We can all understand that it is not forbidden for Jews to have names that are not Hebrew. Thus, we may reference Moshe, Mordechai, Rabbi Akiva, Rav Huna, Rabbenu Peter, and Rav Shlomo Zalmin Aurbach (Egyptian, Persian, Aramaic, French, and Yiddish) without puzzlement. Many great Jews have been named Sender (Alexander) and so many Jews went by Zalmin, Isaac, Wolf, and the like when they went to work that these names eventually made it to the bris alongside the Hebrew originals. All that being the case, the case against non-Jewish and non-Hebrew names come from two different midrashim.
One teaching, from the time of the Sages, is that a person’s name impacts their essence as a person. I am not sure how this idea interacts with the choice of a name which is a translation of a Biblical name versus a name which is disconnected entirely (think Jonathan versus Luke). Mordechai’s parents were apparently not worried that choosing an overtly pagan name would impact him and there is a strong tradition not to worry about this too much. If Mordechai’s name was really Petachya (as related in Menachot 65a), he was apparently unconcerned with choosing an idolatrous name for his day-to-day activities.
The second, equally famous teaching is from the medieval period. It explains that the Israelites kept Hebrew names in Egypt, allowing them to avoid assimilation. Now, this cannot be wholly true – Moses is an Egyptian name, after all – but the point is striking. But we can easily imagine people choosing English names for themselves or their children in order to assimilate. Basically, doing so could be a way to leave our people, traditions, and relationship with G-d behind. On the flip side, choosing a Biblical, traditional, or family name – even if it is not Hebrew – can express the opposite desire.
Whether or not it is proper to go by one’s English name is not a question that can be answered in a vacuum. Whatever the case, I would strongly recommend choosing names that express high and traditionally Jewish aspirations for children and for ourselves. Ultimately, G-d desires our hearts more than our names.
– Rabbi Yitzchak Sprung is the Rabbi of United Orthodox Synagogues in Houston, Texas (UOS). Visit our facebook page or UOSH.org to learn about our amazing community. Find Rabbi Sprung’s podcast, the Parsha Pick-Me-Up, wherever podcasts are found.
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Our tradition as cited by Rabbi Yaakov Ba’al HaTurim at the beginning of Sefer Shemos is that our forefathers merited deliverance from their slavery in Egypt because among others they did not change their names to Egyptian ones, and remained true to their Hebrew names. Accordingly, it would seem that using a non-Hebrew name would not be a violation, but rather a cause for not finding Heavenly favor in time of need.
Yet we see today, so many in our Orthodox Jewish community (whether here in America, the UK or other English speaking countries) who go by English names, and such was and is today also in Germany and Hungary and much of Europe.
We also find among many of the Sefardim that they too go by English names. In fact I remember when the late gaon, the Rishon L’Zion Harav Ovadiah Yosef was quite ill and all of Klal Yisrael was reciting Tehillim on his behalf, we learned that his name was Ovadiah ben Georgia (Georgia because the Yosef family origins were in Baghdad, and since Iraq was a British mandatory colony, English names were used frequently).
The gaon Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Responsa Igrot Moshe, Orach Chaim, 4th Vol., 66) avers to the side of leniency and notes that the rule that they not change their names applied only to that time and place. He notes the many chachmei haTalmud and gedolei Yisrael went by non-Jewish names, such as the author of the Maggid Mishneh, Rabbi Vidal D’Tulisha, as well as Maimon the father of the Rambam.
Other examples that Rabbi Feinstein does not cite and here are just a few: Rabbenu Peter (cited in Tosafot, Gittin 8a); we also find Tudrus (seemingly a Greek name), the father of Rabbi Moshe Abulafia; and the famous name that the Kohen Gadol negotiated into Klall Yisrael: Alexander (often shortened to Sender) in honor of the Greek Emperor Alexander of Macedonia. Today, we know of great rabbonim who go by their English names as well.
Therefore, for us to find fault with such a large segment of our people – G-d fearing and ovdei Hashem, who serve Hashem with all their being – who go by their English names is just simply wrong.
– Rabbi Yaakov Klass is chairman of the Presidium of the Rabbinical Alliance of America; rav of Congregation K’hal Bnei Matisyahu in Flatbush, Brooklyn; and Torah editor of The Jewish Press. He can be contacted at [email protected] and [email protected].
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Many Yidden over the generations not only were given names that were not of Jewish origin but even used those names. Not only were those names used in the work place but also in the shul and beis midrash. Those Yidden include many tzadikim, even Rishonim such as the author of the Maggid Mishneh who went by the Italian name Vidal. We even find Amoraim with non-Jewish names such as Abaya and Rav Papa. No Question that there is no issur associated with giving or using such names as is recorded in the well-known teshuvah in Igros Moshe.
At the same time the name one uses gives him or her a certain identity and association. The culture and group that a person feels part of plays a major role in one’s actions and life path. For this reason, enhancing positive Jewish feelings and identity can go a long way in keeping us and our children on the track of Torah and mitzvos. Maybe even more so in the street or workplace a person should hold on to a Yiddisha taam and be separated and distinct from the nations of the world. In today’s day and age, it is perfectly acceptable for a person to wear outwardly his religion of creed in public.
With such a glorious heritage and tradition why would someone not want to be another link in the chain of our mesorah in the strongest way possible.
– Rabbi Yehoshua Heber is rav of Khal Tomchai Torah at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and dayan at Bdatz Mishptai Yisrael.
