reII us whg Fur morn deserves W win a diamond from Tapper's Jewel% An Israeli By Any Other Name NECHEMIA MEYERS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS R ehovot — When you hear that a child by the name of Or, Tal, Omer or Stay has been born, you have no way of knowing whether the infant is a boy or a girl. For these names, and two dozen others, are no longer sexually specific. This is the latest fashion in name-giving, which began to lose its Diaspora rigidity with the on- set of Zionist settlement in Israel nearly 120 years ago. Until that time a Jewish boy was likely to be called Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Shlomo or Moshe. A Jew- Kids 14 and under, here's your chance to tell the world, in 100 words or less, just how great your mom really is! (Pre-schoolers can send a drawing.) FIRST PRIZE: 2 ct.tw. Diamond Tennis Bracelet in 14 kt. gold, $1560 Retail SECQ1ND PRIZE: 1/4 ct. tw. Diamond Heart Pendant in 14 kt. gold, $289 Retail THIRD PRIZE: 14 kt. gold and Diamond Huggie Earrings, $135 Retail All mother's entered will receive a free gift from Tapper's We've extended the deadline until Saturday, May 10. Bring your entry to Tapper's, or you can mail your essay or drawing with the entry blank below to Tapper's at 6337 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322 Winners will be drawn randomly from all entries recieved by deadline. One entry per child. ATTACH ENTRY BLANK TO ESSAY OR DRAWING CHILD'S NAME MOTHER'S NAME ADDRESS CITY ZIP DAYTIME PHONE L J 810-932-7700 jr 800-337-GIFT Diamonds & Fine Jewelry Orchard Mall . Orchard Lake Road at Maple Road . West Bloomfield, MI 48322 DRINKING AND DRIVING DON'T MIX! Hebrew Memorial Chapel 130 - 26640 Greenfield Rd. Oak Park MI 48237 810-543-1622 • Outside MI1-800-730-5033 Basically Blinds Verticals, Woods, Mini Blinds, Silhouettes, Duettes MAXIMUM DISCOUNTS . Elliott Kolodin Phone: 810-661-2490 ish girl, with few exceptions, was called Esther, Sarah, Rachel, Leah, Miriam or Deborah. More- over, they were almost always named after a deceased relative. Zionism changed both customs. The first settlers, Haifa Profes- sor Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi points out, "chose names that were symbolic either of Jewish sover- eignty (like Amaziah and Shaul) or of nationalist leadership dur- ing the period when Jews lacked sovereignty (like Bar-Kochba). "Sometimes, in addition, there was an explicit rejection of Jew- ish tradition when a child was named after a historic figure who didn't get a 'good writeup' in the Bible, someone like Absalom, King David's rebellious son." This rejection went still further with the so-called "Canaanites," a group, active in the 40s, which claimed that the Jews of Palestine were distinct from the Jews of the Diaspora and should be known as Hebrews. The "Canaanites" also argued that contemporary He- brew culture should look for in- spiration to the ancient cultures of the Middle East. And so it was only natural for movement founder Yonatan Ratosh to name two of his children Hamman (meaning child of the sun) and Sa- haran (meaning moon child). Others, though by no means "Canaanites," also chose to depart from tradition by naming their children after non-Jews men- tioned in the Bible, figures like Nimrod (described in Jewish leg- ends as Abraham's persecutor) and Anat (a Canaanite goddess). Beit-Hallahmi points out that Israelis, who now have 10,000 en- tries in their constantly growing and changing roster of names, are unique in this respect. The Times of Lon- don and the New York Times ,he notes, have an- nually published a list of favorite names for chil- dren over the last 100 years. John, Richard and George have been on every single list. In Israel, parents of the last few generations began to look to nature for inspi- ration, often choosing to name their children after flowers, trees, rock forma- tions or seasons of the year. And of late there has been a spate of names that sound equally natural in Tel Aviv and New York, names like Tom (inno- cence in Hebrew), Shirley (my song in Hebrew) and Guy (valley). Whether the parents who choose them are preparing their children for emigration is any- body's guess. ❑ Poetic Clash A Memorial, written by famed Is- raeli author Aharon Megged, shows how the choice of a child's name may cause a clash between generations. It tells about a man living in Is- rael in the early 1950s who lost one branch of his family in the Holocaust, including his beloved grandson, Mendelle. The other branch survived in Israel and his granddaughter, Raya, is about to give birth to his first great-grand- child. The grandfather wants the child to be named after his grand- son, but his Israeli granddaugh- ter is horrified by the name. She reacts to the suggestion by saying: 'This is a Diaspora name, ugly, horrible. I could never pro- nounce it. Do you want me to hate my child?"