Leviticus 1:1-5:26
Can a convert to Judaism keep his or her old name? Nowadays it is customary (though not obligatory) for someone who converts to Judaism to take on a Hebrew name, if only for the inside world of the synagogue. Thus a male convert might choose the name Abraham, and a woman the name Ruth, since both these biblical figures were held to be converts themselves. The point is that changing one’s name suggests breaking with one’s former life, which is precisely what a convert does. And yet, an ancient midrash connected to this week’s Torah reading has something quite striking to say on the subject.
This somewhat cryptic midrash begins with the interpretation of a certain verse in the book of Hosea (14:8), “They will turn to sit in His shadow. They will bring the grain to life and flourish like the grapevine: their name is like the wine of Lebanon.”
This doesn’t sound like anything connected to either conversion or a change of names, but Rabbi Abbahu, the author of this midrash, suggests that each of the terms mentioned in this biblical verse actually refers to a convert to Judaism. Thus, converts “turn to sit in His shadow” since conversion (called in Hebrew teshuvah or “turning”) implies a fundamental change in direction.
The next words of the verse cited by R. Abbahu might similarly be connected to converts. “They will bring the grain to life” can likewise be taken to refer to the convert, who becomes part of the “main thing” (‘ikar) in any festive meal, because by joining Israel the convert becomes like the bread of life that constitutes the main item in any feast. Along with this, the convert is said to “flourish like the grapevine”— since Israel itself is compared to the grapevine in Psalm 80:9, likewise joined to a festive meal. To this Rabbi Abbahu adds a specific example: the convert’s change of name. The convert’s new name, he suggests, is like the wine of Lebanon. How so? “Said the Holy One: The names of converts are as pleasing to Me as libation wine that ends up being offered before Me on the altar [of the Jerusalem Temple].”
This mention of the wine of Lebanon fits—in a striking comparison— with R. Abbahu’s overall theme of conversion. What started out as destined to be a libation wine offered on a pagan altar in the service of other gods has instead ended up being offered to the worship of the one, true God.
But what does any of this have to do with our weekly reading, Vayyikra? Rabbi Abbahu had in mind no less a figure than Moses himself. According to an obscure verse in the biblical book of Chronicles (1 Chr 4:18), Moses actually received multiple names: Jered, Avi Gedor, Heber, Avi Sokho, Yekutiel, Avi Zenoah, and yet more. But just as the Holy One especially prized wine that had been intended for foreign libations but were instead devoted to His altar in Jerusalem, so did He especially prize the name that was given to the baby saved from the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter. That’s why it says in the first verse of this week’s Torah reading, “And He called to ‘Moses’”—preferring to use the name Moses over any other name.
Shabbat shalom!
