Hebrew Names...Or, I stole this from Elie

The following is a comment I left on Elie's site. I'd link to it but blogger is not letting me put in links at the moment. Pfft!

Very interesting topic, indeed. As a ger (in the process) I don't have parents or grandparents or anyone to name me. I go by Hila because my dear friend from Israel, Keren, said that I should have it as my Hebrew name because it means "halo" like an angel's halo--and that it fits me not only because my "real" name starts with an H, but also I am very blonde much like the gold of the halo of an angel, and that also my personality is very sweet. I'd say she was just sweet-talking me but I don't know what that would have gotten her ;-)

This past Shabbos I was having a chat with some friends and somehow my Hebrew name came up. All the rest of my friends said, no no we should give you a different name. So now the new rabbi (Ed. Note: by new rabbi I mean the potential replacement rabbi for our Hillel) and everyone is all about finding me a Hebrew name.

Addition: The rabbi asked me what kind of name I was wanting, if it mattered if it started with the same letter as my "real" name, etc. I said I wanted something with meaning, something representative of my personality and my own journey to Judaism. He suggested several lovely names, as did some of my close friends, including Noa, Ora, Hadassah, Nediva, and Zahavah. What do you all think? Please post opinions/ideas/suggestions for potential names in the comments section or e-mail me :-)


When my conversion is complete, I am not sure whether I want to take the traditional ____ bat Avraham Avienu v' Sarah Imenu. It's not that I don't want to be known as a convert/ger/ Jew-by-choice, but because I think I would feel a deeper connection if I could have "adoptive" Jewish parents. Maybe the rabbi and my tutor. Just a thought.

What are your opinions on that bit as well? I know it is a somewhat new and "controversial" thing but I read about it in Anita Diamant's book "Choosing a Jewish Life" and it struck me. I don't want to offend anyone, and of course I would be beyond honored to have Abraham and Sarah as my spiritual parents, but part of me also feels like I would have a deeper connection to everything if I could "adopt" Jewish parents. Let me know what you think, I value all of your opinions and insight!

-Hila (or ???)

Relief

Chag Sameach!!! Hope everyone is enjoying Sukkot!! Shabbat/Erev Sukkot was such a great time! Had a lovely service that I actually got to help with, which was such a joy! We had some students from a group on campus that basically study other cultures/religions to learn about them and help with multicultural relations, so I got to speak with them and explain some of the customs of Shabbat, as well as the whole Sukkot business. It's funny that I was one of the people to speak to these kids, 'cuz often I feel like I don't know nearly as much as the rest of the people at services, but they keep telling me that I know more about Judaism than they do, so go figure! Either way it feels good to share the beautiful parts about Jewish life with another person!

Tonight we had Hebrew convo class w/ our Israel Fellow...He is SOOOO funny! I can't help but laugh when I'm around him---bless his heart, his English is so cute!!! And his girlfriend is just adorable! I can't get enough of the two of them!

After the class, I skipped back to shul for hookah in the sukkah....So much fun! We had a really great turn out, too!

Things are going well here. Lots of school work to keep up with, but I'm feeling pretty good about it all. Working on getting in better shape/losing weight hasn't been going so great lately with all the holiday food I've been eating, but hopefully I'll be back on track soon! I hope everyone is happy and healthy!

Hila

learning Hebrew...etc...

Nothing much new going on here. Still recovering from a MAJOR sinus infection (gross!) but feeling much better... School pretty much consists of reading, reading, and more reading. Which is ok, since that's something I'm actually good at. Ha ha. Better than having to do chemistry or something awful like that.

Rosh Hashanah is coming up, and I'm excited for all the holiday festivities. I'm even taking the Rebbetzin's crash-course in how to read Hebrew (since I definitely don't know how right now) I have to say that I'm picking it up pretty quickly---I missed the first class last week and I still managed to pick up and follow along tonight at class! I think it's easier for me than for a lot of students because of my extensive knowledge of languages, especially ones that have different alphabets (and no, I didn't give myself away there, there are LOTS of languages that use different alphabets). Of course this class doesn't focus on actual understanding of Hebrew, but it's ok because a good portion of the text in the book is taken from the Siddur so I can follow it already anyway (I've been reading portions of the prayers with the transilterated Hebrew). Anyhoooooo.

I really need to daven now, my famliy is going through a bit of a rough time. A close family member is not doing well, health-wise, and we (my family and myself) are all quite afraid we may lose her soon. But I know HaShem will look out for her and all will be as it should be.

Well I hate to end on such a sour note, but I really am tired now and must get some reading done before bedtime. Plus, I want to watch re-runs of Project Runway :-)

Hope everyone is well!

~Hila~