July 25 • 2019 5
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W
e’
ve all got one; we use it
regularly and it’
s some-
thing our parents likely
spent ages agonizing over for us
before we were even born.
Yup, our names!
Some people have something cute
or fun about their
names. Their initials
spell a word or are
the same as an airport
code, for instance.
Pamela Alexis Madgy
and Amy Michelle
Yashinsky have it
super handy — their
initials spell out their
names.
When Robin and Jon Goldstein’
s
miracle baby was born 11 years
ago, they named her Olivia Mira
— thrilled that her OMG initials fit
perfectly.
Others may find their initials spell
something a little less pretty. For
example, Lauren Dembs Lesson, who
said about her initials, “Just call me
cholesterol … The bad kind!” Then
there are folks like Andrea Simone
Stierna, who can never get anything
monogrammed!
Then there are those who don’
t
think there’
s anything unusual about
their names until they get a work
email account. It’
s often first initial,
last name, at work-
place dot com. Poor
Sarah Kinny, Susan
Tinker and Simon Lob.
And then there are
all the new name com-
binations that come
from taking someone
else’
s name. One delicious anecdote:
Francie Fruitman said her mother-in-
law married a Fruitman and her sister
married an Apple.
I’
ve heard of someone named La-a,
pronounced Ladasha (yes, you read
the dash) and another kid named Abc
(pronounced A. B. C.) Sometimes it
seems that the world’
s playground is
so big we’
re practically taking it as a
challenge to come up with more cre-
ative and memorable names for kids
these days.
There’
s no shortage of jokes about
names. Here’
s a handful: What do
you call a woman with a frog on her
head? Lily. What do you call someone
hanging on a wall? Art. What do you
call a girl with one leg shorter than
the other? Eileen. What do you call
a guy who falls overboard and can’
t
swim? Bob. What do you call a man
on the barbershop floor? Harry.
And this is all before we even start
exploring the wonderful world of last
names. Some last names really lend
themselves well to a story. One poor
kid got punned all
over the place when he got injured on
a skiing trip (“Oh, no … Ben Feld”).
And headlines are more interest-
ing when politicians have good last
names: “He was Putin his place.” “He
was Biden his time.”
Speaking of headlines, I’
ve already
picked one out for when I win the
state lottery: Rochel’
s Burstyn with
joy.
Don’
t worry if your name is unre-
markable. Some folks with the most
“boring” of names can do remarkable
things. (Think Harry Potter.)
There’
s a Jewish thought that
your name is special; it says some-
thing about your potential and your
essence. Traditionally, we also often
name after ancestors, which connects
us to the past, helps give families con-
tinuity, honors the departed and can
give people a sense of belonging.
Even if it’
s a popular one (you
name it, someone’
s got it), you make
yours unique simply by being you …
so go out there and make a name for
yourself! ■
for openers
The Name Game
letters
He Who Saves One Life
There is a Hebrew adage which
goes: He who saves one person is as
if he saves an entire world. Teenage
lifeguard Maya Greenstein did just
that when she saved the drowning
little girl by applying her knowledge
of CPR on her and saved her life
(July 18, page 18). In Hebrew,
the name of a lifeguard is matzil
or matzilah for a female, which
means a “saver.” Brave teenager
Maya Greenstein certainly fits this
beautiful designation.
Rachel Kapen
West Bloomfield
Importance of
Holocaust Education
Recently, a high school principal
in Florida stated, “Not everyone
believes the Holocaust happened.”
This is surely significant to so
many of us who winter in Florida
and actively support Holocaust
education. Florida’
s legislature was
one of the first to mandate that the
“systematic planned annihilation of
European Jews and other groups by
Nazi Germany” was “a watershed
event in the history of humanity”
and it should be taught “as a means
of teaching the ramifications of
prejudice, racism and stereotype.”
This 1994 act was particularly
welcome in view of the large
population of survivors who live in
Florida, who were grateful that their
history and experiences would be
presented in classrooms throughout
the state. To implement the
mandate, the Palm Beach School
district hired a full-time Holocaust
program planner. Nonetheless, the
mandate was poorly funded, and
for the program to succeed, teacher
training and classroom materials
would be essential.
In 2009, inSIGHT Through
Education, a nonprofit
organization, was founded in
Palm Beach Gardens to support
Holocaust education and raised
more than $1 million for grants
to do so, including a grant that
has paid for annual visits to the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
in Washington, a life-changing
experience for students, teachers
and administrators.
Seven or more states have
mandated Holocaust education.
Rochel Burstyn
Contributing Writer
continued on page 8
Our
Story
Our
Story
Click. Call. Give Now.
www.hfldetroit.org 248.723.8184
Hebrew Free Loan Detroit
6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301
@HFLDetroit
The f
ami
l
y
of
Dr
.
Char
l
es
Tenner
(
z
’
l
)
des
c
r
i
be
hi
m
as
bot
h
an
educ
at
or
and
a
per
pet
ual
l
ear
ner
.
Dr
.
Tenner
pas
s
ed
away
f
our
y
ear
s
ago,
hav
i
ng
jus
t
t
ur
ned
85.
I
t
t
ook
s
ome
t
i
me
f
or
hi
s
wi
f
e,
El
l
en,
t
o
be
r
eady
t
o
do
s
omet
hi
ng
i
n
hi
s
memor
y
,
but
s
he
k
new
s
he
want
ed
t
o
honor
hi
m
i
n
t
he
c
ommuni
t
y
.
Wi
t
h
hel
p
f
r
om
daught
er
s
Kar
en
T
enner
Sac
hs
e,
a
f
or
mer
Hebr
ew
Fr
ee
Loan
Boar
d
member
,
and
Mi
c
hel
l
e
T
enner
Cant
or
,
t
he f
ami
l
y
es
t
abl
i
s
hed
t
he Dr. Charles Tenner Family
Education Fund,
as
par
t
of
t
he
William Davidson Jewish College
Loan Program at HFL.
“Chuck never
r
eal
l
y fini
shed
l
ear
ni
ng,
” El
l
en s
ai
d.
“He l
ov
ed t
he
pr
oc
es
s
of
educ
at
i
on,
he
l
i
k
ed
k
nowi
ng
t
hi
ngs
and
he
never
r
eal
l
y
st
opped
r
eadi
ng and ques
t
i
oni
ng.
He was
a
phar
mac
i
s
t
and
al
s
o
a
doc
t
or
of
i
nt
er
nal
medi
c
i
ne,
wi
t
h
s
pec
i
al
t
i
es
i
n
pul
monol
ogy
and
endoc
r
i
nol
ogy
,
and
he
s
pent
50
y
ear
s
at
Bot
s
f
or
d Hos
pi
t
al
t
r
ai
ni
ng
i
nt
er
ns
and
r
es
i
dent
s
.
”
“Dad
was
a
l
ar
ge
pr
es
enc
e
i
n
t
he
l
i
v
es
of
hi
s
s
t
udent
s
,
”
s
ai
d
daught
er
Mi
c
hel
l
e.
“Ther
e
was a
t
er
m
t
hey
al
l
us
ed
at
t
he
hos
pi
t
al
:
T
ennerizing.I
t
was
bec
aus
e
he
was
t
ough
on
t
hem,
and
we’
v
e
hear
d
f
r
om
doc
t
or
f
r
i
ends
t
hat
he
was
c
ompas
s
i
onat
e
and
gi
v
i
ng
of
hi
s
k
nowl
edge,
as
wel
l
.
”
Kar
en
s
ay
s
her
f
at
her
pl
ac
ed
a
hi
gh
v
al
ue
on
an
educ
at
i
on,
not
jus
t
f
or
hi
ms
el
f
and
hi
s
s
t
udent
s
,
but
f
or
hi
s
daught
er
s
.
“He s
ai
d empower
y
our
s
el
f
,
pur
s
ue
y
our
i
nt
er
es
t
s
and
f
ol
l
ow
y
our
dr
eams
.
”
“I
’
v
e
al
way
s
admi
r
ed
Hebr
ew
Fr
ee
Loan,
”
El
l
en
s
ai
d.
“I
t
’
s
an
or
gani
z
at
i
on
wi
t
h hi
gh st
andar
ds,
bui
l
t
ar
ound
i
mpr
ov
i
ng
our
c
ommuni
t
y
.
Thi
s
f
und
wi
l
l
f
ur
t
her
f
und educ
at
i
ons
f
or
Jewi
s
h
s
t
udent
s i
n
Mi
c
hi
gan.
I
t
hi
nk
he
woul
d
be
pr
oud
t
o
put
hi
s
name
on
l
ear
ni
ng,
s
i
nc
e
t
hat
was
s
o
muc
h
of
who
he
was
.
”