BABY NAMING!

WELCOME TO:

ELIYA ASHENAFI BENMOSCHE
ELIYA EVIGDOR BEN NEHAMA RAYZEL v'YA'AKOV MOSHE

We had a wonderful celebration with family and friends on Saturday night and laughed as our little Eliyashu (that's what we are calling him most of the time) ran circles around us as we gave our heart-felt speeches.

Please send us your pictures!

first cousins on their way to the naming together!

happy and proud imama


our family's first aliya to the Torah together, just before the blessing of his name

siman tov u'mazel tov! dancing with our beautiful little boy

For those who couldn't make it, or for those who couldn't focus on what I was saying as Eliyashu was running circles around me, here is a copy of my speech:

Journies are usually in the middle somewhere
Last week's journey to Ethiopia was somewhere in the middle of the longing
and the process of becoming a new mother

It is somewhere in the middle of your journey too
My little Eliyashu
You were born in a tukul in rural Ethiopia
Your Ache, your first mother
Gave you your powerful name
Ashenafi—the winner
You rose above
You were a winner
You continue to move beyond the places your family could go
And your life
Your journey
Has now brought you here

And this week's Torah portion teaches about a journey
About leaving Egypt
About becoming a people
About beginning a journey to independence
They stand at the sea
Ready to cross over

And you stand here with us today
Ready to cross into a new life
Leaving some of the old life behind
But holding some of it with you
Because our history makes us who we are
Your Ethiopian history
And now, too, your Jewish history

When I first thought of you, my dear friend Andy and I were in Ethiopia
We were celebrating Pesach, Passover, the story of this Exodus
The hardships of birth and becoming

I passed through some of that hardship in the years since
When I first prayed for your soul in community,
For the right time for you to come to us
You were 9 days old.
We sang and danced
And we waited

It seemed like forever
As we read the stories of Bamidbar, the wandering in the desert
My soul wandered
And as the desert can sometimes bloom
I found the blossoming of my soul
When I found your Abbaba
Lost in my wilderness of sadness and despair
I found a heart
Beating like mine
Open to life and love
Open to loving me as I’ve never been loved before.

At the end of the book of Devarim, as the journey of the Jews moved to a new place
We knew we were ready to be your family
Lo bashamayim hi
It is not far up in the heavens
U’vacharta b’chayim
Choose life—
My bracelet with that saying,
The theme of my first trip to Ethiopia
Became the Shabbat that your Abbaba and I chose each other
And just before the Jewish story began again
The day before Kol Nidre
3 generations of women
fell in love with you for the first time
just hours after visiting the resting place of your namesake, Charles Eli Bar
for my very first time.

I told the world I was on God’s time
B’sha’ah tovah
When the hour was right
And today
I believe
It is the sha’at bracha
The hour of blessing
And you are perfect.

I love you. . .

I also wanted to post Jacob's speech. It was so beautiful. We didn't share our speeches with each other--maybe just a few ideas here or there, but we ended up mentioning some of the same key memories, which just goes to show that we were one the same page and it was the right one!



Hi, Everyone. Shabbat Shalom and Welcome.

I am really happy to see all of you and really grateful that you came to celebrate this momentous occasion with us. The joy is in the sharing, I am learning. So thank you.

Today, Nehama and I have gathered you all together to temporarily erect, in this space here at West End Synagogue, at these Shabbos afternoon and Havdalah services, our community. Early on, when we were talking about the type of ritual we wanted to create for our child’s baby naming, we both agreed on the importance and the power of community, both for us individually and for us as Jews. There is something really moving and awe-inspiring by the knowledge that all of us have come together to create the extended community into which we welcome this child. This is one of the very things we envision to be a source of nourishment, joy and love for Eliyashu.

My dear, Eliya Ashenafi, Eliya Evigdor.

Today, Imama and I are giving you the names you will be known by in the secular and the Jewish communities. In our Ashkenazic Jewish tradition, it is customary to name children after the deceased. This honors the dead and keeps their memory alive.

Your Hebrew name, Evigdor, was my father’s Hebrew name. His English name was Victor. Victor, meaning, “He is a winner.”

Of course, being adopted, you come to us already a person, with a name given to you at birth. Your birth name, Ashenafi, means “He is a winner” in Amharic. The week that Imama got your referral, we talked about the amazing coincidence – or more rightly, the clear, unmistakable sign – that you, Eliya-Ashu, were meant also for me, and me also for you, and the 3 of us were meant to be a family.

You will carry on the memory of my father, and I hope these qualities he possessed will strengthen you:

*Live simply: Life has much to offer, but most of its offerings are not things. May your abundance be joy, love, family, Torah and the pursuit of justice. Take only what you need, share generously with others, and respect the Earth and its resources.

*Persistence: Go forward strongly in the direction of your dreams. You will sometimes need to take a break. But, as my father did, circle back to try again. Don’t give up. (Imama and I know you are already learning this skill!!!!)

*Independence and Independent Thinking: Be your own person, and let others be themselves. Imama and I are very different and our love grows because we respect our differences and let each other be who we are.

*Courage: Take big risks, trust in yourself and others, and face the difficult things. Do this as soon and as often as you can. Remember that the unknown is always scarier than the truth. The one thing you cannot recover is lost time. All that comes from putting yourself out there in the world is your reward.

Eliyashu, the Hebrew word for adoption, Emutz, comes from the root of strength and courage. The first time I wanted to propose to your Imama, we were at synagogue and Cantor David Berger was there – who read Torah today when we all went up for our aliyah to the Torah. It was the week of Parshat Nitzavim, in the Book of Deuteronomy. In Nitzavim, Moses has reached the end of his life and his leadership. He must transfer power to Joshua, who will lead the next generation of Jews into the promised land.

Moses tells Joshua: “Hazak v’Ematz, Be strong and resolute: for you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them on oath, and I will be with you.”

Eliyashu, although Imama and I are not quite ready to transfer power and leadership to you right now, much to your day to day dismay, you are our next generation. May your experience, the challenges and the blessings of being Imutz, adopted, be your Ematz, your strength and courage. When the times does come for you to lead, Imama and I will be with you.