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2answers
835 views
Abbreviations before/after names
What are the more common abbreviations one might see printed before or after a person's name, and what do they mean? Please include honorifics (R'=Rabbi) as well as memorial - or prayerful - suffixes ...
6
votes
6answers
309 views
Why is the word for G-d in Genesis plural?
The word for G-d in Genesis 1:1 is plural in all the manuscripts, there's no debating that it's plural. So really it should read "In the Beginning Gods created the heavens and the earth". Why is this ...
7
votes
3answers
202 views
Meforshim Nick"names
It has become common practice to refer to most meforshim by acronyms of their name (eg Rashi, Rosh, etc.). When and why did this practice start, and is it proper?
5
votes
6answers
682 views
Which surnames are exclusively Kohanim's and why?
It is well known that is a person has a certain surname (last name) they are more likely to be a Kohen.
Examples:
Cohen - for obvious reasons
Kahn
Katz - stands for "Kohen Tzedek"
What are some ...
5
votes
1answer
159 views
Where are the rules for naming parshiyot explained?
Here I asked about the naming of parshat Noach and parshat Toldot.
Is there someplace where parsha-naming questions like this are addressed in general, or are answers to individual questions ...
4
votes
5answers
479 views
ALL Names of God
Where can I find an exhaustive list of all of the names of Hashem (preferably שמות and כינוים) in תנ"ך (Tanakh) and elsewhere?
Is this too ill-defined a topic to have an exhaustive answer?
Do the 70 ...
14
votes
7answers
667 views
Phrasing of refuah prayer when praying for a non-Jew
How would you phrase a refuah (recovery from illness) tefillah (prayer) for a sick gentile?
"Thomas ben [=son of] Mary"?
"Thomas Smith"?
Is it appropriate to include the name during the ...
9
votes
4answers
242 views
Naming after bad people
Why have there been famous(ly righteous) Jewish people named after Yishma'el, who, Chaza"l tell us, was evil and an enemy of Jews? Has anything similar happened with Esav? Korach? Others?
8
votes
3answers
254 views
Is it permissible to name one's child with a name from the opposite gender?
Is a person allowed to name a boy with a girl's name and vice versa?
I remember seeing that one musn't, although in Nach one finds these things a lot.
I understand it is not best practice for ...
11
votes
4answers
266 views
Prayer for Illness - Why use the mothers name?
Why when someone is sick do we say his mothers name not his father's?
9
votes
5answers
244 views
Why are parshat Noach and parshat Toldot named that way?
I was taught that the parshiyot are named for the first significant word (or, rarely, phrase) in the parsha, and obviously names have to be unique. This week's parsha begins "eileh toldot Noach" and ...
7
votes
2answers
275 views
מרדכי = Mord'chi?
When learning with Jews of the Syrian community, I noticed that they pronounced מרדכי (the name of the halachic commentary on the g'mara) as "mord'chi", as if the final vowel were a chirik. Why is ...
6
votes
2answers
118 views
Changing someone else's name
In parshas Shlach Moshe changes Yehoshua's name.
Does this mean his name really changed? IE was he called up to the torah as Yehoshua? Were his kids "ben Yehoshua"?
Are there any other examples in ...
4
votes
1answer
111 views
Why refer to Isaac Luria as the Arizal, and not Arizatzal?
One of the common ways to refer to the R' Isaac Luria is "the Arizal". I understand this to mean, The Ari, zecher L'bracha (may he be mentioned/remembered for blessing).
However, one usually refers ...
8
votes
3answers
402 views
What is the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton?
I come from Christianity.SE, where I asked almost the same question. Isaac Moses assured me that the question would not be disrespectful and could be asked here.
God's name is written as the ...
5
votes
3answers
210 views
What are some examples of Jewish names? [closed]
What are Jewish sounding names that come from various occupations and locations? Please give the "rough" translation and background too.
9
votes
4answers
209 views
Jewish names that are not common
Why is it that many names of Tanoim and Amoroim are not commonly used? These were big Tzadikkim yet their names are almost unheard of. For example Tarfon, Chisda, Pupa, Avtalion, etc.
8
votes
1answer
159 views
Jewish names commonly used in a different form than found in Tanach
Some names are popularly used in a different form than the way they're spelled or pronounced in Tanach. A few that I can think of are:
Nochum (נָחוּם) - is written in Tanach (Nah. 1:1) as נַחוּם ...
6
votes
2answers
415 views
What was the name of Rachel and Leah's mother?
What was the name of Lavan's wife, the mother of Rachel and Leah?
3
votes
1answer
107 views
Grandpa and Grandson together again [closed]
What are the names of TWO distinct grandfathers and their grandsons are mentioned in the weekday Shemoneh Esrei ?
11
votes
6answers
301 views
3
votes
2answers
410 views
How many Maccabees were there and what were their names?
How many Maccabees were there and what were their names?
7
votes
2answers
193 views
Modern Hebrew/Yiddish Names
I heard recently that Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky Shlita said that one should not name their children with modern hebrew names such as Shira and one should only give names from Tanach. I was also told that ...
7
votes
2answers
227 views
Naming your child using a dead relative's initial
Is there a Jewish tradition of naming your child using the first letter of the name of a recently deceased relative?
6
votes
1answer
121 views
What was the name of Rivka's mother?
Unnamed women in the Torah, so far: Noach's wife-Naama, Yishmoel's wife-Riva, Lot's wife-Iris, any suggestions for Rivka's mother? she is mentioned many times in this weeks sedra but not by name
6
votes
2answers
245 views
Why Do Converts Change Their Names?
Rabbi Avigdor Miller said that it used to be that gerim (converts) and baalei teshuvah (repentants) who had been given non-Jewish names did not change their names when they became part of the Jewish ...
3
votes
2answers
183 views
Spouses in Tanach whose names start with the same letter?
This is one of those parsha sheet trivia questions: There are six couples in Tanach where the names of the spouses start with the same letter. Who are they?
I've got five of them, but I can't think ...
16
votes
2answers
303 views
How does a son call up his father for an Aliyah?
Suppose a son is the Gabbai in a Shul and needs to call up his father for an aliyah (or his brother who is the son of his father). Does the son say his father's name? Does he say something else ...
16
votes
2answers
262 views
Why are none of the Pharaohs in the Torah identified by name?
Throughout the Torah, the various Egyptian Pharaohs are always referred to as simply "Pharaoh" or "the king of Egypt" (or both), but never with any other parts of their official titulary.
By ...
16
votes
3answers
364 views
Am I allowed to give my kid a non-Hebrew (non-Jewish?) name?
I'd seen some poster that said it's horribly wrong to ever give your kid a non-Jewish/non-Hebrew name. Is that the norm?
14
votes
2answers
381 views
What was wrong with the word Talmud?
The Wikipedia article on The Talmud says:
and Pope Pius IV commanded, in 1565, that the Talmud be deprived of its very name. The convention of referring to the work as "Shas" (shishah sidre ...
11
votes
2answers
136 views
Promised to name son Shimon - now husband is Shimon!?
A woman who desperately wanted to get married traveled to Meron, the burial place of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai, and vowed that if she found her match, she would name her first son Shimon in his merit. ...
11
votes
2answers
275 views
What is a “Rabbi Meir Bal Hanes” tzedaka?
I have seen several Tzedaka organizations calling themselves something like "Colel Chabad (or Kupas Ha'Ir) Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charity".
What does it mean that it is a "Rabbi Meir Baal Haness" ...
11
votes
4answers
386 views
Did Moshe have an earlier name?
Moshe was given his name by Pharaoh's daughter after she drew him from the water. However, Moshe was already three months old when this happened. Did he have a name before Pharaoh's daughter found ...
11
votes
1answer
313 views
Does one choose one or two pesukim for names?
What posuk does one choose at the end of shmonei esrei if one has two names? do you use two pesukim? or take the posuk that starts with the first initial of the first name and ends with the last ...
8
votes
2answers
134 views
Is there value in gender-adapted names?
There are various Hebrew names in use that are feminizations of pre-existing masculine names. (The opposite case may exist as well, but I can't think of any examples.)
Examples:
Yaakova
Rafaella
...
8
votes
2answers
172 views
Why don't we name children Yitro?
Yitro appears to be an overall positive character in the Torah. At least as much as Noah or Saul, yet I do not know of contemporary (or even ancient) Jews named Yitro. Why is that?
7
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2answers
641 views
Etymology of the Name Feivel
Where does the Jewish name Feivel (or Feivish) come from?
What does it actually mean?
7
votes
3answers
186 views
Can a grandparent name a child differently than the parents?
We all know that Moshe Rabeinu had 7 names and was called Moshe which was the name Basya gave him. Recently I was in a Shul and there was a fellow there that had a grandaughter the previous week. The ...
7
votes
1answer
378 views
What's wrong with using “Adoshem” for the name of G-d when singing?
If seen it written that many chazzanim use "Adoshem" when singing (if not in the davening) as it has the same number of syllables as what they would be saying, namely Ado-noi, but that this is ...
6
votes
1answer
98 views
Change of name in Megillat Esther from Hegeh to Hegai?
In Megillat Esther, the Pasuk (2:3) says that Achashverosh gathered the girls and placed them in the women's house, and the one who guarded them was הגא (ending with an א and with a segol under the ...
6
votes
3answers
269 views
Can a man and woman with the same name marry each other?
Suppose you have a man named Simcha. May he marry a woman named Simcha? (sources)
6
votes
2answers
243 views
Why can't Ploni Almoni be a real name, in Ruth?
The verse states (Ruth 4:1):
וּבֹעַז עָלָה הַשַּׁעַר, וַיֵּשֶׁב שָׁם, וְהִנֵּה הַגֹּאֵל עֹבֵר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר-בֹּעַז, וַיֹּאמֶר סוּרָה שְׁבָה-פֹּה פְּלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי; וַיָּסַר, וַיֵּשֵׁב
Now Boaz ...
6
votes
2answers
125 views
How to pronounce the name of the sefer “Bnei Yso(s)cher”
How does one pronounce the name of the sefer בני יששכר ?
I've heard people pronounce both sins -- so it is Ysoscher. (There is also a common custom to pronounce the name יששכר with both sins the ...
6
votes
4answers
334 views
Etymology of the surname “Katz”
Are there sources for the etymology of the surname Katz being an acronym for Kohen Tzedek?
Is that simply a backronym?
6
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5answers
900 views
Why isn't “Adam” a traditional Hebrew name?
I can't think of many people who go by the Hebrew name Adam. Any guesses why?
6
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3answers
247 views
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1answer
93 views
Reason why the name Ben Tziyon is a Segula for a long life
I saw in Igros Kodesh 11, page 73 mentioned in the Chida in the name of the Yerushalmi that the name Ben Tziyon is a Segula for a long life and good years. What is the reason that this name has such a ...
5
votes
2answers
146 views
Formal Hebrew honorific for one's mother
Many men, when going up for an aliya, tell the gabbai their name as, e.g. "Reuven ben Rav Yaakov", even if "Yaakov," the father, isn't actually a Rabbi." I believe the reason for this practice is to ...
5
votes
3answers
174 views
Charvona? How many Charvona's were there?
In the Megila twice the name Charvona is mentioned. However there is a difference - Once it is spelled with an Aleph at the end and once it is spelled with an Hai at the end? Were there two Charvona's ...
