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For the converts: how did you get your Jewish name?
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 23 2007, 1:45 pm
One of the girls I was helping with her conversion is now b'h part of am Israel. Very Happy
She choose her Jewish name herself, Rivka because her first name sounds close (think Karin) and Tehilla because it was her grandmother's name (her father is Jewish, she was raised traditional so it only took a bit more than a year to convert).
I often hear of gerim who choose a close sounding name, or a translation, or the Hebrew name of the closest Jewish relative. Of course if you're an Esther or a Simon it's extra easy.

But also, some are given a name by the rabbi, out of the parasha of the mikve, or some always give Ruth for example. No choice for them.

What happened for you?
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amother


 

Post Mon, Jul 23 2007, 9:32 pm
If I was a convert I would choose the name Sara or Menucha.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 23 2007, 9:36 pm
Sara bas Sara could make people think c'v you lost your mother at birth, unless you use Sara Imeinu.

No one knows any convert??
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amother


 

Post Mon, Jul 23 2007, 10:16 pm
I am a convert, and I suspect you don't get many replies to your post because it is not done in Judaism to remind a convert that they are a convert.
Not everybody is comfortable talking about it, especially if, like in my case, many years have passed, I live in a community where I moved when I was already Jewish, so very few close friends here know.

I don't like your question. I understand you are curious, but I don't care to share something so personal even anonymously. With names, like the whole conversion process, it is Hashem's inspiration and guidance all the way...

My Hebrew name is Channa by the way, no second name.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 23 2007, 10:31 pm
sure not everyone has a second name.


If you don't want to share don't share. It really surprises me than even being double anonymous (imamother + amother) is still not enough, but...

I have seen many people discussing geirus openly on other boards and there is really no need to be ashamed. I think I didn't get any answer because few members are converts and they never thought of asking why the converts they know have such or such name. BH those I asked irl were happy to explain the choice or lack thereof in length. My friend actually wrote on her msn status "back from the mikve, my name is now Rivkah Tehilla" with hearts before and after.... so yeah.
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chavamom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 12:14 am
As a family we have "mentored" a few converts and the way they chose their names varied greatly. One chose the same name as one of my children b/c she was close with my dd, loved the name and it started with the same letter as her English name. Another chose her name for personal reasons that resonated with her. And yes, another chose the name of a Jewish relative in her family (though she was obviously not halachically Jewish). I think there are probably as many ways that gerim have chosen their names as there are converts.
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su7kids




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 1:58 am
Ruchel wrote:
Sara bas Sara could make people think c'v you lost your mother at birth, unless you use Sara Imeinu.

No one knows any convert??


I had a friend who passed away 10 years ago. She was Chanah Sara Bas Sara.

Her English name was Jane and she said that phonetically the name Chanah was closest to her English name. But when she went to the Rabbanut of Jerusalem to do the Geirus they told her she MUST take the name Sara. Of course I wasn't there at the time so I don't know the details, but she was Chanah Sara Bas Sara. When she was ill we had lots of questions.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 8:26 am
Ruchel wrote:
I have seen many people discussing geirus openly on other boards and there is really no need to be ashamed. I think I didn't get any answer because few members are converts and they never thought of asking why the converts they know have such or such name. BH those I asked irl were happy to explain the choice or lack thereof in length. My friend actually wrote on her msn status "back from the mikve, my name is now Rivkah Tehilla" with hearts before and after.... so yeah.


this is the amother you are replying to.

of course those who discuss it openely have no problem. I also don't have a problem to discuss it openly, but not with everyone. But you are not supposed to ask those who are already Jewish by conversion. If they share, fine, if you are part of their conversion process, that's a different thing. I also had such friends who helped me through my conversion process and knew everything. However, this is so far in the past, many years have passed, I am a Jew and I don't care to be reminded that I wasn't always... Be prepared that your convert friends, in a decade or so, will have the same attitude.
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miriamnechama




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 9:00 am
one of my aunts was a giyores her name was ans, how she got to chana I don't know, but she's oart of the familly and we don't talk about it.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 9:55 am
Amother:
I think what Ruchel is doing is very different from, say, coming up to a convert and making a comment...this is general and no one is forced to answer if they don't want to.

Since my name is not close to my username, I was named Mary and just chose Miriam...(bascially a translation) I know alot of Miriams who were likewise once Marys...
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chocolate moose




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 10:08 am
I know many women who have converted and are quite open about it, but I'm not so sure I should share their stories.......
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su7kids




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 10:19 am
miriamnechama wrote:
one of my aunts was a giyores her name was ans, how she got to chana I don't know, but she's oart of the familly and we don't talk about it.


"ans" and Chana are pretty much the same name, Anne is also usually Chana.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 10:56 am
My name is Biblical, so I just took the Hebrew equivalent of it.
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miriamnechama




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 10:58 am
su7 ans is actually a dutch name, she's dutch... anyways she uses chana now...
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 11:26 am
amother wrote:
Amother:
I think what Ruchel is doing is very different from, say, coming up to a convert and making a comment...this is general and no one is forced to answer if they don't want to.

Since my name is not close to my username, I was named Mary and just chose Miriam...(bascially a translation) I know alot of Miriams who were likewise once Marys...


My mom is a Mary, Hebrew name Miriam Wink very common among Jews from birth too, especially the older generation
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 24 2007, 11:29 am
amother wrote:
Ruchel wrote:
I have seen many people discussing geirus openly on other boards and there is really no need to be ashamed. I think I didn't get any answer because few members are converts and they never thought of asking why the converts they know have such or such name. BH those I asked irl were happy to explain the choice or lack thereof in length. My friend actually wrote on her msn status "back from the mikve, my name is now Rivkah Tehilla" with hearts before and after.... so yeah.


this is the amother you are replying to.

of course those who discuss it openely have no problem. I also don't have a problem to discuss it openly, but not with everyone. But you are not supposed to ask those who are already Jewish by conversion. If they share, fine, if you are part of their conversion process, that's a different thing. I also had such friends who helped me through my conversion process and knew everything. However, this is so far in the past, many years have passed, I am a Jew and I don't care to be reminded that I wasn't always... Be prepared that your convert friends, in a decade or so, will have the same attitude.


as long as they stay polite... I will see. My mom has a friend who converted maybe 30 years ago, and they still discuss the thing sometimes. Once on a board what I would call a nice online acquaintance volunteered the infos concerning her geirus to a level I wouldn't have thought of asking, not to mention I didn't know she was a convert. Maybe it is more taboo in some groups? or a matter of personality?
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amother


 

Post Sun, Aug 19 2007, 11:27 pm
I recently read of a convert who had chosen the name Ruth.
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twinkltoes




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 21 2007, 6:30 am
I am a convert from the age of 16 and I see no shame in talking about it. Neither am I ashamed of my Christian past. I have never been the recipient of any prejudice of any kind as a result of people knowing this fact. I do not understand why people are ashamed to talk about it or have it known. I am proud of the fact and if telling my story is viewed by any other Jews as "chizuk" (which I have definitely found to be the case, especially when telling my story to native Israelis) then I will keep telling and keep telling (despite that I've told the story so many times that I find it quite boring to myself by now :-)). I realize that for many it is a point of curiosity - "what made you take such a drastic/crazy step?" - but I don't mind.

I took Avigayil Shoshana. My given name was Bethany Gail - Gail being derived from Abigail and also my great-grandmother's name was Abigail and my Mom RAVES about what a tzadeket her grandmother was (albeit not Jewish) so the name just fits nicely into the family tree and I can claim that I'm named after my great-grandmother. I also liked it because it isn't/wasn't so common. I didn't want a name like Sara where if someone called my name, 15 others would turn around. Shoshana just because I think it's a beautiful feminine name and I liked it. I also adore flowers. :-)

Avigayil
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Mommish




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 21 2007, 6:58 am
I know several converts, and each of them had a different way of coming up with a name, just like every new mother and father has their own way of choosing a name for their baby. One has a name that was similar sounding to her previous name and then added a Jewish name, another had a Jewish father so his parents had already given him a Jewish name even though he was not technically Jewish, another used a translation of her english name, etc.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Aug 21 2007, 8:25 am
Quote:
I am a convert from the age of 16 and I see no shame in talking about it. Neither am I ashamed of my Christian past. I have never been the recipient of any prejudice of any kind as a result of people knowing this fact. I do not understand why people are ashamed to talk about it or have it known.


You are very very fortunate. Many of us, myself included, have been the recipients of very hurtful statements. This even went so far as to have a couple of classmates torment my young son by telling him he's a [gentile] because "my Tatty said your Mommy's not really Jewish - she's just a ger [sic]" (in spite of the fact that I'm yeshivish and have been frum for over a decade with a geirus from a very well respected beis din).

So no, I don't discuss my geirus with anyone other than close friends, and even there I'm not terribly open about it. Personally I'd like to forget that my prior life ever existed. And I can't STAND it when people ask me why I converted - I can't even imagine a more private, personal question. They might as well be asking about my husband's and my intimate life - it is just as rude IMHO.
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