For Openers

Names Through The Ages

Don't Know

By Goldfein

BILL GLADSTONE

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

.Toronto

A

sk Alexander Beider about the derivation of his first name,
and he'll explain that, according to a talmudic source,
Jewish parents began to use the name after Alexander the
Great conquered Palestine in 333 B.C.E.
Like his ancient namesake, Beider — a Moscow-born Jewish emigre
living in Paris — is proving a skilled and savvy conqueror who has
marched from one province of Jewish names to the next in a bold
scholarly campaign to illuminate their various etymologies.
A computer consultant and project analyst by day, Beider moon-
lights in libraries and archives, in Paris and elsewhere, to research his
favorite topic — Jewish names.
He's the author of two groundbreaking studies of Jewish surnames, A
Dictionary of Jewish Surnames fron2 the Russian Empire and A Dictionary
of Jewish Surnames fi•om the Kingdom of Poland. Beider recently ..
marched into the equally intriguing territory of Jewish first names.
Published by Avotaynu Inc. of New Jersey, his 728-page Dictionary of

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from biblical to modern times.
It then lists more than 15,000 Ashkenazi given names and variations,
linking their derivations to a pool of about 735 root names. In most
cases, it traces the name's evolution back into history, sometimes as far
back as the talmudic period — the second to sixth centuries C.E. The
book's six indexes list male and female names in Latin, Cyrillic and
Hebrew characters.
To compile the dictionary, Beider mined names from hundreds of
historic sources, including ancient tombstones in Israel, lists of
medieval European epitaphs and records of anti-Jewish persecutions in
medieval Germany.
In one example from his dictionary, Beider details how biblical names
once sat on the shelflike fine china, apparently too good for everyday
use. Perhaps because they were considered too holy, various biblical
monikers like Abraham, Adam, Isaiah and Israel, which are now com-
mon, were not used in talmudic times, and only became popular in the
Rhineland in the Middle Ages.
More information about A Dictionary of Ashkenazic Given Names may
be found at the Web site, www.avotaynu.com 0

GRAPIJEWZ

(PEAS

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sides being an extremely vocal and
visible anti-war congresswoman in
the 1970s, what other claim to
fame did New Yorker Bella Abzug

AS,

VP%

) Federation Vision

When Chailes .Bronfman stepped

hold?

-saikiluluasaidaIT Jo asnoH •s.natlz of pa
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--JDDp LIELLIOM

Yiddish Limericks

His aptitude rest is quite clear,"
Declared a job counselor named Greer.
"Your son's a pasktidnik,*
A louse, a nogudnik.**
He's destined for politics, dear."

Ashkenazic Given Names, Including Their Origins, Structures,
Pronunciations and Migrations is a compendium of Jewish first names

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© 2001

down as chairman of the

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rustees, the

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Jewish

former Seagrartic
a,r1;.!;lared to
ask an almost tins
e uesilo •
"In the new world of Jewiskplit

thropy, will UJC and the feaer4tion
system be reliant?"

Read all abouilt,
www.detroitjewishns;com/news

— Martha Jo Fleischmann

•
•

a nasty person; a punk
a no good person

Quotables

"We can bring kids in and work with them by
saying, 'Restrict. Be proactive, not reactive.
Don't fight.'

— Hollywood producer Jon Peters, on
creation of a "Kabbalah ranch for troubled teens"
planned by himself and pop superstar Madonna.

"I consider myself a nice Jewish girl. For the
most part, I suppose."

— Lindsay Vuolo, 20, Playboy magazine's
"Miss November," who grew up in what she
describes as a liberal household in Newtown, Pa.

Charles Bronfman, congratulates his succes-
sor, James Tisch, as UJC chairman at the
General Assembly in Washington, D.C.

) Dead Sea Scrolls
Come To Life

The final two volumes of a 38-volume
set that feature the oldest versions of the
Hebrew Bible should be published
within the next two months-.
Read all about it:
www.detroitjewishnews.com/news

) Anthrax And The
Zionist Elections

BY Mendel

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GJNAT
MEAN B C
0(.) "WANT"
TO APPEAR
To BE?"

WELL., ALA THAT REA LLY INTEReSTS
ME Is IMAGE:D-1G TkuTH IS 111 ■ COM-
5EOUCNTIA1- AM? uivRettAR,Le,
PUT l30 ~ , S OU CAN SURE
DANK ON RA t,SE APPEARANCES

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To0 OF
OF (1 1J
At
APPEARING
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SERMONS, NAVE
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Forms for the World Zionist Congress
elections are traveling through the same
Washington post office where anthrax
was found, and some are still being
disinfected and quarantined.
Read all about it:

wvv-w.detroitjewishnews.com/news

) What's Eating Harry
Kirsbaum?

The human cloning debate? Harry
could argue With himself.
Talk back at:

www.detroitjewishnews.com/opinion

— Joshua Paul Cane,
JN Online Web producer

11/30

2001

11

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