Jewish Issue

This book contains the answers of Rabbi Steinsaltz to the questions posed to him in the last ten years during his travels in Russia and in the correspondence. From the large feed publishers have chosen a hundred questions, the answers to which should be especially interesting for Russian readers. Classification of issues and their placement are rather arbitrary, so if the reader is not able to find an interesting question when meeting with a table of contents should look for it by reading the text row.
A fragment from the book:


A fragment from the book:

 What is the meaning of the name in the person's life, according to Jewish tradition?

 Heroes of the Tanakh were given the names of their children in relation to a particular event or idea. For example, in the book "Genesis" (Ch. 29, 30) tells how the wife of Jacob, Rachel and Leah, chose the names of their sons and the sons of the concubines. Adam gave the newborn, they put his name in a special sense, thanks to the Almighty for the child, expressing the hope that the Creator will be merciful to them and to the child in the future.

It is believed that the forefathers were given the names of their children, guided by prophetic revelation. In our holy books is the assertion that in subsequent generations of parents in the decision on behalf of the consecration there is an element of prophecy. It should be noted that all the Hebrew names have meaning and significance. But the name of the child is usually given in honor of the heroes of the Tanakh, eminent sages of Israel, loved ones, whose memory wish to honor in this way. It is extremely rare in recent generations are given names associated with certain events in the history of a people or a family.

We can say that between the name of the person and his personality is a definite connection. Giving a newborn or that a traditional Jewish name, we wish him to his path in life was intertwined with the fate of their ancestors and loved ones, expressing confidence that the merits of the patriarchs and sages of Israel will be the guards and example.

It is possible that the father and mother may neglect their duty to give the newborn worthy of the name. What if the parents did not give their child a Jewish name or gave him such that he is ashamed of? In this case, he has the right to adopt a different name on their own. After all, every individual is endowed with the individual properties of the individual, has his world, life principles, which reflects a certain range of names, and he can always choose one of them, independently adopting a new name or changing the old ways.

By the way, to change the name or take his extra - an ancient custom, which resorted to in the hope of a change of destiny - for example, in the case of serious illness. This does not mean that a person erases their past, but by doing so he demonstrates the desire to change your life, the very essence of his for the better.