By Rabbi Benjamin David
There is a rabbinic teaching that suggests each of us has three names: one given to us by our parents, one given to us by others and the name we make for ourselves. I believe we are living in a moment when we must use our name for the good and do our part to ensure that America remains a name synonymous with enduring democracy, justice and right action.
The names we are given by our parents tell a story. Names are how we greet the world and how the world greets us. As I say each time I have the honor of giving a baby a Hebrew name, our names help us honor our heritage. They remind us of where we come from, the lives that enabled our own, the names of those no longer that we hold onto and return to in times of distress, times of joy and times of uncertainty. Our parents and grandparents worked for the sake of freedoms we cannot take for granted, those around reproductive rights, the freedom to choose, the freedom to read broadly, the freedom to have public education not be infringed upon by religious doctrine, the rights of minority populations to live here in safety and the rights of Jews to live in peace, with a sense of dignity.
The names we are given by others tell a different story. At a time of dire antisemitism, we have been called no shortage of names this past year. We have watched with pain as people we think of as friends and allies have succumbed to antisemitic tropes and conspiracies. We have been demeaned and belittled for advocating for an Israel of moral clarity and high ideals. We have watched too as immigrant populations and minority groups have been sullied and denigrated, cast out and burdened by horrific name-calling. America represented a place of promise for our parents and grandparents, as they changed their names to stand tall and proud as Americans. I believe in an America for all of us, no matter when we came here or where we came from. I believe in an America of acceptance, where antisemitism, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia and racism have no place.
The names we make for ourselves have been on my mind as we conclude the Jewish High Holiday season. We have been assessing how the year behind us has shaped us, and how we might — together — shape the year ahead. The choices we make, the words we speak, the ways we show up, the ways we come up short — all of it molds us and communicates who we are in this world, the names we make.
As I noted in a recent sermon:
“When, one day, way down the line, a baby is born and given your name, as a tribute to your life, will they say about you, ‘He lived a life of faith?’ Will they say she was generous in every way one can be generous? Will they say he chose understanding and compassion even as so many turned to prejudice? Will they say he listened more and argued less? Will they say his Judaism was about reaching out to those in pain? When a baby is held in his parents’ arms a hundred years from now, will the rabbi say we are naming him for his great-grandfather, who always advocated for the oppressed? Will they say she taught her children that difference need not be scary?”
This election, let’s think carefully about the causes and candidates to which we lend our name, and through our choices and actions this year, let us make a name for ourselves that future generations will be honored to carry on.
Benjamin David is the senior rabbi of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park. He and his wife, Lisa, are the proud parents of Noa, Elijah and Samuel.
