Names of Nobility
Naaleh.comNAMES OF NOBILITY: PARSHAT SHEMOT
Shira Smiles shiur 2017/5777
Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein
The second book of the Torah, sometimes referred to as the Book of Redemption in Hebrew (known as Exodus in English) is more often called "Shemot/Names," as is the first Parsha reading of this book. Simply, the Sefer begins with listing all the names of Bnei Yisroel that descended to Egypt, repeating the list from Sefer Bereishit, and ending with, "And Joseph was in Egypt."
The first obvious question is why was it necessary to repeat the names, and if the Torah is again telling us who went down to Egypt, why was it also necessary to tell us that Joseph was in Egypt, another fact we already knew. As Rabbi Eisenberger writes in Mesillot Bilvovom, there must be some connection between the names they went down with and the redemption, explaining on one level why our Sages say that one of the main reasons we were redeemed from Egypt was because we did not change our names. Maintaining our Hebrew names, then, contributed to our maintaining our Jewish identity when we are living among other nations. Similarly, these names must also somehow be harbingers of redemption. It behooves us, therefore, to examine the significance of names.
Rav Shor in Ohr Gedalyahu reminds us that the name reflects the essence of a being and the purpose of his existence. From the very beginning of creation, Adam named each creature based on its salient characteristic. (Indeed, God named Adam himself based on his source, adamah/earth, and Adam is to be a footstool, hadom raglov, the foundation for Hashem's presence on earth. - R. Hirsch) The name helps us understand its essence, its potential, and its basic function. Understanding the name of a person or a thing helps us focus on the purpose.
The Gemarrah interprets the verse in Tehillim, "... Ki sam shamot ba'aretz - He put destruction in the land," and says shamot/destruction, with different vocalization, can easily be read as sheimot/names. What the Gemarrah seems to be saying is that if you do not live up to your name and your potential, you will bring destruction to the land, writes Rabbi Gedaliah Schorr. What was it that Hashem loved so much in Avram that He named him Avraham? He found Avraham faithful to his name. One must be loyal to the attributes inherent in the name you are given. In fact, giving the name at a bris or at a girl's baby naming at the Torah reading reveals those hidden attributes of the child that the parents hope he will develop, whether named for a loved one or for a specific attribute. (The names Eitan, Shira, Simcha come to mind, as well as Boruch/Bracha.)
When Pharaoh summons the midwives whom our tradition identifies as Yocheved and Miriam, the names they are called are Shifrah and Puah. Rabbi Shmuel Brazile explains that these were names Pharaoh gave them, hoping to erase their identifying with the Jewish babies. Then the babies would be no more than numbers, and the midwives would have no qualms in killing them.
Names, thus, have two interconnected components writes Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter in Dorash Dovid. The first is the definition of the name, while the second is the mental, psychological and emotional intention of the parents when they gave the child this name for, just as a child inherits physical attributes from his parents, so too does he inherit these other attributes from his parents. A person is influenced by both of these meanings in developing the attributes of his name.
One's name is a gift, continues Rabbi Hofstedter. It includes both a legacy and a mindset. Our Matriarchs articulated the reasons they gave their children their particular names. These names were a sacred legacy in the land of Israel, and included the essence of each individual. By renaming these souls when they descended to Egypt, they invested themselves with the ability to retain their innate holy essence even as they had to adapt to the immoral society of Egypt, tells us Rabbi Gifter. This ability to adapt and actualize our innate holy potential wherever we find ourselves exists in each one of us whatever challenges we face and wherever we are. When the Torah then records that Yoseph was in Egypt, adds Rabbi Weinberger, it is telling us that Yoseph retained the holy essence of his name the whole time he was in Egypt, just as his brothers would do when they descended to Egypt.
Rabbi Yoseph Eisenberger goes into an in depth discussion on the significance of names. He notes that names not only include the essence but also imply permanence. Therefore, the angel Yaakov fought could not give his name because his mission changed daily. On the other hand, when Moshe asked Hashem what Name he should tell Bnei Yisroel, Hashem readily told him a permanent name: I will be that which I will be- that which I am now supporting you through the challenge of Egypt, so will I be with you through every challenge and diaspora in your future history. Hashem's message to Bnei Yisroel through Moshe was that the relationship between Hashem and Bnei Yisroel was permanent; Hashem would never abandon His people.
There is an interesting verse in Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) that Rabbi Eisenberger connects to our theme: "A good name is better than oil, and the day of death than the day of birth." He proposes that since a good name is being compared to oil, there must be some similarity between the two that lends itself to comparison. He notes that oil always alludes to wisdom, just as the Menorah fueled by oil was a symbol of wisdom. Unlike emotions which are volatile, wisdom is unchangeable and constant. Just as chochma, wisdom, is constant, continuous and permanent, so too is a person's name. What allowed Klal Yisroel to retain their names was that they let their chochma control their emotions. He who can maintain clarity of focus and purpose through exercising wisdom has maintained the integrity of his name from birth to death. The wish of the parents, wisdom represented by the father and understanding represented by the mother, is that the child they are now naming should accomplish his mission.
It is with this same idea in mind, to keep one's focus on one's essence, that the Shla"h Hakodosh introduced a custom to recite a verse representative of one's name towards the end of the silent Amidah prayer. This verse should serve as a mantra to keep one focused on his mission in life. At death, you will be asked your name, you will be asked if you lived up to the essence your name signified. Yoseph never changed his name and never forgot his mission, even though Pharaoh gave him an Egyptian name in keeping with his status. He made sure his head ruled his heart and his passions.
Rabbi Eisenberger then gives some practical advice. Since a person is influenced by his actions, it is important to establish a routine as much as possible. Routine establishes stability and helps you focus on what needs to be done. By keeping the basics in place, one can more easily focus on all the other tasks that need to be done, much like putting braces on teeth forces the teeth into their proper positions. When one does not have a routine to brace and support him, one is easily distracted and accomplishes little. Unfortunately, the distractions of modern culture, from instagrams to multitasking, keep people shifting from one activity to another without accomplishing anything of value. It is very difficult to keep on point, to accomplish our name's mission. Therefore, we wish a baby at his bris that as he grows, although he is small now, he should grow along with the name he has just received.
We can now understand why retaining the names was important for survival in the exile in Egypt and indeed in each of our exiles, but the names are also a harbinger of our redemption. The Ohel Moshe cites Rabbi Elyashiv who notes that the names of the tribes while certainly rooted in the past, also contained allusions to the future redemption - Hashem sees my affliction (Reuven), hears my cries (Shimon), wants a relationship with me (Levi), and so on. These names provided hope for Bnei Yisroel throughout their ordeal and enabled them to survive.
Rabbi Schwadron raises an interesting question in Lev Shalom. Bnei Yisroel are compared to stars that Hashem brings out and returns individually by name. Based on our discussion, we can understand how when Bnei Yisroel descended into the dark exile, as related in Parshat Vayigash, their names were recorded. One would think that the names would be recorded again upon the actual exodus from Egypt rather than here, at the beginning of the enslavement. In fact, notes Rabbi Schwadron, the enslavement was so difficult that it included the beginning of the redemption. The suffering was so severe that the predicted 400 years of enslavement was telescoped into 210 years, thereby planting the seeds of the redemption into the beginning of the enslavement. This is perhaps an interesting point to remember when our personal troubles seem overwhelming. Perhaps Hashem is speeding up our redemption and salvation. In fact, our national challenge, the golut, the Diaspora, is part of revelation, of hitgalut, in Asufat Maarachot. Our names reveal to us our potential, challenge us to work to fulfill that potential so that we will be ready for redemption.
When Bnei Yisroel retained their names, they not only held on to their past but also kept the vision of the future before them, writes Rabbi Gedaliah Schorr, the Ohr Gedaliah. They kept the revealed essence of their names and the hidden essence contained in their names, the names that connected each of them to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, just as each person is represented by a letter in the Sefer Torah, a letter that is connected to a specific attribute of the Ribbonoh shel olam. By keeping their names, they kept that connection alive and were able to focus on bringing their potential to fruition, the fruition that would speed the redemption. Through creating a manifestation of his name on earth, man has the potential of bringing the glory of Heaven to earth. By living up to his name, he can ask Hashem to merit extricating himself from his constraints so that he can praise Hashem.
The book is called Shemot, Names, precisely because the names provided the hope for and were the harbingers of salvation, precisely because it provided them with the focus they would need to survive the enslavement and to hasten that salvation. And Yoseph was already in Mitzrayim, preparing for the redemption, notes the Modzitzer Rebbe.
The very moment a child is named, at a bris for a boy and at a Torah reading for a girl, the seeds of rising above one's physical constraints are put into place, for it will help you bring the spiritual connection to Hashem inherent in the name into the mundane, constricting world, writes Rabbi Wolfson in Emunat Itecha. Hence, Eliyahu Hanavi is found at every Bris, a demonstration of the power of redemption that is inherent in the name given to the child.
Long before Richard Lovelace wrote, "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage" [c.k.s.] our ancestors understood that if they lived in the power of their names, although their bodies were enslaved in Egypt, their essence and their spirit remained free. They were so connected to their inner world, writes the Sefas Emes, and they so believed in the coming redemption that the enslavement had no power over them. Indeed, four fifths of the people could not maintain the vision of the redemption inherent in their names. Our Sages tell us that these four fifths of the nation died in Egypt prior to the redemption. The other fifth knew that Hashem was always with them, they knew it by the very names they called themselves. They knew that Hashem would free their bodies since their essence had remained free.
Generally, we give much thought to the names we plan to give our children. Let us not forget to tell them the legacy of their names, the hopes and dreams and visions we have for their names. Let us call them by their Hebrew names as Hashem calls the stars that shine so brightly in the dark, nighttime sky. Let us provide them with the strength inherent in their names. As we focus on their names and ours, let us hasten our personal and national redemption.