Faith Sigal Jacobson
A few people have asked why we waited to name her so here is the story.
Boys are named at their bris (circumcision) on the 8th day. Its not forbidden to announce the name before the bris but in a metaphysical sense the child only ‘receives’ his name during the ceremony at his bris.
The naming of a Jewish girl is a very spiritual moment. The naming ceremony is linked to the public reading of the Torah. This is usually on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday morning. The blessing begins with a prayer for the mother’s health. It continues with the giving of the baby’s name and a prayer that this new Jewish daughter should grow to be a wise and understanding Jewish woman of goodness and greatness.
Since Faith was born on Sunday, Paul should have been in shul on the Monday to name her but the service started very early and he wasnt able to make it as he was looking after Aaron. Today is a public holiday and as such Shul started a bit later and one of the teachers from Aarons school offered to look after him while Paul was at Shul. So Paul named her today.
Traditionally Ashkenazi Jews name children after a deceased relative, not only to honour the deceased but also to inspire the child to live up to that persons name. Serphadi Jews name after living relatives as well as deceased relatives.
We are Ashkenazi and as such chose to name Faith after my grandmother who passed away almost a year ago. Her ‘english’ name was Fanyse and her Hebrew name was Feiga. Faiths second name is Sigal, it is a hebrew name meaning violet (sigalit is a type of violet in Israel) or meaning treasure. We chose Sigal to honour my late grandfather Sydney and Pauls late aunt Sandra.
Her hebrew name is Feiga Sigal bat Nachama (Feiga Sigal ‘daughter of’ Nechama – my hebrew name).
So, in a nutshell, Faith received her name today at shul in honour of two great grandparents and a great aunt.
that is so interesting! I think my knowledge on the Jewish religion is my weakest *sad face*
Love the honouring of passed relatives and they are both beautiful names! Congrats again!
Wow! You’ve chosen such beautiful names!
And the story about the tradition of name giving is very interesting! I learn somethings from you all the time.
With A2, we were also stuck with two names and A1 got to decide which name was the best in the end. Aaron made a great choice!
Love,
Xxx
Great name, and info about naming conventions. 🙂
So very interesting – so you arent at the naming ceremony? Only Paul?
I never knew this much about the Jewish tradition.
It is a lovely name though and I cant get over how much she looks like her dad!
I could go if I wanted to but as orthodox Jews it is the men who read from the Torah and who make the actual blessings.
Besides, I was cozy and tucked up in bed 🙂
Beautiful name and beautiful girl!
Thank you for doing this post. It is so interesting finding out why certain traditions exist and what the beliefs are behind them. I love her names, you chose well.
What do you do if the deceased relatives are people you didn’t like or you don’t like their names? I think of my one grandmother who has passed. Her name was Eileen – no way I’d ever name a girl child of mine Eileen.
Hi Sharon
When we named Aaron and Faith we had a number of deceased family members to choose from. We didn’t use the same names as the people we named them after, basically used the first letter and came up with a name we liked.
What we learned with Aaron’s name is that the Hebrew name has more significance when it comes to naming kids after deceased family members so the English names could have been anything. That said, we rarely use their Hebrew names so both Hebrew and English names are derived from family members.
As for the choice of who to name kids after, that can be a little political. We would have been expected to (and we would have anyway) name Aaron after my late Dad if my sister hadn’t had a baby first and gave her a second name based on our Dad’s name. Aaron’s first name and his first Hebrew name are based on Gina’s late Dad. Actually, with Aaron we gave him the same first Hebrew name as Gina’s Dad’s Hebrew name.
Wonderful! I just love how you have stuck with your traditions!