The book is called Shemot, names, ostensibly because of the names of the sons of Yaakov mentioned in the first verses that open the book. And there are many other names. Moshe is named, of course, as are Shifra and Puah. There is also, significantly, an episode about Hashem’s name, or at least the name that is going to be useful in talking about Hashem to the Jewish people at his juncture.
The stories behind their names get attention, like many of the names of the Avot and the tribes. This is among the themes which continue from Bereishit into Shemot.
Obviously, names are central to this Parasha. But we name the whole book after this, so it has to be a book-wide theme too. The Midrash also calls this book Sefer HaYetzia, which is why the Septuagint calls it Exodus. That’s the theme of the book. What do names have to do with redemption?
The Midrash at the very beginning of the Parasha treats the names of the sons of Yaakov differently than what was said in Bereishit. At the time that these names were given, they all had backstories in the hearts and minds of Leah and Rachel. The Midrash here is bothered, as is Rashi, by the repetition here. We know these names and we know their stories. But the Midrash says something fascinating. It learns that the names here are all connected to the process of redemption.
וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, עַל שֵׁם גְּאֻלַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל נִזְכְּרוּ כָּאן, רְאוּבֵן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות ג, ז): רָאֹה רָאִיתִי אֶת עָנִי עַמִּי. שִׁמְעוֹן, עַל שֵׁם (שמות ב, כד): וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱלֹקים אֶת נַאֲקָתָם. לֵוִי, עַל שֵׁם שֶׁנִּתְחַבֵּר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְצָרָתָם (שמות ג, ב): מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה, לְקַיֵּם מַה שֶּׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים צא, טו): עִמּוֹ אָנֹכִי בְצָרָה.
These are the names of the children of Israel -- because of the redemption of Israel they are mentioned here. Reuven, as it is said, “I have seen the poverty of my nation.” Shimon, because “Elokim has heard their moaning.” Levi, because Hashem connected to their pain from amidst the bush, to fulfil what is said, “I am with [the nation] in pain.”
And so on. Each of the names relates now to redemption. Their names have expanded in their meanings -- when once Hashem could see and hear what was happening to Leah, He now sees and hears what is happening to the whole nation. Where once Levi meant Yaakov would accompany Leah, now Hashem accompanies the nation.
What’s in a name? The Gemora in Berachot famously deals with the significance of names. It speaks about them as “Gorem,” as having the power to cause. It has a role in one’s life. This is why the Gemora sees something essential in the moment of naming. People often have a hard time discerning this or understanding it. The Midrash in Noach says that “there were generations that had divine inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh) and they were able to name after events occurring in the world at the time but now we lack that, so we name after relatives.” Naming after relatives also frames a child, even if it lacks divine inspiration. Our ancestors also inform who we are. But this also means carrying their names forward, aiming for the purposes for which they lived. The preservation of Jewish names in Egypt became a way that national purpose was also preserved.
In terms of our Parasha, the names gave the Jews purpose, meaning a goal outside of oneself. The word for name, “Shem,” is the same as the language of “Shom,” for “there,” meaning that the goal is outside of oneself. It is also not an accident that the language for the heavens is “Shamayim,” or the place where purposes reside.
Many of you will remember former members, Amos Bitzan and Marina Zilbergerts. They were at Stanford several years ago, Amos as a post-doc and Marina working on her dissertation. Her thesis was published recently and it was reviewed in the Jewish Review of Books. She got a very sympathetic reviewer who praised the fact that she avoided academic jargon. But the reviewer cited one difficult word that still got in, a word that conveys a great point. The word is “autotelic.” “Telic” is from the Greek word “Telos,” which means a purpose or goal. And “auto” means “me” or “self.” So the word means that one’s purpose is oneself. This is exactly the opposite of what we are saying.
The exodus is about Klal Yisrael finding its purpose -- leaving Egypt to make their way to Har Sinai. That is what gave the nation its overall meaning or mission. So the birth of the nation is not that the Jews got large and threw their weight around. It is that the Jews found their purpose, or meaning, outside of themselves.
At a meeting on Erev Shabbat, someone from JCRC reported that in an attempt to understand anti-semitism the group has done some polling of non-Jews. One of the things they have found is that non-Jews have a hard time figuring out what we are -- a nation, a religion, an ethnicity. I asked, “If we don’t know, how can we expect them to have clarity about it?” In fact, perhaps they would have an easier time if we were more clear about it.
Having a purpose is the key to redemption. This is why the story of our redemption begins with names. The exodus is about pursuing that purpose. That purpose is not always what we do for a living, but it should undergird everything we do.
