Dear Friends,
In the beginning of our Torah portion this week, VaEra, Moses was reticent to go on God’s behalf and demand that Pharaoh let the Israelites go. According to Moses, that was because neither the Israelites, nor the Egyptians knew God, or God’s name. God reassures Moses saying the whole God can be referred to as El Shadaia, the patriarchs didn’t need to know God’s name, because their relationship was much more complex. Rather, God would become intimately known to them through their covenant, and the relationship that they would build with one another.
Last Shabbat, Stephanie and I had the pleasure of celebrating our daughter Ziva’s Simchat Bat with the Tifereth Israel community. As part of her, and most traditional Simchat Bat services, we “proclaimed that she will be known amongst the people of Israel as…” and shared with you the name for our daughter. We explained what her name represents, and our hopes and our dreams for our daughter. But, as much as we love her name and what it stands for, as was the case with the relationship between God and the Patriarchs, who she is and will become is a bit more complicated. Whatever our hopes and dreams for our daughter might, ultimately, through her actions, her passions, the choices she makes and the way she interacts with the world around her, ultimately she will make a name for herself.
Stephanie and I feel so blessed to raise our daughter in such a loving, caring, and supportive community, and look forward to helping her become who she really wants to be and has the potential to be, in addition to whatever it is we have decided to call her.
Shabbat Shalom
,
Josh
