NAMES

 Names are important. They are our identification. They are part of our heritage, possibly with a name of a deceased relative, even a living one, or after events or principles or culture that are of importance to us. Names can motivate one to live up to standards. Names remind us that tragedies are not measured in numbers, unfathomable, meaningless, unless one can attach names to those numbers. That is the premise behind the program, Names, Not Numbers, and the philosophy of the accursed Nazis who took away names, replaced them with numbers, an item, no more human than a piece of paper or an item of machinery, to be used and abused until it was time to discard it, useless.  

Names ring in our heads. "Do you remember so and so?" "Oh, what were their names again?" "Myriad similar questions, names which give rise to other memories, memories which insure our humanity, our grief, our joy, our love, our despair and always, the memory of that person. It is said that a person dies twice from this life. Once, at the end of physical life, the other when the name is no longer said, the memories too dim, or meaningless or so unused as to forgo any content for those living. 

That is part of the wonderful motivations behind the Surname Project of Jewish Gen and for those researching families the excitement as we recognize family names, know their origin, personalize that vague 'great", and uncover a personal connection to names well known in Jewish history. Names are powerful, inducing so many singular and combined emotions. A smile. A rainfall of tears. A warming of the heart or a chill down the spine.  Names. Say the names and the memories come. Say the names and the person named is once again with us.

Juliet asks why Romeo is named as he is, for the name places him within an enemy family, so close, yet so far, so distant as to be unattainable. Inevitably, tragedy arose. But names do not reach an end with death, for they, the person so named lives on with us, by us, within us. It is our responsibility to remember the names, to "say the names" and in awful times, such as we are living now, to use those precious names to remind the enemy, to remind the world so indifferent, that these names had smiles, tears, memories, futures, roles to fulfill, tasks to accomplish and now- nothing, left, gone, but their names remain. Left behind but not useless. 

NO, for they have an important purpose, a giant task, for us, the living, deprived of their physical presence, at least for now, and may they return soon, as G-d hears our pleadings, deafened by their volume, feels the scalding tears as they fall upon His hands. We need them home. We need to hug them, to hold them close, closer than ever, to return them to the tapestry of family life.     

With the constant hammering of their names, drumming on the ears of humanity, into their heads and hearts, incessantly, again and again and again, never to end until they are home. Perhaps  someone, somewhere, finally, will acknowledge that Hamas has perpetrated one of the most egregiously offensive acts of supposed humanity, truly a crime.  The antithesis of right, what is human, what is love. We need to remind the world, again, and again and who knows how many times over, that Jews are names, not numbers. We categorically refuse to become numbers ever again, certainly not by you.  

No! Never Again. You must return them to us, whole, immediately. Say their names. Say them!  People, not numbers, caged below, used as shields, their lives held cheap by all other than their parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends. Now understand that Jewish blood is no longer to be held as cheap in anyone's eyes.         

They are not one of the "some 240" kidnapped. They are Kfir, and Talia and Ora and name after name. They are little ones, infants and toddlers, children, teens, young adults, middle-aged and elderly. They are people, individuals, each mourned and longed for, each held close to a family, as treasures. 

Names. Not. Numbers. 

Say. The. Names. 

Say. Them. 

Speak. Of. Them.

Again. Again.

Force others to know the names.

 To see the people. 

Individuals, not part of the "some" of anything.     

As you continue to post those prayers for Yitzy, the results yesterday not what we are hoping for, and as we wait for more definitive diagnoses, G-d willing, a positive one, add the names of our hostages, civilian and soldiers, of our soldiers on the battlefield.

Pray for all. 

Ada Sagi	Adi Shoham
Adar bat Daniella	Adi bat Ahuva
Adi bat Jacqueline	Adi bat Shoshan
Adi Margalit bat Ilka Chana	Alayna bat Eugenia
Alma Or	Alex ben Oksana
Alicia bat Ludmila	Amir ben Rachel
Amiram Cooper	Amit bat Donna
Amit ben Limor	Amitai ben Hafsi
Amnon San ben Sarah	Aner ben Shira
Arthur Aharon ben Meenah	Avigail bat Smadar
Avinatan ben Ditza Tirza	Aviv bat Doron
Avraham Gilad ben Liat	Avshalom ben Ruti
Bachor Chai ben Hadas	Bar ben Julie
Bar ben Nili	Bar Kuperstein
Ben ben Nirit	Ben ben Zahava
Ben Bentzion ben Mazal
Benyamin ben Elizabeth	Ariel ben Shiri, 4 years
Kefir ben Shiri, 9 months	Carmela Dan
Celine Ben David Nagar	Chava bat Sally
Daniel ben Inga	Danielle bat Ella
David Karol ben Gratziah	Ditza bat Leah Heiman
Don Sassi ben Shoshana	Dor ben Batya
Dor ben Galit	Dor ben Iris
Dor ben Sharona	Dor ben Vered
Doreen bat Tali	Doron ben Sarah
Dror ben Ella	Dvir ben Chagit
Eden bat Aliza	Eden bat Orin
Efrat Katz	Eidan ben Dalit
Eidan ben Tamar	Einav ben Penina
Eitan Avraham ben Efrat	Eitan ben Hagit
Elia ben Batsheva	Elia Ben Odeel
Eliakim Shlomo ben Avishag	Eliyahu ben Chana
	Elon ben Idit
Elroy ben Iris	Emma Cunio
Julie Cunio	Evyatar ben Yasmin
Evyatar David	Gili ben Orna
Guy Yaakov ben Levana	Hersh Ben Rachel
Hili bat Margaret	Ido ben Kochava
Inbar bat Yifat	Itay Chen
Itay Regev	Ivan Illarramendi
	Kareen bat Luba
Kareen bat Osnat Asiah	Karina Ariev
Keshet ben Natalya	Kim bat Miri
Liam ben Sarit	Lidor ben Bat El
Lidor ben Gita	Liel ben Nardit
Lielle ben Yonit	Lilach bat Rina
Lior ben Michal	Liri Elbag
Loren Garcovich	Lotan ben Naomi
Maayan bat Rachelli	Matan ben Miriam
Maya bat Keren	Michael ben Rachel
Mor ben Linda	Moriah Or bat Sandra
Motti ben Mazal	Na’Or ben Livnat
Naavo ben Meirav	Nachman ben D’ganit
Omer Maksim ben Orna Esther	Naveh ben Adi
Nitzan bat Ronit	Nitzan ben Vered
Nitzan ben Yiskah	Noa bat Leah
Noa bat Liora	Noa bat Molly
Noa bat Nitzchona	Noa Argamani
Noam bat Hadas	Noam bat Sharone
Noam ben Talia	Noam Liel ben Revital
Noam Avigdori	Noam Or
Noiya	Noiya’s father, Eli
Noya Dan
Noy bat Chava	Ofek ben Eti
Ofer Calderon	Ofir ben Rishel
Ofir ben Sharon	Omer ben Osnat
Omer ben Shelly	Omer Shem Tov
Omri ben Chagit	Omri ben Raaya
Or ben Avi	Or ben Sima
Or-el ben Meirav	Ori ben Einav
Oriah bat Chani	Osher ben Rachel
Owat Suriyasri	Rachel bat Paulina
Rahm bat Mar	Rahm ben Tamar
Raz Asher	Raz Katz
Rinat bat Mechula	Roee ben Nitzah
Romy bat Meirav	Romy Ruchama bat Sarah
Ron ben Sigal	Roni bat Lilach Sandra
Roni ben Birtha	Rotam bat Ariella
Roz bat Doron	Saan ben Sarah
Sachak ben Meirav	Sahar ben Tamar
Segev ben Galit	Shaked bat Baila
Shani Nicole bat Rivka	Sharon bat Metukah
Sharon bat Ruti	Sharon ben Limor
Sharon Alony Cunio	Sharon Avigdori
Sharone Lifschitz’s father
Shinhav bat Rachel	Shiri Silberman-Bibas
Shoham bat Rachel	Shoham ben Pazit
Shoshan ben Rina	Shoshan Haran
Sigal bat Ani	Sigal bat Esther
Stav bat Eti	Steven ben Irina
Strosta Tomer ben Orli	Ta-ir bat Edna
Tal ben Limor	Tal Shoham
Tamar bat Yaira	Tiferet bat Sarah Sarit
Tomer ben Sigal	Uriel ben Naomi
Vivian bat Shoshana	Yaffah
Yahal bat Adi	Yiftach ben Shoshana
Yishai ben Talia	Yitzchak Isaac ben Tzipporah
Yochai ben Ziva	Yonatan ben Miriam
Yonatan Chai ben Linda	Yonat Or
Yoram ben Miriam	Yosef ben Chana
Yuval Kayam bat Miriam	Ziv ben Tamar

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