Shemos: 5785 - "And these are the names of the sons of Yisroel who came to Egypt": A person's name is indeed something external, but it draws down the essence of the soul. Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld,…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please. One of the first residents of Nachlas Har Chabad was a Jew named Berl Salzman, who now lives in America. He was a singer and a chazzan, and he lived here in Nachlas Har Chabad. He released several records at the Rebbe’s instruction. One of the songs he sang in Yiddish is called “Komatz Alef O.” It’s a lullaby a mother would sing to her little child as she put him to sleep. It has several verses. In the song, she encourages the child to learn in cheder and say “komatz alef o.” Then, in the second verse, she tells him that wherever he may be, even if he is persecuted or beaten, he must not forget to learn and must not forget that he is a Jew. In the last verse he sings, she tells him to keep his Jewish name, never to change it, and to remember: “Moishe iz a Yid un Misha iz a goy”—Moishe is a Jew and Misha is a non-Jew. It’s a beautiful song. What does this have to do with us? It is written, “And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt.” The Midrash says: Our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt in the merit of three things. One of them was that they did not change their names. The Zohar says, “Reuven and Shimon went down; Reuven and Shimon came up.” In other words, they came up with the same names they had when they went down to Egypt. They did not change their names. Now, why is a name so important? What difference does it make what someone is called? A name is something external to a person. Who needs a name? Other people need it so they know what to call him. It’s like a barcode; it isn’t connected to the essence of the thing. So why does it matter so much? Why is it so important that they did not change their names? Chassidus explains at length that although a person’s name is something external, only an expression of the soul, it is nevertheless connected to the soul. It draws down the soul.

02:03 Speaker 1 That is why, G-d forbid, when a person has fainted or is in a deep sleep and you want to wake him, you call him by name. This draws down the very essence of his soul, as it were, and he wakes up. That is also why, we are told, the Baal Shem Tov was given the name Yisroel. At that time, after the decrees of 5408–5409 and the riots and pogroms against the Jewish people, the Jewish people were in a state of faintness. To awaken them, the soul of the Baal Shem Tov, whose name was Yisroel, descended to bring them renewed vitality. So that is the meaning of “And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt.” A person’s name may be something external, not the essence of the soul, but it is nevertheless connected to that essence. It draws down the essence of the soul. And this is what the Torah is telling us with “And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt.” What went down into exile in Egypt was only the names, only an expression of the soul, not its essence. The essence of the soul is not in exile; only its expression is. That is what “And these are the names of the children of Israel who went down to Egypt” means. Yes, only the expression. But because the name, even though it is an expression, is connected to the essence of the soul, we see how important it is. The Gemara says that Rabbi Meir paid close attention to a person’s name. Once, when he and others stayed at an inn, the innkeeper’s name had a negative meaning, so Rabbi Meir did not leave his money with him. The others did, and in the end they suffered a loss. Yes, because the name points to the person’s essence; it is connected to the essence. We also saw this with the Rebbe. There were people who had names with negative meanings, such as Nimrod. Nimrod “knew his Master and intended to rebel against Him.” So the Rebbe told them to add a name. Similarly, there is the name Dinah, which suggests an aspect

03:59 Speaker 1 of dinim, of severity. So the Rebbe said to add a name, because although a name is something external, it is connected to the essence of the soul. And on this subject, we’ll finish with an interesting story. My grandfather, who was the rabbi of Jerusalem, was originally named just Chaim. But at one point there was a typhus epidemic in Jerusalem, and he became very ill. His teacher, Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin, the rabbi of Brisk, added the name Yosef, making him Yosef Chaim. Yes, adding a name is a segulah for a long life and good years. My grandfather had a childhood friend with whom he had studied abroad, in Pressburg, under the Ksav Sofer. This friend also moved to Jerusalem and lived there. Once, on a festival, after davening, my grandfather went to visit him and wish him a happy Yom Tov. When he entered his home, he saw a large mirror. He was surprised and said to his friend, whose name was Rabbi Michael, “Tell me, Rabbi Michael, what is a mirror doing in your home? If your name were Gavriel, I would understand. But your name is Michael. What is a mirror doing here?” Rabbi Michael didn’t understand what he meant. So my grandfather told him, “Gavriel has the same numerical value as ‘mirror.’ If your name were Gavriel, I could understand why you have a mirror; there would be some connection. But your name is Rabbi Michael.” And speaking of the same subject, once someone showed my grandfather a photograph of himself. He stood there studying the picture and said, “Who is this Jew? He looks like a G-d-fearing Jew.” In other words, he had never looked in a mirror. He did not recognize his own face. May we have a good Shabbos, and may we hear and receive good news.

05:58 Speaker 2 Amen.