Shavuot 2021 שבועות 5781
(Online Tikkun Leil Shavuot 2021 / 5781)
Names are powerful in Judaism. Naming has been a part of the Torah from Bereishit/Genesis. In the text, Adam is instructed to name creatures. Ashkenazi Jewish communities do not name their children after living relatives; Sephardic Jewish communities do name their children after living relatives, both as a way of honoring (and to avoid confusion for the Angel of Death).
Post beit-din and mikveh, new Jews choose their new names and frequently take the surnames ben Avraham and bat Sarah - though variations of such have been created for more gender-neutral and other, personal reasons. Nonbinary and transgender Jews grapple with naming conventions when changing their names. Names hold power. Here are some sources to consider.
SOURCE MATERIAL
Bereishit / Genesis 2:19-20
(19) And the LORD God formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that would be its name. (20) And the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts; but for Adam no fitting helper was found.
I Samuel 25:25
Babylonian Talmud, Seder Moed
(6) And Rabbi Yitzḥak said: A person’s sentence is torn up on account of four types of actions. These are: Giving charity, crying out in prayer, a change of one’s name, and a change of one’s deeds for the better. An allusion may be found in Scripture for all of them: Giving charity, as it is written: “And charity delivers from death” (Proverbs 10:2); crying out in prayer, as it is written: “Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses” (Psalms 107:28); a change of one’s name, as it is written: “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be” (Genesis 17:15), and it is written there: “And I will bless her, and I will also give you a son from her” (Genesis 17:16); a change of one’s deeds for the better, as it is written: “And God saw their deeds” (Jonah 3:10), and it is written there: “And God repented of the evil, which He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).
RITUALS, CUSTOMS, AND CHOOSING NEW NAMES
Ashkenazi Jewish communities name their children after deceased relatives; Sephardic Jewish communities name their children after living relatives, both as a way of honoring (and to avoid confusion for the Angel of Death).
"... In Ashkenazi Judaism, the custom arose to name a child after a deceased relative. Infants were not named after the living because the angel of death might mistake the infant for the adult and take the wrong one. Some felt that using the name of a living relative might rob the adult of their soul, as the name was tied very closely to the soul."
Hebrew names are used in life-cycle events and some communal prayers/rituals, such as b'nei mitzvot, marriages and divorces, being called to the Torah for an aliyah, and the mi sheberach prayer for the ill.
CHOOSING NEW NAMES:
Conversion, Gender Identity, Trauma...
There are many reasons behind choosing new names. For instance, after the beit-din and mikveh, new Jews take a Hebrew name. The first name is usually of their choosing, and can hold powerful meaning.
They also usually take on, as part of their Hebrew name, the surname "ben Avraham / bat Sarah" (son of Abraham / daughter of Sarah). Some people adjust this practice to suit their spiritual, gender, and personal needs. Some gender-nonconforming, nonbinary, and/or transgender Jews choose to have the more gender neutral "mi beit" or "'v'" in their name.
Some Jews also change their original names due to trauma. It's not uncommon for people who have experienced trauma to change their name in general. More, Hebrew names tend to be matrilineal, which can be an issue if the maternal parent is a source of trauma.
- What the Torah and Talmud Teach Us About Calling Transgender People by Their Names
- A ceremony created by someone and their cantor on Open Siddur for name change
- ‘In the Torah, name changes signify moments of transformation.’ In the lives of transgender Jews, they are just as powerful
- Come to the Bimah and Read From the Torah! But First, What’s Your Preferred Gender Pronoun?