06 Jan YOUR NAME… YOUR MISSION

Fargess nisht dein numen….
Fargess nisht dein numen….
Don’t forget your name….
Don’t forget your name….
I was by my mother’s – Rebbetzin Esther
bas Harav Avrohom HaLevi a”h – side
when the holy women of the Chevra
Kadisha recited these haunting words.
Years have passed, yet the words still echo
within the walls of my head. Fargess nisht
dein numen… Don’t forget your name.
The power of a name. It is said in the name
of the Ari zt”l, that upon naming a child,
parents are blessed with Ruach HaKodesh,
the gift of prophecy, a Divine inspiration, to
choose a name befitting the neshama of the
newborn.
Neshama is spelled nun, shin, mem, hey.
The middle two letters, shin and mem,
together spell shem, name. This signifies
that one’s shem, one’s name, is the essence
of the soul.
Chazal teach that after 120, man’s neshama

stands before the Heavenly throne, and will
be asked several questions, one of which is
“What is your name?” A question the
righteous will be able to answer.
What is your name means so much more
than a recitation of one’s Jewish name. It is
asking, identify yourself. What is your
essence? What is the meaning and purpose
of your life? What is your life’s mission? A
heavy question—one we must think about
deeply in this world, so that we will be able
to answer it in the World to Come.
Every Jewish name has a pasuk that
corresponds to it, usually with the first and
last letters being the same as the first and
last letters of the name. There are instances
where an alternative pasuk is recited,
particularly if one’s name is found in the
pasuk. The Shelah HaKodosh teaches that
in order to help us remember our name and
connect to our life mission, one should
recite their pasuk at the conclusion of each
Shemoneh Esrei, before taking three steps
back.
My mother’s pasuk is “Eileh vorechev,
v’eileh vasusim, Some with chariots, and
some with horses, va’anachnu b’shem

HaShem Elokeinu nazkir, but we call out
in the name of HaShem, our G-d.”
(Tehillim 20:8) How true for my mother,
who believed not in military might, nor in
physical prowess, but placed her full
emunah and bitachon in HaShem. A
passage my mother lived by. A teaching
that she shared with so many others. Her
name. Her pasuk. Her mission.
“V’eileh Shemos Bnei Yisroel ha’ba’im
Mitzraima…, These are the names of Bnei
Yisroel who came to Egypt…” (Shemos
1:1) This Shabbos, we begin reading Sefer
Shemos. Shemos. Names. The names that
our ancestors came down to Egypt with, are
the very same names they left with.
The Midrash tells us that Bnei Yisroel were
redeemed from Egypt because they kept
their names, their language and their way of
dress. They didn’t feel a need to follow the
Egyptian way of life. They kept their Jewish
names, and held on tight to their Jewish
values.
Eileh Shemos. The Lubavitcher Rebbe
teaches that these words reveal the secret of
Jewish survival throughout the ages. How
crucial it is to know our name – who we are
and what our unique mission is. A teaching
we must transmit to our children, and they
in turn, to theirs.
Our strength as a nation is when we are a
shalsheles, a strong chain, links connecting
us, one to another. Links connecting us to
our past. Every time we name our sons,
Avraham, Yitzchok or Yaakov, we connect
to our avos, our patriarchs. When we name
our daughters Sora, Rivka, Rochel or
Leah, we connect to our imahos, the
matriarchs.
When we name our little ones after our
zeides and bubbas, the links in the chain
increase and are strengthened. The legacy
continues. Fargess nisht dein numen,
Don’t forget your name. Our secret to
survival. To know and live our mission as
committed Jews. Jews who are there for
our G-d, our Torah and our people.
I grew up in North Woodmere during the
60s and early 70s. It wasn’t a particularly
religious community then. My parents
moved there with the dream of kiruv, to
spread words of Torah. They named all
four of us children after grandparents and
great-grandparents. I was named Chaya
Sora, after my paternal grandmother, who
perished in Auschwitz. I was surrounded
with Karens and Sharons, Sallys and
Stacys, Jills and Joanies. Yet, I was a
proud Chaya Sora. My parents imbued us
with pride in who and what we are – to
know our name, to know our mission.

The lesson of names follow through in
Sefer Shemos. Later, in Parsha Vayakhel,
we learn of Betzalel, overseeing the
construction of the Mishkan. Moshe tells
Bnei Yisroel, “See, HaShem has called by
name, Betzalel.” (Shemos 35:30) It would
have enough to say HaShem has called
Betzalel, but adding the words “by name”
comes with a teaching.
The Midrash tells us that every time a
person increases their good deeds, they earn
themselves a new name. There are three
names by which a person is called. First,
their birth name, that which their parents
called them. Given with the hopes and
dreams that their children will live up to the
meaning of their names, or follow in the
righteous footsteps of whom they are named
after. Second, is the name which one’s
friends and peers call him. How others
perceive him. Third and final, is the name
one earns for himself. A name that reflects
one’s actions and accomplishments.
Each of us has the power to realize our
potential and establish our own name. To
live our mission.
Names mean so much. We even find in the
Torah that HaShem, Himself, repeats one’s
name when calling out to them, as in
Avraham, Avraham; Yaakov, Yaakov;
Moshe, Moshe; and Shmuel, Shmuel.
Names called out twice to show how dear
they are to HaShem.
How sad it is, that people in our rushed,
hustle-bustle world, very often don’t make
the effort to call one by their name, let alone
to repeat it twice. This is especially true
with emails. How often does an email begin
with a brief “Hi” or “Hello”, skipping over
the recipient’s name. A lost opportunity to
show you care and have a desire to
acknowledge and connect.
With HaShem’s help, may we all remember
our names, be recognize our mission and
realize our potential. May we value our
names and the names of those around us.
Fargess nisht dein numen.

Don’t forget your name.