| When we celebrate our children being formally entered into our Jewish Covenant with God, (B'rit Milah for boys and Simchat Bat for girls), we mark the occasion with the public announcement of our child's official Hebrew name.
It is the traditional custom to not publically share the chosen Hebrew name until the ceremony, and this adds to the excited anticipation. The Talmud teaches that the name we select will have influence on the child for the rest of their life. The Ashkenazi (European descent) custom is to name after a loved one who has passed, and the Sephardic (Spanish/non-European descent) custom is to name after a living relative. In both cases the name chosen is suppose to be for someone who possesses great spiritual and character attributes that one would want for their own child.
The Jewish mystics (kabbalists) of old believed that the etymology of a name also will influence the child's entire life. For example, a parent who names their child Ari-el (Lion of God) is interested in the perceived attributes of strength and holiness. Naming for a Biblical or rabbinic hero of old, also is hoping for the spiritual connection to be made from the past to the present and future.
The kabbalists also believed that the Hebrew letters of a specific name, which possessed numerical values, could also bequeath certain attributes. A common example is the gematria (Hebrew numerical equivalent) of the name Elisheva. The numerical value for Elisheva is equal to the numerical value of the phrase: "yemei simcha", which translates to mean "days of happiness". The name Elisheva has been a parental prayer for a long life of happiness for their beloved child.
When we provide our children their Hebrew names we are hoping that the soul of our child will become inextricably linked with the one(s) he or she is named for. The Hebrew word for "name" is "Shem". The Hebrew word for soul (neshama) possesses the two Hebrew consonants, shin and mem, that makes for the Hebrew Shem. Thus the kabbalists saw an additional link between a "name" and a soul.
While many grandparents eagerly wish to know the names of their new grandchildren, the custom is to wait and whisper the name first in their ears at a public ceremony. They then have the joy to announce the name publically.
When this custom is followed, grandparents who often have the closest living connection to the one who the name is honoring often become overwhelmed in their own emotional joy and this further enhances the simcha.
When Cantor Asa and Sara, and Ezra and Robyn share with us the public naming of their respective children, we are all privileged to be present in this linkage to the heavens, and to our eternal Covenant with God.
May God bless the Fradkin and Konigsberg families and may Daphna and Hannah both be granted happiness, health, and bequeathed beautiful spiritual attributes of their respective namesakes. Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mitch
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