{"id":54315,"date":"2016-11-23T14:45:57","date_gmt":"2016-11-23T19:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=54315"},"modified":"2016-12-02T06:05:30","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T11:05:30","slug":"whats-name-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s in a Name? Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYour name shall no longer be called Abram; rather, your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.\u201d – Genesis 17:5<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Bar Kapara taught that whoever refers to Abraham as \u201cAbram\u201d violates a positive mitzvah since the Torah says \u201cyour name shall be Abraham.\u201d Rabbi Eliezer says that he violates a negative mitzvah since the Torah says \u201cyour name shall no longer be called Abram.\u201d \u2013 Talmud Brachos 13a<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a lot of name-calling lately, from both sides of the political divide. It\u2019s unproductive, it\u2019s immature and, frankly, it makes the name-caller look bad, not the object of his derision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our new president-elect excelled at this during the campaign, coining such nicknames as \u201cLying Ted\u201d and \u201cCrooked Hillary\u201d for his political opponents. Those who object to Trump\u2019s election return the favor by constantly referring to him as \u201cDrumpf,\u201d his family\u2019s name before his grandfather anglicized it. This is not inherently offensive but calling someone by the name we choose rather than the name they choose is a means of belittling a person.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t we all know someone who prefers to be called Shmuely to Steve, or Yocheved to Jessica? Isn\u2019t it disrespectful to ignore their wishes and to call them what we<\/i> want rather than what they<\/i> want? So how can we condone it in the political arena?<\/span><\/p>\n

Oddly, the justification to call Trump \u201cDrumpf\u201d is that it had been his family name once upon a time. This is a poor justification, as we can see from the following incident:<\/span><\/p>\n

When then-Senator Obama was running for president, conservative radio host Bill Cunningham repeatedly referred to him as \u201cBarack Hussein Obama.\u201d This is, in fact, President Obama\u2019s actual name but the intention of calling him by his middle name when Obama does not use it himself was to disparage him by suggesting connections to fundamentalist Islamic terror, \u00e0 la Saddam Hussein. Obama\u2019s political opponent John McCain condemned the practice, calling it \u201ctotally inappropriate.\u201d For this, McCain was praised by both the media and the Obama campaign. Time<\/i> magazine called it \u201ca victory for the high road.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If calling Obama by his actual name with unflattering intent is considered \u201ctotally inappropriate,\u201d calling Trump by a name that was never his is at least as unfitting. The fact that Trump repeatedly called Jon Stewart \u201cJonathan Leibowitz\u201d (Stewart\u2019s birth name) is immaterial; two wrongs don\u2019t make a right.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Talmud (Baba Metzia 58b) teaches that all who descend to Gehinnom will also ascend from there with three exceptions: an adulterer, one who shames another person in public, and one who calls another person by a derogatory nickname. The Gemara asks the obvious question: isn\u2019t calling someone by a derogatory nickname just a form of shaming him? Isn\u2019t this already covered by the second category? The Gemara answers that the practice of using a derogatory nickname is reprehensible even if the person in question is used to being called by this name and not embarrassed by it. Even though he just rolls with it, one who calls him by such a nickname will not ascend from Gehinnom.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to lashon hara (gossip), something is prohibited if it is derogatory or harmful, it need not be both. Similarly, a nickname is prohibited if it is derogatory or hurtful. If something is disparaging, it\u2019s prohibited even if the subject doesn\u2019t object. If the person objects, it\u2019s prohibited even if you can justify that it\u2019s not inherently disparaging. (The prohibition against such name-calling is brought down in halacha \u2013 see Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Teshuvah 3:14, and Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 228:5, for details.)<\/span><\/p>\n

The wisest example on this topic may come from that great Jewish philosopher, sportscaster Howard Cosell. When boxer Cassius Clay adopted the name Muhammad Ali, Cosell was one of the first to validate this choice by referring to him as Ali, insisting that a person has the right to be called whatever they prefer.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Snoop Dogg wants to be known as Snoop Lion, so be it. If Cat Stevens prefers to be called Yusuf Islam, that\u2019s his prerogative. If the athlete born as Bruce Jenner chooses to be called Caitlyn, you don\u2019t have to agree with the gender politics to honor the request. It\u2019s the same as, \u201cDon\u2019t call me Mark, I\u2019m going by Menashe now.\u201d It\u2019s just being a mentsch<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Calling people by names other than the ones they choose for themselves is disrespectful. It deprives a person of their self-selected identity. (Remember the way Master Waller insisted on calling Kunta Kinte \u201cToby\u201d in Roots<\/i>? It\u2019s just like that, albeit on a far smaller scale.) When a person does this, it says nothing about Jon Stewart, Donald Trump or Caitlyn Jenner but it speaks volumes about the one who is saying \u201cLeibowitz,\u201d \u201cDrumpf\u201d or \u201cBruce.\u201d If we hope to engage in meaningful dialogue, the first step is extending basic mutual respect. Even if the other person doesn\u2019t, we still owe it to ourselves to take the moral high road. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYour name shall no longer be called Abram; rather, your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.\u201d – Genesis 17:5 Bar Kapara taught that whoever refers to Abraham as \u201cAbram\u201d violates a positive mitzvah since the Torah says \u201cyour name shall be Abraham.\u201d Rabbi Eliezer says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":54486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat\u2019s in a Name? Everything - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Name calling is unproductive, it\u2019s immature and, frankly, it makes the name-caller look bad, not the object of his derision.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s in a Name? Everything - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Name calling is unproductive, it\u2019s immature and, frankly, it makes the name-caller look bad, not the object of his derision.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-23T19:45:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-02T11:05:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Name-Calling-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/\",\"name\":\"What\u2019s in a Name? Everything - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Name-Calling-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-23T19:45:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-02T11:05:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c\"},\"description\":\"Name calling is unproductive, it\u2019s immature and, frankly, it makes the name-caller look bad, not the object of his derision.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Name-Calling-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Name-Calling-1.jpg\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"Name Calling\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c\",\"name\":\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\"},\"description\":\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz is Torah Content Editor at the Orthodox Union. He is the author of six books, including The Tzniyus Book and The Taryag Companion. His latest work, The God Book, is available from OU Press as well as on Amazon.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/rabbi-jack-abramowitz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What\u2019s in a Name? Everything - OU Life","description":"Name calling is unproductive, it\u2019s immature and, frankly, it makes the name-caller look bad, not the object of his derision.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What\u2019s in a Name? Everything - OU Life","og_description":"Name calling is unproductive, it\u2019s immature and, frankly, it makes the name-caller look bad, not the object of his derision.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/","og_site_name":"OU Life","article_published_time":"2016-11-23T19:45:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-02T11:05:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Name-Calling-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/","name":"What\u2019s in a Name? Everything - OU Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Name-Calling-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-23T19:45:57+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-02T11:05:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c"},"description":"Name calling is unproductive, it\u2019s immature and, frankly, it makes the name-caller look bad, not the object of his derision.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/whats-name-everything\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Name-Calling-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Name-Calling-1.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"caption":"Name Calling"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/","name":"OU Life","description":"Everyday Jewish Living","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c","name":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg","caption":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz"},"description":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz is Torah Content Editor at the Orthodox Union. He is the author of six books, including The Tzniyus Book and The Taryag Companion. His latest work, The God Book, is available from OU Press as well as on Amazon.","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/rabbi-jack-abramowitz\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54315"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54317,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54315\/revisions\/54317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}