{"id":55886,"date":"2019-05-21T16:06:52","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T13:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=55886"},"modified":"2022-12-14T07:41:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T05:41:43","slug":"the-power-in-the-act-of-naming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-power-in-the-act-of-naming\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power In The Act Of Naming"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[365,405,604,551,600],"acf":{"old_id":"55886","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37333,"related_cahpter":"224","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"With over 90% of the woman in the Tanakh being nameless, this chapter gives centrality to a nameless woman","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remembrance is an integral thread woven tightly into Judaism. From the imperative to remember Shabbat in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8), to the Pesach Haggadah\u2019s command to remember that we were once slaves in Egypt, to our \u201cYizkor\u201d service recited four times each year, remembering our past forms a crucial part of observing Judaism and living Jewishly. The first blessing of the Amidah, our central prayer traditionally recited thrice daily, recalls Avoteinu, our patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as we acknowledge that we stand before the same God. The liturgy traces our divine covenant back to its beginnings, to God\u2019s individual covenants with these men of ancient times. Yet, the traditional prayer does not mention the matriarchs, without whom there would be no patriarchs!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In recent decades, progressive streams of Judaism have continued to adapt to our changing world. The names of our matriarchs have appeared in our siddurim since the early 1990s, reflecting wider recognition of women\u2019s roles together with the shift towards gender equality. <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mishkan T\u2019filah: A Reform Siddur<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Reform Judaism\u2019s siddur first published in 2007, includes Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah in the Amidah. The first blessing is entitled <em>Avot v\u2019Imahot<\/em>, patriarchs and matriarchs, instead of just <em>Avot<\/em>. By naming our matriarchs every time we recite the Amidah, we remember them along with their husbands. There are congregations who also add Zilpah, birthmother of Gad and Asher, and Bilhah, birthmother of Dan and Naphtali, their sons named and claimed by Jacob\u2019s wives Leah and Rachel respectively. In naming all these women \u2013 Sarah and Rebecca, Leah and Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah \u2013 we remember them and their pivotal role in carrying and giving birth to the next generation of patriarchs, and ultimately the twelve tribes of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over ninety percent of women in the Tanakh are unnamed. In Judges 13 we meet a woman who is only referred to in the context of her husband, Manoah. Like Sarah, she is unable to conceive a child. An angel of God appears to her, saying \u2018You are barren and have borne no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son\u2019 (13:3). She is given strict instructions not to drink wine and not to eat anything ritually impure, nor to cut the hair of her child. In due course, she gives birth to a son, whom she names Shimshon, Samson, a boy who grows to a man with superhuman strength and bravery (13:24). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Tanakh may not tell us her name but it does tell us that she was the one who named her son. Her name may not have been recorded, but her naming of her son was. We know that she chose Samson\u2019s name, even though her name has been forgotten in the mists of time.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":55889,"id":55889,"title":"jud13-name","filename":"jud13-name.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud13-name.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-power-in-the-act-of-naming\/jud13-name\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jud13-name","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":55886,"date":"2019-05-21 13:06:37","modified":"2021-11-17 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Power In The Act Of Naming","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"With over 90% of the woman in the Tanakh being nameless, this chapter gives centrality to a nameless woman","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":55889,"id":55889,"title":"jud13-name","filename":"jud13-name.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud13-name.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-power-in-the-act-of-naming\/jud13-name\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jud13-name","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":55886,"date":"2019-05-21 13:06:37","modified":"2021-11-17 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