14111, I MIT Ur -
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
PURELY COMMENTARY
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Nomenclature: The Science Of Choosing The Right Name
Sydney Harris keeps inspiring his
readers with a variety of subjects. He is
often philosophic, always interpretative,
appreciatively informative. Among the
latest subjects under scrutiny was the
matter of choosing and ascribing names
to children.
In a recent syndicated column, Har-
ris noted on the question of the popular-
ity, or lack of it, in the choosing of bibli-
cal names, that "refreshingly, Old Tes-
tament names (which had practically
vanished a generation ago, except for
Jewish families), made a startling com-
eback in public favor. Among girls,
Sarah, Jessica, Rebecca, Rachel and De-
borah were among the winners; and with
the boys, Adam, Daniel, Joshua and
even Amos were on the upswing (Of
course, both Michael and David are of
Hebraic origin)."
The names subject received atten-
tion froth several Jewish publishers in
recent years. Chief attention was given
to nomenclature by Dr. Alfred J. Kolatch
who began publishing dictionaries of
Jewish names a quarter of a century
ago. As publisher whose firm operates
under the name of Jonathan David Pub-
lishers, Rabbi Kolatch has made a deep
study of the subject and his books are
voluminous, dealing with more than
10,000 names. Meanings and derivations
of the names are provided in the
Koltach-researched anthologies.
Important studies of the subject
dealing with names were made by Rabbi
Benzion Kaganoff.. Dr. Kaganoffs A. Dic-
tionary of Jewish Names and Their His-
tory (Schocken Books) has an interesting
summation of the subject. This is worth
quoting from Kaganoff, as applied to
Sydney Harris' essay dealng with names:
We will now examine some of
the trends that Jewish parents
have followed in the past and
that they are following today in
selecting first names for their
children. It is a fact that of the
2,800 personal names found in
the Bible, less than five percent
(about 135) are used by Jews to-
day. At first glance this appears
strange; and some diehard tradi-
tionalists have always decried
the fact that the People of the
Book make so little use of the
names found in it. But to anyone
familiar with the history of
Jewish name-giving this comes as
no surprise.
We have already seen how in
the early post-Biblical period
foreign tames were much more
common than Biblical ones. Even
during the Talmudic period, in
the first five centuries of the
Common Era, the number of
Aramaic, Greek, and Roman
names outnumbered the Biblical
ones.
During the Middle Ages,
when Jews began to use a secu-
lar and a religous name, the secu-
lar name became the 'dominant
one in some communities. In
some others, an opposite ten-
, dyency prevailed, 'perhaps often
not so much due to intention as
to government insistence on re-
cording Jews by their Jewish
names in the community regis-
ters. Thus, for example, among
the Jews of England, Biblical
names were the most popular. Of
the 748 names found in the offi-
cial English records of the '
Twelfth Century (the Pipe Rolls)
Biblical names are favored: Isaac
leads the list with 59; Josce
.4111&
Dr. Alfred Kolatch: Expert on names
(Joseph), 55; Abraham, 49; Be-
nedict (the Latin form of
Barukh), 49; Jacob, 40; and
Mosse or Moss (i.e., Moses), 38.
Medieval Christians, for the
most part, rejected Old Testa-
ment names. Names from the He-
brew Scriptures were borne by
Christians not because of any
special admiration for Hebrew
names but, primarily, because -
they were names of ancient
saints or church fathers. Not till
the period of the Reformation did
a new attitude toward Biblical
names appear among Christians.
In a 1921 study of 100,000
general names, five of the leading
15 names were Biblical (two from
the Old Testament and three
from the New Testament). By
comparison, a 1929 study of
400,000 general names revealed a
total of four Biblical names (one
from the Hebrew Scriptures and
three from the New Testament).
Among Jews, several surveys
conducted in the 1940s revealed
that of the leading names confer-
red on Jewish boys in the United
States, only two were of Biblical
origin. But only one, David, was
from the Hebrew Bible. The
other, Paul, was a New Testa-
ment personage.
A 1942 survey of Jewish
names found only four biblical
names among the leading 15
names of the new generation and
four among the leading 15 names
of the parent generation. The Bi-
blical names of the parent gener-
ation were all from the Hebrew
Bible: Ruth, Joseph, David, and
Samuel. The names of the new
generation were Michael, David,
Stephen, and Peter. The latter
two are from the New Testament.
The tendency, today, among
Jews is definitely away from Bi-
blical names. •
By the way: What's in a name?
Leave it to Shakespeare to define it:
What's in a Name? That which we
call a rose by any other name would
smell as sweet.
(Romeo and Juliet, Act. II, Scene II)
(
Holiday Machzoir
On Highest Level
Holy. Days prayerbooks have gained
new status in inspiration and in teach-
ing the, congregants in the impressive,
newly-compiled works published by the
Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative) and
the Union of American Hebreiv Congre-
gations (Reform). Each such machzor is
replete with excerpts from writings of
the sages and modern scholars. These
prayerbooks are veritable anthologies of
Jewish learning.
Now comes another, most impressive
machzor, a veritable treasure in its col-
lected data about Rosh Hashanah and
historically valuable Jewish documen-
taries.
This one is the contribution to the lit-
erature on the prayerbook by the
Mesorah Publications, the Orthodox-
sponsored publishing house that is gain-
ing a strong foothold in the entire
Jewish publishing field.
Machzor Zichron Reuven is the new
Mesorah prayerbook. It is a valuable
addition to the High Holy Days book-
shelf.
As an appreciation of the Mesorah
achievements, it should be indicated in
advance that the publishing venture has
already produced most important works
on the Mishna, in addition to the
prayerbooks, as well as related works on
Bible and Talmud; that its editorial staff
headed by Rabbi Nosson Sherman, with
Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, who was the
founding editor of the ArtScroll Books,
having devoted their careers to the
gathering of the scholarly works.
The new ArtScroll machzor for Rosh
Hashanah, in its new translation and
with authoritative Orthodox commen-
taries, emerges as an enriching Jewish
anthological work.
It is not only the splendid translation
accompanying the original text that
lends importance to this Machzor. The
addenda are of great significance.
Here is one of the first of the intrigu-
ing elements in the scholarly definitions
provided by the editors. Rabbi Sherman,
for example, in an introductory over-
view, thus explains why Rosh Hashanah
represents Creation:
On the first Rosh Hashanah
in history, God created Adam
and Eve. Creation had begun five
days before, but it was only when
man had ,been brought into exist-
ence that God's creative labor
was done. Everything else had
merely set the stage for the
human climax of the universe.
Heaven and earth, light and
darkness, day and night, conti-
nents and oceans, angels and
heavenly bodies, frees and vege-
tation, animal, fish and fowl —
the enti
re universe was needed to
set the stage for man, its princi-
pal player.
Only if we accept man as the
primary star in the firmament of .
creation can we understand the
familiar verse from the Rosh
Hashanah Mussaf liturgy:
•
This day is the anniversary
of the start of Your handiwork,
a remembrance of the first
day.
Why is Rosh Hashanah called
the 'start of God's handiwork'
when creation began five days
earlier, on the twenty-fifth of
Elul? And why is it called the
'first day' when it was really the
sixth?
Clearly, the prominence
given Rosh Hashanah provides
us a perspective in how to view
the universe and man's role in it.
If a budding is important mainly
as an , architectural specimen,
then its construction will be
studied and its anniversaries re-
ckoned from the pouring of its
foundation, the completion of its
facade,- the emplacement of its
ornamentation, and its ribbon-
cutting ceremony. But if the
building's purpose is to be a
habitat or a headquarters, then
the only anniversaries that mat•
ter will involve the human use of
the structure. So, too, the world's
anniversary is not reckoned from
the creation of the galaxies,
angels, or canyons. The purpose
of the universe is man's inner
struggle to choose between good
and evil, so the day he was
created is 'the anniversary of the
start of Your handiwork:' And
the day Adam and Eve, first set
eyes on the world in which they
were to decide whether to serve
God or defy. Him was the first
day.
The Complete ArtScroll Machzor, as
also titled in tribute to the pious Reuven
ben Dov Ber. Glick, has many unusual
features, including a food section for
Rosh Hashanah. The uniqueness of a
culinary page in a sacred volume be-
comes apparent upon reading it. The
very informative food section is thus
indicated in the machzor by its editors:
Fenugreek is an herb, indig-
enous to western Asia, whose
seeds are used in cookery and
medicine. Its Aramaic name is
rubiah, a word that also implies
increase and abundance. Magen
Avrahaham writes that one may
use any food whose name carries
that implication, even if the name
is not Hebrew. Based on this
view it has become customary in
many communities to eat carrrots
because their Yiddish name is
menren, a word which can alsd
mean 'to increase.'
Many communities have de-
veloped interesting customs
based upon the names of foods.
Thus Bircas Chaim records that
Ukranian Jews would give their
children chicken livers on Rosh
Hashanah. The Yiddish word for
livers, leberlach, is homophonous
with Lb ehrlich, or live honestly.
Beets. Sour borscht, however,
should not be served on Rosh
Hashanah, for only sweet foods
should be eaten Pri Megadim.
L'rosh v'lo Lvanav — As the
head and not as the tail. This
prayer is based on the verse
(Deuteronomy 28:13): "And
Hashem shall place you as a
head and not as a tail ..." Tar-
gum . Onkelos paraphrases: "As a
mighty one and not as a weakl-
ing."
A sheep's head is used for his
symbolic food because it serves
as an additional reminder of the
merits of the Akeidah, the Binding
of Isaac, at which a ram replace•
Isaac on the Altar.
Nev6rtheless, if a sheep's
head is not available any other
head may be substituted. Al-
though ' the allusion to the
Akeidah would not be present, the
other symbol — that "we be as
the head and not as the tail"
would,remain (Magen Avraham).
The laws and the customs of the
Holy - Days, the meaning of the 'prayers,
the traditions related to them in 'histori-
cal experiences -- these are among the
many factors in this splendidly-et:Med
work.
The shofar plays an important'role
here, and there is an explanation why
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