I gave a Dvar Torah before the holidays about the first parshah of exodus for a Judaism class Ricky and I are taking at a local synagogue. I talked about how the title means names, and how in the past I skipped the parts about names and people because it bored me. But reading the commentary for this Parshah made me realize the importance of names. And learning people’s names and where they are from gives a space for them in our minds and conscientiousness. When we forget names, we forget people, and that’s what the Nazis tried to do during the Holocaust, and what Pharaoh wanted in trying to get rid of the Jews because they were becoming too numerous.
It now occurs to me that you and Raizy make such an effort to know names and personal information about the many faces that come to your home. Thank you for remembering these seemingly minor details about everyone who comes to your home. It means these names – and people – will never be forgotten.
Harriet