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Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Rabbis Keeping Busy With Bullshit

Rabbis issue list of names Jews should not give their children

By The Associated Press and Haaretz Service

A group of Israeli rabbis has put together a list of names they say
should be off-limits to Jewish children - including Ariel and Omri, the given names of Israel's prime minister and his eldest son.

Saying the name Ariel is problematic because it could beckon an angel instead, drawing down his wrath, the rabbis caution.


Omri - the name of an evil Biblical king - should be taboo because of the highly negative connotation.

And naming children after dismantled Gaza settlements, like Katif, is another bad idea, they say, because of the controversy involved. Jewish settlers, predominantly religious, unsuccessfully opposed the Gaza withdrawal this past summer.

The rabbis' list, presented on an Internet site, also offers preferred names. Rabbis said they compiled the list in response to a flood of requests from parents concerned they may accidentally give their children names that could shame them for life.

What other names raise rabbinical ire? All those that sound non-Jewish - like Donna, Barr and Shirli. So do typically male names given to girls - like Roni and Danielle- and names that include the suffix or prefix "el," which means God in Hebrew.

But parents should not run off to the Interior Ministry too hastily.

Only those names with a very negative connotation, like Omri, should be changed so as not to risk traumatizing the children.

Instead, parents can slightly alter the names to Hebraicize them. For example, Susie can change to Shoshi, which means "Rosie."

Concerned parents' questions appear on the Web site.

"When my daughter was born, we called her Roni but I was never comfortable with the name," wrote a woman named Liat. "Afterward I had a dream that it wasn't good to call her Roni. What should I do?"

"Change it," was the reply.

In Judaism, names are very important and each person's soul has a designated name, the Web site explains. The names follow people into their afterlife.

Israel's Interior Ministry has barred the names God, Hitler and Bin Laden from being registered in its population files, said Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Census Bureau.

Names like Ovadia, Should be changed as well to Eved l'kesef!
UOJ

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005 11:57:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Thursday, November 03, 2005 12:30:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Rabbi" heshy;

you know that names are important and their impact on a person is significant as discussed extensively by Chazal, who counsel parents to give serious thought and consideration to naming their newborn.

For you to rail against this legitimate concern just further indicates the lengths you will go to denigrate "Rabbi's".

You are real tinaf, tinofess, dreck.

Thursday, November 03, 2005 7:42:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did anyone call?

Thursday, November 03, 2005 9:28:00 AM  
Blogger Paul Mendlowitz said...

Boog,
I'm getting tired of the tinaf word, surely you can come up with a variety of words that would describe me.
GO FOR IT, DON"T BE SHY!

Thursday, November 03, 2005 11:43:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

if you are sephardic and your parents are tinaf, one is obligated to be like them.

Thursday, November 03, 2005 12:17:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

booger:

Chazal say that names given by parents have a degree of ruach hakodesh. They learn this from Avraham Avinu. He was told by G-d to name his son "Yitzchak", and Sarah Imeinu dubbed him with the same name without consulting with her esteemed spouse.

The above said being the case, any names that are given at birth shouldn't be altered in any shape or form.

In rare circumstances should a name be added, and only under dire circumstances.

The Talmud is full of names that were used only at that time. None of these great sages altered their names for posterity. Perhaps they wanted us to maintain the names that we were given at the very inception of our lives.

I for one, don't understand the rationale of changing names to "go with the flow".

Friday, November 04, 2005 11:05:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i love my name

anonymous.

Friday, November 04, 2005 11:59:00 AM  

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