1

Why do Chabad Chassidim write ב''ה at the top of pages and most other Jews write בס''ד? I already know what these acronyms mean, I was just wondering why there is a difference. (ברוך השם and בסייעתא דשמיא, "Blessed is Hashem" and "With the help of Heaven")

ezra
  • 18,664
  • 4
  • 35
  • 104
  • 2
    Incidentally, from my experience, ב"ה used to be much more common, and only more recently, has בס"ד taken off. – mevaqesh Aug 08 '16 at 17:11
  • 3
    ב"ה is be'ezras Hashem, with G-d's help, that essentially means the same thing, not as you wrote. – Miriam Aug 08 '16 at 19:12
  • 1
    @Miriam - I've always seen בעזרת השם written like this: בעז''ה or בע''ה. Also my many Chabad friends have told me it stands for ברוך השם. – ezra Aug 08 '16 at 19:22
  • Closely related (near duplicate): http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/7137. Also very related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/8093 and http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/18630. – Fred Aug 08 '16 at 19:26
  • 1
    Ezra, I usually follow the same abbreviation scheme as you quote in your comment, but most people understand ב”ה at the top of a page to be בעזרת ה׳, rather than ברוך ה׳. – Noach MiFrankfurt Aug 08 '16 at 19:41
  • 1
    @NoachMiFrankfurt - Yeah, I've always been taught it the way I mentioned. – ezra Aug 08 '16 at 20:42
  • my favorite was the rishonim who would write בגזרת השם – user6591 Aug 09 '16 at 03:50
  • I haven't really followed this trend to verify it's "truth". In elementary school in the 60's and 70's, I wrote ב"ה on the top of every page. I'm assuming that since there is a general trend towards "yeshivish" in the U.S., and also a more "religious" trend among Orthodox, esp. the notion that Hashem is involved and affects everything we do may have gained more awareness and prominence, which is a concept better expressed by BS"D. – DanF Aug 09 '16 at 19:32
  • 1
    How is this not a duplicate of http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/7137? cc @Fred – msh210 Aug 10 '16 at 19:40
  • 1
    @msh210 Because this asks specifically about the Chabad practice. Perhaps the Chabad custom developed in some winding manner or has some degree of a unique provenance to the effect that Chabad's intention behind the acronym is in fact ברוך ה׳. On the other hand, I'm not quite convinced of this; perhaps this question is actually a duplicate. – Fred Aug 11 '16 at 02:59
  • 2
    there is no specific custom in chabad to write it either way. I have seen it done both ways. – Dude Feb 20 '17 at 03:49
  • Chabad people do write BS"D. In my experience, BS"D may be slightly more common on physical pieces of paper, or when written by hand, where it has a chance of getting scrapped. – SAH Sep 27 '17 at 23:21

1 Answers1

2

Baruch HaShem - is usually used when thanking hashem Bisiyata deshmaya or bezras hashem- means with the help of hashem so it's for when there is something that is a good action and your asking for hashems help. Im yaritz hashem- of hashem wants involves things that are either out of your control or when you are not sure if this is a good action.

Shelah parshas masay

mroll
  • 1,740
  • 10
  • 12