Soul De Le Mazalo

Hat Tip Shirat Devorah:




The Talmud (Berachot 7b) teaches that a Hebrew name has an influence on its bearer. Therefore, it is extremely important to name children after individuals with positive character traits who led fortunate lives and helped bring goodness to the world.

The Arizal writes that the nature and behavior of a person, whether good or bad, can be discovered by analyzing his or her name. For example, a child named Yehudah could possibly be destined for leadership, for Yehudah, the fourth son of Jacob, symbolized monarchy and most Jewish kings descended from the tribe of Yehudah.

It is said that parents are actually blessed with prophesy when naming their newborn babies.

According to the Arizal, even the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in one's name can be indicative of an individual's character. For example the gematria of the name Elisheva is equivalent to the numerical value of the Hebrew words yemei simcha, meaning "days of happiness," perhaps portending a joyous life for a baby girl named Elisheva.

It is precisely because the fortunes and misfortunes of mankind are concealed in the secrets of the letters, vowels and meanings of Hebrew names that a seriously ill person is given an additional name like Chaim, meaning "life," or Rafael, meaning "God heals," in order to influence his destiny. We hope and pray that the new name will herald a new mazel, or fortune, for the stricken individual.

Rabbi Elimelech of Lyzhansk, writes in his classic work on Torah "Noam Elimelech" (Bamidbar) that there is a profound connection between the soul of an infant and the soul of the person for whom he or she is named.

When a child is named after the deceased, the latter's soul is elevated to a higher realm in heaven and a spiritual affinity is created between the soul of the departed and the soul of the newborn child. That deep spiritual bond between these two souls can have a profound impact on the child.

Zocher HaBris 24:4, who also quotes Noam Elimelech on Bamidbar: “If they give him the name of a tzaddik who has already lived in this world, this will cause him also to become a tzaddik, because it has aroused the soul of the departed tzaddik in the Supernal World.



If anyone reading along with interest in "Name Torah" finds interesting and valuable [further] sources and insights  - that will shed light on this massive essential Torah tradition - please send them to my email [soulmazal@gmail.com] and I will blog it accordingly. It is very imperative to publicize the Torah concerning names, at least because of its severity, lack of knowledge, and misinformation about it. It goes without saying, that Names are just as essential to Noahides [Gerim] as Jews and equally prophetic. If the whole World knew and/or had their names revealed to them, our purpose, knowledge of self, and inclination of "what should I do" questioning would be revealed through any study or meditation of the name. With that said, a large part of Torah can be dedicated solely to the study of names [and one's name]. This is holy work, and it is part of my personal duty to make this knowledge available - as much as my Ger Torah work, and I encourage all to investigate further , even on a simple and basic level. 

Posted in: Soul Mazal