Precious soul, welcome to the world, to get around, to have a location in time and space you're going to need a body and oh, a name. We'll give you a good one. "A good name is better than good oil." That says a lot, considering what good oil represents. When burned it's transformed into pure bright light. Good oil, essential oil, can carry the sweetest scent of the sweetest perfume, reminding our neshama (soul-breath) of the sweetness of Shabbath, and of Gan Eden. When used for anointing, it makes kings out of mere men. Then, of course, there is the oil of anointing the Melech HaMachiach, bimherah beyamenu. If a good name is better than good oil, gevalt. We'll give you a really good name, dear, don't you worry about it.
Dear soul, you are to be an agent of action, that is, you are going to perform. Your actions will have consequences. Who are you? When we are asking ourselves this question we are really asking "what is my soul's deepest purpose?" according to Sarah Yehudit (Susy) Schneider. In Rebbe Nachman's tale of the lost princess, and in many other Hassidic stories we see a reoccurring theme: our protagonist falls into some sort of sleep and wakes up to ask, "Where in the world am I?" This is a question of context. "In what context am I?" Not just located in the realm of geographic markings, we are born into a world of purpose and a world filled with beings. We are purposeful beings. The question is then what is our purpose.
One suggestion: Our purpose is to wake up. How do we do that? Go back to beginning before we fell asleep. Specifically our taste is to wake up the knowledge of our essence, our name's essence. Names are powerful. Think about how many times in tefillah the word "Shem", "name" is mentioned, and in what contexts. Consider the devastating power of the insult and the strengthening, invigorating, power, enlivening and exhilarating, of the complement.
When we realize what people's names mean and consider these name-meanings we begin to wake up. Especially when we think or say the person's name-meaning with the name. In a big way we reconnect the forces of The Source of sources. Here's how: when you consider, "where in the world are we?", that is, what is this "world thing" constituted of, what answer comes back to you?
We change the world with every breath we take. We also change with the world. And there is a quantum difference in the way we change the world when we speak words with that breathe rather than breathing with the speaking of words. Names are a very special category of words. Names are a very special category of worlds.
Every Hanna, Anna, and Nancy is a "nequdah" a point of grace. These names, coming from the word -- the Hebrew root -- "Hen", mean grace. Now, what if we entertain this in our awareness for a moment? What a "tiqun", what a transformative effect this has. First, our own mood becomes elevated, by virtue of the reminder that the world and our lives are "graced". Then Hanna gets uplifted now that she sees her reflection in your eyes reflecting back this sparkling quality she brings to the world. Then as you go through the rest of your day, what an effect your presence has on all those around you. -- Now that you surely know that you and the world in which we all live is "graced". -- Now that you have seen grace, maybe spoken with grace, heard grace, walked along side grace, eaten with grace, worked for grace, worked under grace, played with grace, laughed with grace. "What a wonderful world!"
What is the world constituted of? What constitutes this world? Many people, each person a process in and of herself, each one a nequdah of the Holy Blessed One, each one breathing the world into being with the Breath of Life, and each one reminding every other "nequdah" of this just by inhabiting her name.
Each interaction can be "just another interaction with so-an-so who we happen to refer to as person blah-blah"; or it can be just that, an "inter-action", on the subtlest level, a co-"tiqun". -- All this, just by remembering our names' meanings and holding ourselves in the space and in the light of that name who we truly are, by sharing our name-meaning and asking after others. When we call someone by their name we are painting reality.
Allow that name to shine brighter than the brightest light emitted from the purest oil.
Nafga Mina: Call people by their name-meanings sometimes, maybe even often. Gevalt, what a great step toward paving the way for the great Shabbath to come. Good Shabbath precious souls of light.
Eliyahu Dror
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Eliyahu Dror is a former student of Yeshivat Bat Ayin. He is currently working for the Yeshiva as Administrative Director. |