blogs/rabbi-huberman

As rabbis and other scholars consider the 430 years that the Israelites remained in Egypt prior to their liberation, a question often emerges:

“How did the Jews keep their identity—often enslaved within a majority culture?”

Wouldn’t it have been easier to give in and ultimately dress, act, talk and worship like an Egyptian?

What made us different? What was embedded in our cultural DNA? How did we survive?

The ancient text Vayikra Rabba (circa 500 CE) offers an explanation:

Fifteen hundred years ago, our Sages recorded: “Israel was redeemed from Egypt: Because they did not change their name, their language, they did not speak slander, and there was not one among them who was found to be steeped in licentiousness.”

We’ll leave the discussion over language, slander and licentiousness for another time, but according to the Sages, the number one feature that kept Israelites intact as a nation was the fact that they never let go of their Hebrew names.

The ancient text reports that Reuben and Simeon entered Egypt with their Hebrew names, and they exited with the names Reuben and Simeon intact.

Furthermore, “They did not call Judah Rupa, nor Reuben Luleyani, nor Joseph Leisteis, nor Benjamin Alexandri." 

What’s so important about a Hebrew name?

So often, when the Cantor or I lay someone to rest, it’s a scramble to identify that parent’s or grandparent’s Hebrew name.

Often we bury without knowing.

Doing so is not the worst thing that can occur, for God knows who every one of us is—whether they know their Hebrew name or not. 

Yet identifying our Hebrew names links us to more than 3,000 years of history and tradition, and sets the stage to carry both into the future.

The Kabbalah, our mystic tradition, explains it this way: The word for soul or spirit in Hebrew is Neshama. The Hebrew word for name is Shem.

And so, the mystics posit that any name (Shem) we receive or bestow on a baby contains a little of the spirit of the person they are named after.

Who are you named after?

As a parent or grandparent, do you ever see little traces of a baby’s namesake in that child’s smile, or in the qualities and characteristics they show as they grow?

So, why does the topic of names come up this week?

It coincides with the reading of the second book of the Torah, named by the Greeks and reinforced by Christianity as “Exodus.”

Yet before we begin reading the Exodus story—of slavery, deliverance, matzah and freedom—it is important to focus on the first key Hebrew word and title of the book—Shemot—Names.

So, what's in a name and does it matter?

Many years ago, I spoke with an elder of Armenian descent, who who shared a teaching about the importance of a good name.

“If you were to offer me a choice between removing my right eye—or taking away my good name—then I am willing to go through the remainder of my life half blind.”

At bit extreme perhaps, but that ancient Armenian saying reminds us that there is no substitute for—as we call it in Hebrew—a Shem Tov, a good name.

A good name is linked to kindness and care for others. A good name is attached to making our lives mean something, of living our days with strength, integrity and sensitivity.

Often, after being asked to put a grandparent to rest, I am called upon a year or two later to help name a baby after that beloved grandparent.

And through that significant act, Judaism provides a link between the tears of loss and the tears of optimism and continuity.

While our English names define how we are identified within a majority culture, our Hebrew names are perhaps more important, as we link ourselves within a chain of Jewish identity that began 4,000 years ago.

A Hebrew name is how a child will be called to the Torah at their bar or bat mitzvah; their Hebrew name will be written on their Ketubah—their wedding certificate.

And 120 years from now, that name will appear on their life stone, hopefully passed to a new soul, who will carry that torch forward.

And what of Jews by Choice, or those who do not have a Jewish ancestor, or weren’t Hebrew-named at birth? Their name shall become an inspiration for generations to come.

And what if you do not know your Hebrew name? The Cantor or I can help you find it—perhaps we can help choose one that is meaningful to you. 

Indeed, during these difficult times, where so many are trying to assimilate us or, worse, degrade us, how important it is that we state as the Israelites did in ancient Egypt: “I have a name which defines me as a Jew.”

Our ancestors affirmed it more than 3,300 years ago. How much more important is it that we consider doing so today.

So, while many in the Jewish world will focus this week on the beginning of the Passover story, I prefer in advance to focus on the second word of the second book of the Torah—Shemot—names.

Our Hebrew names help culturally define who we are, where we come from, and in some way how future generations will be guided.

For our Jewish identity is more valuable than all the physical wealth acquired and spent in a lifetime.

As our Sages taught, within our lifetime, there is nothing more important and enduring than a Shem tov—a good name.

Shabbat shalom, v’kol tuv.

Rabbi Irwin Huberman