There are names that get etched into the pages of history forever, certain people whose lives transcend their time and location, those who have helped to shape our reality: this includes positive mentions as well as extremely negative ones.
Our Parasha, Bemidbar, begins with a retelling of the names of the heads of the tribes of Israel that were leaders at a moment of great national change, they led through turbulent times and faced great uncertainty, they walked into the desert following their prophet and trusting in God.
One of the reasons given for the counting of the people and the retelling of the names of the tribes in our Parasha is that God found the people of Israel precious for him, and something that is cherished is counted often. We can think of someone counting diamonds or precious stones and beholding their beauty and enjoying their value. People keep collections of things that they find fascinating or precious and our Torah tells us that God has that kind of relationship with his Children.
The names of the heads of the tribes, our patriarchs and prophets are etched into the eternity of our Torah. Look after your names and what they represent, they belong not only to ourselves, but each and every Jew is also a representative of our entire people and an ambassador for God on Earth.
That is why our tradition so emphasizes the importance of giving and using Hebrew names for our children. A Hebrew name connects the person to his roots, to his background. Our sages tell us that Jewish people sustained their Jewish identity in Egypt during 210 years of living there, a great amount of this time enjoying a lot of power and wealth because they used and presented themselves to the society only by their Hebrew name. This practice creates a certain distance from the society around, it’s crucial to avoid assimilation and empowering Jewish pride.
This Thursday was my daughter Sapir’s birthday but also the memorial of D-Day, the code name for the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944, the largest seaborne assault in history: more than 150,000 young soldiers from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada stormed the beaches of Normandy, in a strategy to force the Nazi’s forces out of Western Europe and turn the tide of the war for good: the day itself, 4,414 Allied troops lost their lives, additionally, more than 5,000 soldiers were wounded. Between 6th of June to 30th of June 1944, 73,000 Allied forces killed and 153,000 wounded. Tragically, around 20,000 French civilians also lost their lives during this pivotal World War II event.
Around the world, leaders of countries gave solemn speeches for those who tragically lost their lives in the pursuit of freedom: freedom rarely being free and more often paid for in the ultimate price, others came to memorials and laid wreaths and flowers at large monuments containing uncountable names of the fallen, remembered now eternally as soldiers.
How is it that the world today is condemning Israel so brutally only because of our desire to live peacefully, free from missiles upon our cities, terrorism attacks, and kidnapping?
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen