|
He-who-had-not-yet-been-named finally got a name...
Eitan Tzvi had his Brit on Yom Haatzmaut (Israel's Independence Day) With everyone on vacation and with time before their barbeques in the afternoon, we had a great turnout. Lots of friends and family were able to come out and make it a really special occasion. For an explanation of the name and why we chose it, see below... |
There were 2 main themes that we knew we were expected to cover when naming the baby.
First, obviously we were expected to follow the pattern of "A" names.
Secondly, as his Brit was on Yom Haatzmaut we needed something to connected to Israel.
So for the "A" name... Eitan (pronounced "AY-TON") fits in. Although not spelled with an A in English,
it does start with an A sound, and in Hebrew it follows the pattern of starting with either an Aleph or an Ayin.
We were a little bit worried about the "Israel" theme, since my Hebrew name is Yisrael, and we
already have an Amichai and an Ariel...
Fortunately, though, Israel is referred to as "Eretz Ha"Tzvi" so we were covered on this base also.
But there's more to the name than that...
Eitan means "strong" or "strength". When we named Amichai, we talked about the hard times that we're going
through as a nation. Amichai, meaning "my nation is alive" was very fitting as a name to draw inspiration from.
Unfortunately, times have not gotten much better for us as a nation.
After witnessing the expulsion of Jews from their homes at the hands of the Jewish State
and the continued rocket attacks - now into Ashkelon - from the very places that Jews were driven
out of, the Arabs elected the terrorist group Hamas as their leaders. At the same time, Iran
threatens to wipe us off the map as they develop nuclear capabilities.
Terrorist bombings are carried out or thwarted by the IDF constantly.
At a Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day) ceremony just a couple days ago, our President Moshe Katzav
took the words out of my mouth (although I must admit that he said it much better than I could ;->)
when he said that despite the fact that we have been at war since our inception,
we remain an Am Eitan - a strong nation.
Tzvi was the Hebrew name of Amy's maternal grandfather Harold.
I never met him, but it seems that everyone I talk to who knew him points out the same
characteristics when asked what he was like.
Despite hard times that he faced, having to drop out of school in order to work,
he always had a positive attitude. He was friendly and outgoing. People liked to be
with him and people trusted him - which contributed to his success as a salesman.
He was hard working. He did what he had to in order to support his family, and
he very much valued family.
And he was very connected to Israel. As a traveling salesman, he had a gun license.
He was able to use his gun license to help smuggle weapons into Israel when the State
was created and weapons were so desperately needed.
Which brings us back to the Eretz Yisrael theme...
May Eitan Tzvi grow up with these characteristics of his great grandfather Tzvi,
and grow up to be a source of joy and happiness to all of us, and a source of
Eitan to Eretz Ha"Tzvi.
