Q. How did Jews get surnames?
A. The Austria/Hungarian emperor made Jews have surnames. The names often chose themselves by being distinctively Jewish, e.g. Cohen, Levi, Levin, Israel, Rabbinovitch, Kantor, Shechter, Shammash and Katz (from "Kohen Tzedek", righteous priest) or linked with lineage, e.g. Jacobs, Isaacs, Abrahams, Solomon, Hyamson, Mirkin (from Miriam). There were abbreviations such as Bard ("Ben Rabbi David") or Brasch ("Ben Rabbi Shimon").
Some names came from places (Moskovitch, Wiener, Berlin, Brody, Katzenelenbogen), occupations (Schneider, Schuster, Becker, Lehrer, Drucker), animals (Adler, Baer, Wolf, Fox), appearance (Gross, Klein, Hochstein, Unterman), or wealth (Reich, Gold, Silber, Diamant). Some names reflected colours (Schwarz, Weiss, Green, Gelb).
Before houses had numbers they often bore signs which became the residents’ surnames (Rothschild, red shield; Kahn, a boat; Vogel, a bird; Baum, a tree).
Gentile authorities gave nice names for a large bribe (Roseman, Lilienthal) or offensive names for a poor bribe (Eiselkopf, donkey-head; Spielvogel, gambler; Gans, goose; Froschwaig, frog’s spawn).
WALKING AFTER GOD
The sidra says, "After the Lord your God shall you walk" (Deut. 13:5).
The Hebrew text clearly says, "walk", but since by definition God is totally incorporeal and has no bodily form or shape, how can we say that He walks? Isn’t walking a physical action?
The Targum Onkelos, constantly alert to any anthropomorphism, expands the verse so that it becomes a metaphor, "You shall walk after the service of the Lord your God". In other words, "walk along the path of Divine service".
The Midrash (Sifrei) and Talmud (Sotah 14a) say, "emulate the attributes of God – As He is merciful, so should you be merciful; as He is full of lovingkindness, so should you show lovingkindness".
BLESSINGS & CURSES
The Torah reading commences with the principle of free will. It says, "Re’eh" – "See, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse" (Deut. 11:26). The blessing is specified in the following verse. It is, "if you heed the command of the Lord your God".
There are at least two ways of understanding these words. One way is that if you heed God’s word you will receive a blessing.
The second, which is the interpretation put forward by Rashi on the basis of earlier rabbinic teaching, is that the blessing is the fact that you choose to hearken to and obey the command of the Almighty – i.e. the blessing is that you make the choice to accept the mitzvot, and the curse is that you choose to reject them.
THE INNOCENT SWEPT ALONG BY THE GUILTY
There is a moral problem with the harsh punishment of a city that has turned to idolatry (Deut. 13:13-17).
Even if most residents are guilty, there is surely a minority that is not swept along by the forces of sin.
Tractate Sanhedrin argues that there never was such a city, but even if it is only hypothetical the moral problem remains. We know it from Sodom and Gomorrah, where God will only save the city if there is a visible minority of righteous people. In its own interest, the minority might find the pressure to conform just too strong.
Painful as it is to leave home, they should leave, to save themselves from bad influences and from being punished for something they did not personally do.
THE MONTH OF WAITING
Ellul – the month that begins this Shabbat – is the lead-up to the High Holydays.
Each day until Sh’mini Atzeret we add Psalm 27 to the service. We greet people with words that evoke the rarefied atmosphere of the festive season.
Whatever we can do or say during Ellul has a tinge of the Days of Awe. The closer we get to the end of the month, the more our spirits are aroused. Ellul is the month of waiting, knowing that any day now we will reach the year’s peak.
The imminence of the new year moves us and excites us. Indeed the whole of Judaism is a spiritual waiting room, though it isn’t a train we are waiting for. We are waiting for history to reach its culmination in the coming of Mashi’ach, when the world will be (as Alenu says) "perfected under the Kingdom of the Almighty".
Rabbi Dr. Raymond Applewas for many years Australia’s highest profile rabbi and the leading spokesman on Judaism. After serving congregations in London, Rabbi Apple was chief minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, for 32 years. He also held many public roles, particularly in the fields of chaplaincy, interfaith dialogue and Freemasonry, and is the recipient of several national and civic honours. Now retired, he lives in Jerusalem and blogs at http://www.oztorah.com