Esther, whose name in Hebrew was really Hadassah, got her name changed when she arrived in Israel. Her Persian name, Esther came from the Persian word for star, setareh because Esther was described to be as beautiful as the morning star. In the Talmud, Esther is compared to the morning star. Though we usually interpret Esther's name as a hidden identity because her name Esther comes of Hester, meaning hidden, it was really a Persian names that she was given in her time in Galut.
If you ask anyone, Mordechai is known to be a pretty Jewish name. Who would have known that his name actually came from the Persian god's name Marduk. The name Marduk itself mains servant or follower. If you think about, Mordechai did become second in command to the king by the end of the Megillah, technically making him Achashverosh's servant and follower.
Who would have ever guessed that some of our iconic, historical, Jewish figures were hidden with Persian identities. Also, people name their children Esther and Mordechai all the time. Should Jewish people be naming their children these names that have Persian meaning behind them?
This was an interesting blog post, Sophie. In terms of answering your question, I think that it was a manifestation of the fact that the Jewish people were assimilating into Persian society. They didn't want to return to Yerushalayim and were content with their Persian neighbors. In that case, it seems like the decree was some sort of wake-up call, to show the Jews that the only place they would ever be truly accepted was Israel. When we learned this, it was definitely mind-blowing, and made me rethink the Megillah and that time period in general.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Noga, but I would like to emphasize one point that she made: the names were a particularly strong manifestation of the assimilation of the Jews into Persian society. I personally think it's okay to name children names that originated in different cultures, but I also believe that all children must also have a Hebrew name. That's vital for the survival of Jewish identity -- if we lose our Jewish names, what more do we have? While this is all nice and idealistic, it's interesting to see how many parents and people deal with this issue and how some try to find a balance between the secular and the religious.
ReplyDeleteI think that the topic you elaborated one was very fascinating. You are right, people name their children after Mordechai and Esther all the time within our religion. I agree with Noga and Sarah. I think that there was nothing wrong with them having secular. As Jews, we may be different but we have to learn how to adapt to the world we live in. Today, Jewish people have secular names all the time. Sometimes the name might have a more symbolic meaning under the surface that we do not know about. The name could be after someone who was a bad role model or did awful things. I think this is very common though. Mordechai and Esther had Persian names but that does not mean they were necessarily 'bad' people.
ReplyDeleteSopheline, I love what you're doing with this whole bold, italicized question at the end there. Nice thinking, my young padawan!
ReplyDeleteNow, to answer your question: I think that there's nothing wrong with Jewish people naming their kids names from the TANACH that root back to Persian gods. That is to say, Jews are naming their kids Mordechai after Mordechai Ha'yehudi- nor Marduk. Even though maybe the name Mordechai was influenced by Marduk, Mordechai- the kid around the block who goes to Jewish day school- was not named after a Persian god. No way no how. This is a total non-issue to me. They were living in Persia; it's normal that they would have Persian names.