As a people, our Jewish community places great emphasis on the power of names. In fact we make lists and lists of names. The Torah records lists of names, we compile our own lists of names every Yom Kippur on Yizkor, we list names of donors and benefactors. Why do we find names so significant and powerful? Let’s consider our upcoming commemoration this week:
Yom Hashoah begins Monday evening, April 17th – Tuesday, April 18th. (See below for the special program at Chapman University, An Evening of Holocaust Remembrance on 4/18). During this commemoration we reflect on all those who were killed in the Holocaust. In some communities, we read aloud the names of those family members from that particular community who perished during the Nazi régime.
Some might ask – why read all of those names? The name is so powerful because it survives. We don’t necessarily know the people whose names are listed in the long lists in the Torah, or on the walls of the Holocaust Memorial in Washington, or Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on the walls of the many Holocaust memorials or any of the hundreds of places where other such lists exist. We don’t know these people but we do know their names. A name which gives them a place in history, a name which gives them an enduring legacy. To say a name out loud brings it renewed life.
The events of the Holocaust are given meaning only by remembering the individuals who died during that time. We gather as a community, we remember the names of those who died and we affirm their lives by how we choose to lead our lives. So, names, indeed, are very powerful.
A midrash tells us about the significance of our names: “All people have three names,” the midrash says, “one which their parents give to them, one that others call them, and one which they acquire themselves. And the one they acquire themselves in most important of all.”
The name our parents give us is our special connection to the past, it takes an empty space and fills it with life, life that has been handed to us by those who came before. The name our parents give us tells us that we were not born into a vacuum, but are part of a rich chain of tradition.
So how do we honor those who came before us and those who perished during the Holocaust? By giving our names – and their names meaning through our actions and aspirations and the way we fulfill them. By the deeds we perform, by the way we live our lives and by our connection to God.
Temple Beth Sholom will join tonight on Erev Shabbat with Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Fountain Valley for a joint Shabbat service in commemoration of Yom Hashoah (we will not host a service at TBS this evening. All of our yahrzeit names will be read at CBT. Please see below for details.)
Everyone Has a Name: A Poem for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day
Poem by the Israeli poet Zelda
[translated from Hebrew]
Everyone has a name
given to him by God
and given to him by his parents.
Everyone has a name
given to him by his stature
and the way he smiles.
and given to him by his clothing
Everyone has a name
given to him by the mountains
and given to him by the walls.
Everyone has a name
given to him by the stars
and given to him by his neighbors.
Everyone has a name
given to him by his sins
and given to him by his longing.
Everyone has a name
given to him by his enemies
and given to him by his love.
Everyone has a name
given to him by his holidays
and given to him by his work.
Everyone has a name
given to him by the seasons
and given to him by his blindness.
Everyone has a name
given to him by the sea and
given to him
by his death.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Sharon L. Sobel
Senior Rabbi, Temple Beth Sholom
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