“Say my name, say my name” -- Destiny’s Child

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“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
-- Genesis 1:5


The importance of names are reiterated time and again-- including in the first day of Creation.

Ancient Egyptian texts, Nahum Sarna, 20th century biblical scholar (Understanding Genesis,1966) and Rumplestiltskin.
Giving something a name identifies it!

One more reason why the Nazis tattooed numbers on the Jews’ arms.


“Just give me a number instead of my name/ Forget all about me and let me decay”
– “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Weber

Have you ever met someone and then see them again and they say, “Hi, nice to meet you.” Arrrgghh!
Compare that to someone who remembers your name, looks you in the eye, shakes your hand… now THAT is a politician I would vote for.

Having said that, Israelis have some crazy names!
I’m not even talking about Noah’s grandson Nimrod (Gen. 10:8)


Israelis name their kids some awful names: Ifat, Osnot, Soggy, Moran, Dudu.
I think it’s an insurance policy, to ensure that their kids never leave Israel (called “Yerida”). These kids aren’t going anywhere.
Any playground in the Western Hemisphere would eat them alive.


“And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison…”
-- Genesis 2:10-11

When I last lived in Israel, I stayed for two weeks in a suburb of Tel Aviv, Ra’anana. The street?
Pines. Pronounced “Pee-ness”… named after Shlomo Pines, best known for his English translation of Maimonides’ “Guide to the Perplexed.”
But I’m sure you already knew that.

I know the importance of names. As an identical twin, I was often confused and my identity in question. My brother went to school in Boston. I was in New York… Even in Brooklyn and in Jerusalem I hear people shout at me, “Hey, Zack!”
Nope.

“Who am I? I’m Jean Val Jean!”
-- Les Miserables, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer

A rose by any other name might smell as sweet… unless you called it a fart flower.
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