​Parashat Shemot, 5786, 2026: "What’s in a Name?"

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
A celebrated midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 17:4) teaches us that Adam was given the job of naming the animals of the world. Why was he given this responsibility? Why did Hashem simply not show him a “catalog” of the plant and animal kingdoms and tell him, when he saw this or that plant or animal, “this is the name by which it is to be called.” Why, instead, was Adam designated the active party?
 
I believe we can answer this question by noting Rabbi Eleazar’s famous dictum in Talmud Bavli, Berachot 7b regarding a person’s name:

How do we know that the name [of a person] has an effect [upon his life]?  R. Eleazar said: Scripture says, “Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth.” [Sefer Tehillim 46:9) Read not shammot (desolations), but shemot (names). (Translation, Soncino Talmud, with my emendations to enhance readability)
 
Clearly, a name is a crucial aspect, even a constitutive element, of the person or thing it denotes. If this is the case, we can now understand why Adam was given the task of naming the plants and animals of Creation. By so doing, he became a shutaf im Hakadosh Baruch Hu b’ma’aseh Bereishit—a partner with the Holy One blessed be He in the Creation of the Universe.
 
If the names of animals are so singularly important, all the more so are the names of the Creator. Unlike the rest of Creation, however, Adam did not name Hashem; rather, the Almighty, so to speak, named Himself. This is very logical, since the giving of a name suggests a certain amount of control over that which has been named, which would be an absurd notion in the context of our relationship with God, as He is wholly other.
 
The name “Hashem” appears 47 times in Sefer Bereishit, and a number of these instances take place in the context of the Holy One’s direct communication with the Avot. Fast forwarding to our parasha, Moshe asks the Almighty, “What should I tell b’nai Yisrael when they ask: ‘What is His name?’” While providing an immediate answer to Moshe’s question, it seems that the Almighty’s response simultaneously presents us with a serious exegetical challenge: “So shall you say to the children of Israel, ‘Hashem Elokai Avotachem--The Lord God of your forefathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitzchak, and the God of Ya’akov, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is how I should be mentioned in every generation.’” (Sefer Shemot 3:13 and 15) This formulation appears to contradict an early verse in Parashat Vaera: “I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya’akov with [the name] A-le Shakai-Almighty God, but [with] My name Hashem, I did not become known to them.” (Sefer Shemot 6:3)
 
In his Commentary on the Torah on Sefer Shemot 6:3, Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra (1092 –1167) presents a deeply insightful resolution to our textual challenge. He opines that it was impossible for the Avot to have been unaware of the name “Hashem” per se, since, as we have noted, it is used liberally throughout Sefer Bereishit. The Ibn Ezra explains that the Avot knew this name as the shame etzem (proper name) of Hashem. They did not, however, know Hashem in terms of His actions that had yet to be performed in order to fulfill His promises. He calls this the shame toar (descriptive name) and emphasizes that this was a newly revealed aspect of God’s name. Moreover, he suggests that the true purpose inherent in Moshe’s agency was none other than: “… to make this name Hashem known [to mankind].” When viewed in this light, the name “Hashem” clearly carries the connotation of “He who fulfills that which He promises;” it was this new persona that Moshe publicized to the Jewish people, and the entire world.
 
May we be zocheh to behold Hashem’s kindness and mercy in the fulfillment of His promises to our people. May this time come soon and in our days. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
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