However, the name is only pronounced when praying or learning Torah.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan writes:

Although God Himself is absolutely unknowable and unnamable, the Tetragrammaton is His highest emanation in creation. It is therefore considered most sacred, and is never pronounced as it is written, even in prayer. [In fact] it is forbidden to pronounce the name itself. Showing disrespect for God's name indicates a definite lack of belief in Him. That person is worthy of death and has no portion in the World to Come. (Talmud - Sanhedrin 90a) This is true of one who makes disrespectful use of the Tetragrammaton, as well as one who makes unseemly use of any of God's names. (Handbook of Jewish Thought Volume II 8:17; 8:20 and 14:23)

To learn more, read Handbook of Jewish Thought Volume II by Aryeh Kaplan (published by Moznaim). You can get this book at a Jewish bookstore.