Thursday, March 17, 2011

That's My Neighbors' Grandson in the NYTimes

This last paragraph in the NYTimes' story on Itamar:

On Tuesday morning, many of the residents attended a newborn’s naming and circumcision. The baby was given the name Yair, which contains the Hebrew initials of four of those who were slain. Amid the grief, there was rejoicing at Itamar’s latest addition.

That baby Yair is the grandson of my across-the-street neighbors, the Silvers.  I recently recommended Ester Silver's new blog.  The baby received the name Yair since the maternal grandfather's name, Mordechai, is the same as the uncle of Ester who recently passed away in Kansas where she is from and who would have been the namesake However,  it is not the custom to name after a living relative, at least among Ashkenazim.  In the Megillah, 2:5, Mordechai is the son of Yair which solved the problem.

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