By: Chaya Sora Jungreis-Gertzulin

Fargess nisht dein numen….

Fargess nisht dein numen….

Don’t forget your name….

Don’t forget your name….

I was by my mother’s – Rebbetzin Esther bas Harav Avrohom HaLevi a”h – side when the holy women of the Chevra Kadisha recited these haunting words. Years have passed, yet the words still echo within the walls of my head. Fargess nisht dein numen… Don’t forget your name.

The power of a name. It is said in the name of the Ari zt”l, that upon naming a child, parents are blessed with Ruach HaKodesh, the gift of prophecy, a Divine inspiration, to choose a name befitting the neshama of the newborn.

Neshama is spelled nun, shin, mem, hey. The middle two letters, shin and mem, together spell shem, name. This signifies that one’s shem, one’s name, is the essence of the soul.

Chazal teach that after 120, man’s neshama stands before the Heavenly throne, and will be asked several questions, one of which is “What is your name?” A question the righteous will be able to answer.

What is your name means so much more than a recitation of one’s Jewish name. It is asking, identify yourself. What is your essence? What is the meaning and purpose of your life? What is your life’s mission? A heavy question—one we must think about deeply in this world, so that we will be able to answer it in the World to Come.

Every Jewish name has a pasuk that corresponds to it, usually with the first and last letters being the same as the first and last letters of the name. There are instances where an alternative pasuk is recited, particularly if one’s name is found in the pasuk. The Shelah HaKodosh teaches that in order to help us remember our name and connect to our life mission, one should recite their pasuk at the conclusion of each Shemoneh Esrei, before taking three steps back.

My mother’s pasuk is “Eileh vorechev, v’eileh vasusim, Some with chariots, and some with horses, va’anachnu b’shem HaShem Elokeinu nazkir, but we call out in the name of HaShem, our G-d.” (Tehillim 20:8) How true for my mother, who believed not in military might, nor in physical prowess, but placed her full emunah and bitachon in HaShem. A passage my mother lived by. A teaching that she shared with so many others. Her name. Her pasuk. Her mission.

“V’eileh Shemos Bnei Yisroel ha’ba’im Mitzraima…, These are the names of Bnei Yisroel who came to Egypt…” (Shemos 1:1) This Shabbos, we begin reading Sefer Shemos. Shemos. Names. The names that our ancestors came down to Egypt with, are the very same names they left with.

The Midrash tells us that Bnei Yisroel were redeemed from Egypt because they kept their names, their language and their way of dress. They didn’t feel a need to follow the Egyptian way of life. They kept their Jewish names, and held on tight to their Jewish values.

Eileh Shemos. The Lubavitcher Rebbe teaches that these words reveal the secret of Jewish survival throughout the ages. How crucial it is to know our name – who we are and what our unique mission is. A teaching we must transmit to our children, and they in turn, to theirs.

Our strength as a nation is when we are a shalsheles, a strong chain, links connecting us, one to another. Links connecting us to our past. Every time we name our sons, Avraham, Yitzchok or Yaakov, we connect to our avos, our patriarchs. When we name our daughters Sora, Rivka, Rochel or Leah, we connect to our imahos, the matriarchs.

When we name our little ones after our zeides and bubbas, the links in the chain increase and are strengthened. The legacy continues. Fargess nisht dein numen, Don’t forget your name. Our secret to survival. To know and live our mission as committed Jews. Jews who are there for our G-d, our Torah and our people.

I grew up in North Woodmere during the 60s and early 70s. It wasn’t a particularly religious community then. My parents moved there with the dream of kiruv, to spread words of Torah. They named all four of us children after grandparents and great-grandparents. I was named Chaya Sora, after my paternal grandmother, who perished in Auschwitz. I was surrounded with Karens and Sharons, Sallys and Stacys, Jills and Joanies. Yet, I was a proud Chaya Sora. My parents imbued us with pride in who and what we are – to know our name, to know our mission.

The lesson of names follow through in Sefer Shemos. Later, in Parsha Vayakhel, we learn of Betzalel, overseeing the construction of the Mishkan. Moshe tells Bnei Yisroel, “See, HaShem has called by name, Betzalel.” (Shemos 35:30) It would have enough to say HaShem has called Betzalel, but adding the words “by name” comes with a teaching.

The Midrash tells us that every time a person increases their good deeds, they earn themselves a new name. There are three names by which a person is called. First, their birth name, that which their parents called them. Given with the hopes and dreams that their children will live up to the meaning of their names, or follow in the righteous footsteps of whom they are named after. Second, is the name which one’s friends and peers call him. How others perceive him. Third and final, is the name one earns for himself. A name that reflects one’s actions and accomplishments.

Each of us has the power to realize our potential and establish our own name. To live our mission.

Names mean so much. We even find in the Torah that HaShem, Himself, repeats one’s name when calling out to them, as in Avraham, Avraham; Yaakov, Yaakov; Moshe, Moshe; and Shmuel, Shmuel. Names called out twice to show how dear they are to HaShem.

How sad it is, that people in our rushed, hustle-bustle world, very often don’t make the effort to call one by their name, let alone to repeat it twice. This is especially true with emails. How often does an email begin with a brief “Hi” or “Hello”, skipping over the recipient’s name. A lost opportunity to show you care and have a desire to acknowledge and connect.

With HaShem’s help, may we all remember our names, be recognize our mission and realize our potential. May we value our names and the names of those around us.

Fargess nisht dein numen.

Don’t forget your name.

Shabbat Shalom!

Chaya Sora

Chaya Sora can reached at [email protected]

This article was written L’zecher Nishmas / In Memory Of HaRav Meshulem ben HaRav Osher Anshil HaLevi, zt”l and Rebbetzin Esther bas HaRav Avraham HaLevi, zt’l