metro What's In A Name? Hebrew names have distinct meanings; most English names are opaque. I n English, nothing about the name of the new star in Israeli politics, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, attracts atten- tion. It is a name. It is a name in Hebrew, too, but it is also a sentence that announces proudly: "He lights a torch:' or maybe accu- rately observes, "A torch gives light" In English, most names are just names. You can call them opaque names because you cannot see a word through the name. William Shakespeare wrote the most famous comment about names in the English language when he gave Juliet Capulet an observation about Romeo Montague, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell so sweet" William, Juliet, Romeo, Capulet and Montague just sound like people's names. They do not mean anything else. Shakespeare is the only transparent name in the bunch because it means "wave a weapon" Once upon a time, all those other names might have meant something, but in some other language, or in a long-forgotten old kind of English. In English, it seems like a joke when we find a name that means something. The television journalist named Krystal Ball gets a chuckle as we wonder whether she can make better predictions than other jour- nalists. The baseball pitcher named Early Wynn Jr. did win games, both early and late. During a 23-year-long career in the American League, he won 300 games and earned a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame. If we did not recognize Taylor Swift's name from the world of music, we might guess she did sewing repairs and alternations while you wait. When a student at Oxford University, Cara Danielle Singer, met another Oxford student, Aaron White Rock, she joked with her friends that if she ever married her new boyfriend, they could take the hyphenated last name Rock-Singer. A writer, John Train, had the hobby of collecting remarkable names of real people, which he published in a series of books, Remarkable Names of Real People, Most Remarkable Names and so on. Informants sent him these names, and he verified that there really existed people named Sarah Struggles Nicely, Marmalade P. Vestibule and the sisters Comfort and Satisfy Bottom, to pick just a few examples. Many of the names that Train found remarkable work as words, and so belong in the cat- egory of transparent names. Full Of Meaning Hebrew names are different. Most Hebrew names mean something in ordinary Hebrew. Many people in Israel, like Yair Lapid, have first and last names that turn into words. Even more confusing, Hebrew does not use capital letters, so readers have to decide whether to understand the words as a name or as words. A few examples: • The prophet Micah foresees the day of peace when "each man will sit under his grapevine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid" (4:4), when the world will enjoy a kind of orchard or vineyard peace; in Hebrew, Shalom Carmy. The scholar Shalom Carmy serves as professor of Bible and of philosophy at Yeshiva University. • Yitzhak Shamir served as seventh prime minister of Israel; "Yitzhak Shamir" means "the dill weed will laugh" • If the multitalented Jerusalem-based educator and author Noam Zion ever decides to publish a book of photographs of his hometown, he could title it with his own name, which means "pleasantness of Zion" • The name of Nitzan Hen, a well-known Israeli journalist, taken as words means "cute sprout" • The name of a respected scholar of Judaica of the previous generation, Menahem Alon, means "he consoles an oak tree I do not know what made the oak tree sad in the first place, but I know who could offer it therapy. You can tell that Yeshayahu is a name because it is three words stuck together, but the meaning is transparent: "It is God who saves." Add the last name, Gafni, and you get, besides the name of a historian, the sentence "It is God who saves my grapevine By the way, last August, Aaron Rock did marry Cara Singer, and her prediction came true: They did agree to use their hyphenated name. Mazel tov to the Rock- Singers. ❑ Louis Finkelman is a freelance writer living in Southfield. Do It For A Smile Jazzalot concert brings funds and music to cancer patients. Shell Liebman Dorfman Contributing Writer T o raise funds for an organization that brings music and comfort to those affected by cancer, its founders knew their best bet was to do it with music. Living For Music will co-sponsor the Jazzalot Music For The Soul cancer benefit concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 28, along with Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, where the event will take place. The seventh annual concert features Detroit's George "Saxman" Benson, the Cliff Monear Trio and the DSO Civic Jazz Ensemble, led by percussionist Sean Dobbins. A retired piano and voice teacher, can- torial soloist and 13-year ovarian cancer survivor, Elaine Greenberg of Farmington Hills created Living For Music with her husband, Shelly. About a year after she was diagnosed, she began doing prayer services and pro- gramming for a group of cancer patients and survivors, later visiting individual patients. "I talk to them to give them hope and 24 May 23 • 2013 sing for them and with them:' Greenberg said. "I do this because it is something I wish someone had done for me." Proceeds from her concerts — and those raised through the sale of her CDs of uplifting music and inspirational talks — go to purchase items for gift bags she gives patients during visits. "The bags' items have included socks, scarves, my CD, hand sanitizers, hand- made bracelets as well as hand-painted notes designed by a Michigan artist who is an ovarian cancer survivor:' she said. "We have included fleece blankets the past few years at the suggestion of someone who was going through chemo," Greenberg added. Soon, hand-knit blankets will go in the bags; they will be created by participants of the Cancer Thrivers Network for Jewish Women, of which Greenberg is a member. Greenberg speaks to students in medi- cal fields to increase awareness about ovarian cancer symptoms and risk factors through her position as Great Lakes Regional Coordinator of Survivors Teaching Students: Saving Women's Lives, sponsored by the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. According to the National Ovarian Elaine Greenberg, with George Benson, the Cliff Monear Trio and members of the DSO Civic Jazz Ensemble Cancer Coalition, there is no early detec- tion test for ovarian cancer. Symptoms may include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, trouble eating or feeling full quickly, need to urinate urgently or often, fatigue, upset stomach or heartburn, back pain, pain dur- ing sex, constipation or menstrual changes. If diagnosed and treated early, the five-year survival rate is more than 90 percent. This year's Jazzalot is dedicated to the memory of concert committee members Jackie Grekin, along with Carole Gonzales and Terrie Prokopious, both of whom died of ovarian cancer. Resource brochures on the disease will be distributed at the concert, where Greenberg will sing. She will continue to visit patients and sing for them, too. "I sing for patients because it makes them feel good and smile while their bod- ies are going through a horrid experience she said. "At the concert, there will be a beautiful poster board on display, designed by Cancer Thriver Susan Yesenko, that has pictures of me giving the bags to patients, and you can see their smiling faces." ❑ Jazzalot Music For The Soul will be at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 28, at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. Tickets are $30 at the door, or send a check to Living For Music Inc., 34056 W.13 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48331. Include a self- addressed, stamped envelope or pick up prepaid tickets at the door. For information, go to jazzalot.org or Facebook.com/jazzalot, email jazzconcert.lfm@gmail.com or call (248) 661-6344. CDs are available at LivingForMusic.com .