Ayelet Ben Zvi

I was given my name for a number of reasons. I was born in the seventh month of my mother pregnancy, at 5:15 AM. I am also the first child in the family.

Ayelet means the first ray of light in the morning and as I was born at that same time and so very early in the pregnancy. My parents thought that the name Ayelet would be very appropriate. They also wanted a name that would signify a hopeful beginning to their family. As the first ray of sunlight in the morning always shows the rising of the sun they hoped that I (Ayelet) would be the first of a very happy family.

Both my mother’s grandmothers, died before I was born. It was important to my mother to name me after both of them and as their Hebrew names were Malka, my mother thought to have Malka as my second name.

Aliza Unterberg

I was given my first name, Aliza because the meaning of the word in Hebrew is cheerful and happy. When my family first saw me they all agreed that this was a perfect name for me.

My second name, Esther was given to me in memory of my grandmother's sister, who had passed away a couple of years before I was born. She had been very close to my grandmother, which is why my father thought it would be a nice gesture to name me in her memory. My father grew up with Esther around, and all of his memoirs with her had been laughter and happiness. My father thought it suited his baby girl and hoped that I would grow up to be as happy as Esther had been.

Shlomo Zalman Moshe Michael Ben Zvi David

Ayelet's father's great grandfather was named Shlomo Zalman. He was the chief rabbi of Pressburg, The Czech Republic. He was killed in Auschwitz with his family and his entire community. My father was the first grandchild born to Shlomo Zalman's son, Yechezkel Yehuda and that is how he inherited the privilege to be named after such a great man.

My father read many books that have been written about his great grandfather in his childhood. In addition he read the different interpretations that Shlomo Zalman had written on the torah. He was very proud to be named after a man with such greatness.

Being named after Shlomo Zalman made my father's mother and grandparents very happy, he claims that his name placed him above all others in his grandfather's eyes.

Conrad Morris

Ayelet's grandfather, Conrad Morris, was brought up in a secular household. His mother was very fond of a writer named Josef Conrad. So she decided to name her first son, Josef and her second son, Conrad. His Hebrew name is Moshe. He had been given this name in memory of his grandfather, whom he did not know much about.

Paula Goldblum

Ayelet's grandmother, Paula Goldblum's Hebrew name is Pesha Gittel. She was named after her grandmother, who was a very severe and streaked woman. Paula never liked her Hebrew name. Her friends made fun of it at school, calling her Pesha Pisher. She always felt ashamed and humiliated by her name and would try not to use it as much as possible in her youth.

Aviad Goldblum

. Shortly before Aviad was born, his grandfather, Charlie passed away. Charlie died of an illness at a young age. His mother didn’t want to name him Charlie, because he had died early and therefore decided to change the meaning and name him Aviad- This name means my father forever.

Names Though the Ages

After interviewing people named in 1932-2004 we concluded that the tradition of naming a child has changed in certain aspects through the ages. Firstly, even though people are still named after old friends and relatives that have passed away today, their name is not always the exact copy of the one s\he is being named for, but a similar meaning or added name that pleases the parents more. A name does and always has had some sort of impact on the child's life and personality to whom it is given whether good or bad.

A comparison of our results and what we see in the story The Name

According to the findings

in our interviews there are a few comparisons and contrasts between the information gathered according to the interviews and the problems evolving in the story, The Name.

In comparison:

The name a child is given is given at birth, affects his personality and life. This is one of the arguments Rayah brings to her defense because she doesn’t want her baby to carry the meaning of a sad meaning all of his life.

Aliza Esther is a very fun and happy person, as is the person she was named after. Shlomo Zalman is a very deep minded, very clever, and loving man. As was his great grandfather.

We also see how naming a child after a dearly beloved relative or friend who has departed, brings great joy to those who loved him most. They also feel somewhat of a connection to the newborn feeling that there is something in them like the one they had lost. It helps them to ease their pain.

In the story The Name, Rachel claims that Rayah her daughter should name her son Mendel, simply to bring happiness to her grandfather. Likewise Shlomo’s parents thought that it would bring great joy to the grandparents, to name their son after Shlomo Zalmen. In fact it did.

Naming a child after a dearly departed, doesn’t always have to be their first name. The parents can use it as a second name and name the child a different first name that they like better.

Rachel suggested that Raya could call the baby Menachem Mendel, the Hebrew and Yiddish translation. She suggested this in hope that Raya and her grandfather would come to some sort of an agreement, although Raya did not like that option either.

Aliza’s parents thought it would be nice if they named their daughter after the aunt that had passed, but they wanted to name her a name that had a different meaning. So they had her second name called Esther.

Contrasts:

We feel that it is very important to remember the past, and even bring it into the future. Some things just can’t be forgotten, like the Holocaust. It was an unforgettable tragedy and it is only right to remember those who either died there or survived and died years later.

Raya thinks that if she names her child after someone who died in the holocaust, then the memory of him stays in the child and he will forever be miserable. As opposed to Shlomo, who thought it was an honor to be named his name and he respected his name very much.

We don’t pressure our children into naming their children after people that are close to us.

In the story, the grandfather had thought that now he will have a great grandchild who will be like the grandson he had lost so many years before. For that reason he had pressured Raya to do this for him.

As opposed to Ayelet’s parents who had wanted so very much to name their first daughter after their grandmothers.

Reflection

We had a very nice time working on this project together. We contributed equally as well as contributing to each other, and our work together is rewarding, as is the time we spend as a group.

Mrs. Addi had pushed us through the difficulties in the beginning and it got us on our way. In result of that we succeeded to finish the work with amazing results, and with interesting and new facts about the people we interviewed.

In the future we would like to maybe interview other people and learn more about how the names keep on changing throughout time

Bibliography

We interviewed-

Ayelet Ben Zvi
Shlomo Ben Zvi
Paula Goldblum
The mother of Aviad Goldblum
Conrad Morris
The parents of Aliza Unterberg