A Dictionary of Ashkenazic Given Names: Their Origins, Structure, Pronunciation, and Migrations by
Alexander Beider (Avotaynu, 2001)
Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein
I really enjoyed the time I spent
reading through this nearly 700-page work. In this comprehensive dictionary,
Beider documents Ashkenazic personal names and uses that topic to open up a
variety of discussions. He traces the origins of Ashkenazic given names to the
Bible, to the Talmud, and to later creations. In doing so, he highlights the
various other places from which Jewish names may come. While most masculine
Jewish names were always Biblical, Beider shows how many Jewish names actually
come from Greek, Latin, Germanic, and even Slavic sources. The corpus of the
Ashkenazic onomasticon points to the varied elements of the Ashkenazic
experience from around the year 1000 until the 19th century, and it
is that substantial period on which Beider focuses.
Beider’s dictionary opens with a
270-page introduction that provides the reader with much of the requisite background information for understanding the context and significance of the
more specific discussions he presents in the individual entries in his
dictionary.
Part of this introduction
represents an important contribution to the discussion of the origins of Ashkenazic
Jewry. As historians have long ago noted, the origins of Ashkenazic Jewry are
quite obscured and there is much debate in academic fora on this issue.
Conventional wisdom maintains that the early Ashkenazim were off-shoots of the
Jewish communities in Italy and/or Byzantine Palestine. Contemporary scholars
like Professors Haym Soloveitchik and Robert Brody have debated to what
extent those early Ashkenazic Jews were in touch with their Babylonian
brethren. Beider does not directly enter this debate, but in this study of
Ashkenazic names, he does argue that the onomastic data points to the notion
that Rhenish Jewry (i.e., essentially the core nucleus from whence Ashkenazic
Jewry spread) comes from Northern France.
Beider’s learned deliberations
are often times very technical and arcane, but still provide useful information
for the untrained lay reader like myself. Much of his discussion explains how
the pronunciation of different names evolved as the Yiddish languages itself
evolved in the various places across Europe that Ashkenazic Jews called home.
Besides discussing more formal given names, Beider also elaborates on the
various ways in which nicknames, pet names, and the like were derived from core
names. In doing so, he offers a thorough discussion on how names might be
truncated and/or how suffixes and prefixes might be added.
Another important point that
Beider discusses is the difference between the shem kodesh (literally,
“holy name”), which was often reserved almost exclusively for religious
settings, and shem chol (literally, “profane name”), which was used in
one’s secular life. He notes multiple times that some names that Jews borrowed
from the Christian gentiles around them were only used in the shem chol framework,
and were not necessarily used amongst Jews themselves.
Beider’s book is essentially a
scientific study of Ashkenazic Jewish name based on archival documentations. He
largely ignores the vast corpus of rabbinic literature on the topic with the
notable exception of citing from the work Beis Shmuel. Beider’s approach
of focusing on archival information is important because it is descriptive and
reflects the reality of which names were practically used, and how/when they
were used. Much of the rabbinical literature on the topic remains theoretical,
and simply tries to figure out how to spell names for the purposes of writing
valid ritual bills of divorce (gittin). Nonetheless, there are clearly
many limitations of Beider’s methodology, as the author himself duly admits at the
beginning of his work. Chiefly, archival data is not exhaustive and is almost always
incomplete.
Some of the interesting takeaways
from Beider’s study are that popular Hebrew names like Tzvi, Dov, and Zev are
actually calques (backward translations) that stem from the Yiddish/German
names Hirsch, Ber, and Wolf, not vice versa like most people think. Another
interesting point that Beider makes is that he shows how the Yiddish name
Shneur is related to word senor (“senior”) and is not originally
Hebrew—despite it being commonly used as a shem kodesh.
A similar phenomenon is found
with various Hebraic feminine names which only sprung up in the last century
and half as translations of Yiddish names, Tziporah (from Feiga),
Chasidah (from Frumma), Ayalah (from Hinda), Yaffa/Yaffit (from Shayna/Sheindel),
Ahuvah (from Leeba) Adina (from Eidel, even this name appears in
the Medieval composition Sefer HaYashar), and so forth. Some of these
newer names do not even appear in Beider’s dictionary because they only became
popular after the period he focuses his study on. [Interestingly, the work Viyakre
Shemo B’Yisroel reports that while Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky opposes giving the
feminine given name Shira because of its newfangled origins, he does not
similarly oppose the name Ahuvah because that name at least appears in the
Bible as a noun in place of a woman (see Deut. 21:15–16).]
The pedantic in me especially
appreciated Beider’s theory that the name Basya is a derivative of Bas-Sheva
and is not directly a corrupted version of the Biblical Bithia/Bisya ((בתיה
that appears in I Chron. 4:18.
In lieu of a more traditional
book review, I am simply going to offer a free-flowing stream of consciousness
comprised of my comments as I read through Beider’s book. Hopefully, that will
be enough to give the reader a taste of what Beider delves into, plus it offers
me a chance to express some of my own thoughts. My interests lie more in the
prescriptive side of things, and draw on what Jewish authorities said about how
names ought to be given; I am also more interested in the realm of semantics
in terms of philology/etymology (which Beider does not emphasize as much) rather
than in other linguistic or historical considerations.
Comments
Page xxv: Beider mentions that Beis
Shmuel draws from the work of Rabbi Eliezer Treves and Rabbi Moshe
Heilpern.
- He also draws from the work Seder
HaGet by Rabbi Yaakov Margulies of Regensburg. This work was most recently
edited and published by Machon Yerushalayim in 1983. Another important work on
this topic is Sefer Shemos (Venice, 1657), by Rabbi Simcha ben Gershon
HaKohen.
Page 1: "...Esther was also
called Hadassa, while in the Book of Daniel, four young men Daniel, Hanania,
Mishael, and Azaria received new names in Babylonian captivity."
- I would have written this in
the opposite way, “Hadassa was also called Esther,” as Hadassa seems to have
been her "Hebrew” name, while Esther was her “Babylonian” name (probably
related to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, see my book God vs. Gods, pgs.
294-295). This parallels what is written about Daniel and his cohorts receiving
non-Hebraic Babylonian names.
Page 10: "In Prague, the
number of feminine double names was very small... among these rare examples,
there are seven occurrences of Chaya Sara. The parts of this pair are not
independent. In Jewish tradition, this combination represents the name of a
section in the Book of Genesis, literally, life of Sara."
- If one wants to get technical,
the name of that pericope in the Pentateuch is actually Chayei Sarah
(see Gen. 23:1), not Chayah Sara; albeit the two phrases are indeed quite
similar.
Page 13 fn. 2: Beider wrote about
an individual "Abraham Saadia, called Isaiah" that "In this
name, it is likely that Isaiah is treated as a nickname of Saadia. Note some
phonetic similarity of these names."
- I don't really see the phonetic
similarity between the two names, unless you are just pointing at the
theophoric suffix that they share, which can be true of a host of other Jewish
names.
Page 14: Beider writes: "Ishmael
traditionally considered to be the ancestor of the Arab people, has a very
negative connotation in popular Jewish literature. For obscure reasons, Jews
commonly used it during the Talmudic period. Among Ashkenazic Jews..."
- Allow me to note that in the
Bible itself, there are already five other people named Yishmael, and only one
of those was known to be unsavory. The name Yishmael was evidently quite
popular in earlier times, and obviously employs the standard theophoric
structure that we find in many Biblical names. That said, the commentators to
the Talmud (see Tosafos, Tosafos Yeshanim and Ritva to Yoma
38b) discuss how the name Yishmael may be given if it represents the name of a
wicked person. Some of the answers draw on a rabbinic tradition that speaks of
Yishmael repenting his past sins before death.
Page 14: Beider writes: "During
the 16th century, this tradition [i.e. of only naming a child after dead
relatives and not living ones] was not firmly established yet in all regions.
For example, the grandson of the famous Ashkenazic author Elijah Bahur was
called Elijah while the grandfather was still alive."
- It's a bit of a strawman to
cite Bachur as an example, because he was atypical of Ashkenazic Jews in many
different ways. He also spent most of his life in Italy not in Ashkenaz.
Page 14: Beider writes: "Names
of biblical figures with distinctive pejorative connotations were never borne
by Jews until modern times [see also footnote]."
- In my book God vs. Gods
(pg. 199), I discuss the case of the name Matan, which appears in the book of
Kings as the name of an idolatrous Baal priest, and what various contemporary
rabbis have said about using that name.
Page 14, fn. 3: Beider writes: "During
the Talmudic period, boys were often named after the paternal grandfather, more
rarely after the maternal one (Zunz 1876:23)."
- Admittedly I didn’t look up
this source, but I don’t see any reason to accept Zunz’s assertion. I don't
think that counting up the examples of people mentioned in the Talmud named
after their paternal grandfather and seeing how many more of those exist
than examples of people named after
their maternal grandfather can be conclusive proof.
Page 15: Beider writes: "If
some doubts exist about the positive influence of famous bearers in the
parental choice of names, the impact of negative bearers is obvious. The use of
the given name Bogdan among Jews of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is a dramatic
example. It disappeared completely from Jewish use after the second part of the
17th Century. Clearly, this decline was due to the massacres of thousands of
Jews (1648-49) by Ukrainian Cossacks lead by Bogdan Khmelnitski (Chmilnicki in
Polish spelling)."
- If you wanted to use a more
contemporary example, just consider the name Adolph which was quite popular
with Jews in Germany about one-hundred years ago, and now is completely unheard
of.
Page 18: Beider writes: "The
spread of Menahem in Medieval Germany cannot be explained by the biblical text
since its biblical bearer was a king of Israel known for his cruelty; it was
its semantics 'one who comforts' that was responsible.”
- In this case, a bit rabbinics
might help shed some light. According to one opinion in the Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin
98b) and Jerusalem Talmud (Brachos 2:4), the name of the Messiah will be
Menachem. Moreover in the post-Talmudic apocalyptic Midrash "The Book of
Zerubavel" it also gives "Menachem" as the name of the Messiah.
Given that the "Book of Zerubavel" was quite popular in medieval
Germany (again, see my book God vs. Gods, pg. 268), it would make sense
that parents would especially want to name their children the name ascribed to
the Messiah. I would also note that there was a major French scholar named
Menachem, R. Menachem bar Chelbo (whom Beider mentions on page 351, when
discussing how the name Khelbo came to the Rhineland), whose popularity may
have led to the spread of the name Menachem.
Page 18: Beider notes: "One
can recognize that six biblical masculine names were always very common...
Samuel was the most common name in the Rhineland in the late 11th
century..."
- I would just note that in the famous
work Tzvaas Rav Yehuda HaChassid Hassidim (an ethical will attributed to
R. Yehuda HaChassid, hero of the Chassidei Ashkenaz movement) it says (§51) that
one should not name their child Yehudah (Judah) or Shmuel (Samuel). I wonder
how that relates to the reality of Jewish names in that time and place. He also
wrote in his ethical (§2) will not to give the names Avraham (Abraham),
Yitzchak (Isaac), Yaakov (Jacob), or Moshe (Moses).
Page 21 fn 1: Beider writes: "In
certain cases, it [the name Shem Tov] could be a calque of Kalonymos "good
name" in Greek... that in turn seems to arise as a calque of Shem Tov (see
below)."
- I haven't yet seen your
discussion of this below yet, but I think that the opposite is probably true: I
think that it is more likely that Shem Tov is a calque of Kalonymos than vice
versa, because the Greek name Kalonymos is already attested to in the Talmud,
while the earliest instance of the name Shem Tov is post-Talmudic.
Page 33: Beider discussed the
rare appearance of the name Peter as a Jewish name.
- See the following article about Rabbeinu Peter: H.J. Zimmels "Rabbi Peter the Tosaphist," JQR, vol. 48:1 (1957), pp. 51–52.
Page 41: Beider discussed the
masculine Jewish name Thamar.
- In my book Lashon HaKodesh (pg.
211), I mentioned a tradition recorded by Rabbi Gedaliah ibn Yachya in his Shalsheles
HaKabbalah that Moses’ real name was actually Tamar/Tamur.
Page 41: Beider discusses Hana as
a masculine Jewish name, noting that it appears in the Talmud as חנא.
- This masculine name also
appears in the Talmud as חנה (see Sanhedrin
108b), whch is orthographically identical to the feminine Jewish name Chanah.
By the way, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky in Taama D'Kra (to Deut. 22:5) lists
65 different unisexual names that were used for both men and women (using only
the Bible and rabbinic literature as his sources).
Page 44: Beider hypothesize about
creating feminine names to name girls after male relatives.
- I found in the work Chukei
Derech in the name of the Magen Avraham that there was a story of a
man named Moshe whose daughter was named after him as Masha.
Page 45: Beider discusses the
rarity of Methuselah as a given name.
- One way to explain this might
be that there was a custom in some circles not to give Biblical names of people
who lived before Abraham (see responsa Mabit by Rabbi Moshe of Trani,
§276 and Pischei Teshuvah to Yoreh Deah §265:6). However, Rabbi
Chaim Kanievsky in Taama D'Kra (end of Genesis 11) lists 32 different
names that were used by later people that match names of people who lived
before Abraham (again, using only the Bible and rabbinic literature as his
sources).
Page 152: Chapter 5 discusses the
migrations patterns of Ashkenazic Jews, and how that may have affected the
development of given names.
- Beider’s description of the
cyclic nature of migration and assimilation that has been the Jewish experience
reminds me of Rabbi Meir Simcha of Divnsk’s comments in Meshech Chochmah
(Lev. 26:44). He write about this cycle from a religious perspective, and
almost prophetically spoke of the repercussions of those Jews destined to
befall the assimilationist Jews of his time who viewed Berlin as the New
Jerusalem.
Page 153: Beider writes: "Borrowings
from the Christian population, although numerous, were very selective."
- This leads me to wondering what
exactly were the criteria for adopting Christian names. Something to think
about.
Page 182: Beider notes: "Several
other hypocoristic forms of the biblical names are specific to Austria...
Izzerlein (Izzerl)."
- Arguably, the most famous
person named Isserlin was Rabbi Yisrael Isserlin ben Petachia of Austria
(1390-1460), author of the Terumas HaDeshen. But, he wasn't actually
born in Austria, he came there from Bavaria (Regensburg, in specific).
Page 207: Beider mentions that
the terms מערב כנען (“Western Canaan,” i.e. Bohemia/Moravia) and מזרח כנען (“Eastern Canaan,”
i.e. Greater Russia).
- I don't recall ever encountering
these terms in rabbinic sources from the era in discussion.
Page 278: Beider discusses the
name Astorio (spelled in Hebrew אשתוריו).
- It is quite possible that this
name is related to the name Ashtor (אשתור) mentioned in the
Jerusalemic Talmud (Bikkurim 1:4). There was also a thirteenth century
rabbinic topographer named Rabbi Ashtori HaParchi (אשתורי הפרחי),
who authored the work Kaftor Va-Ferach. In his introduction, he seems to
endorse the folk etymology that his name is derived from the phrase ish tori
(איש תורי, “a touring man”). If all these names can
be traced back to cognates of the word star like Beider claims about the
name Astrio, then these names are ultimately derived from the name of
the Canaanite god Ashtoreth (עשתרת) and its Near Eastern parallels.
Page 278: Beider discusses the
name Aviezer (אביעזר) and its related apellation Avi Haezri (אבי העזרי).
- Another possible factor that
Beider neglected to mention in the in popularity of this name is influence of
the Halachic work by Rabbi Eliezer b. Yoel HaLevi (known as the Raavyah)
entitled Avi HaEzri, which became a name by which its author was
referred.
Page 278: Beider discusses the
name Avigdor: “Derived from the biblical expression אבי גדור
(I Chronicles 4:4, 4:18) meaning father of Gedor (given name). In the
Talmud, the same expression is used as a nickname for the prophet Moses
(Megilla 13).”
- I would clarify that the Talmud
does not simply use the same expression as a nickname for Moses, but rather it
interprets the cited verse in Chronicles cited as a reference to Moses.
Page 293: Beider discusses the
name Bunem and explains that it is associated with Simcha and with Binyamin.
In his estimation, the former connection “is obscure,” while the latter
connection is presented as being due to the names’ phonetic similarity.
- Beis Shmuel explains
that Bunem is derived from Binyamin, as since Binyamin’s name has a sort of
gloomy aspect to it (see Gen. 35:18), it is often paired with the name Simcha, which
means “happiness” (cited by Z. Yabrov in Shemos Ba’Aretz pg. 68). I’ve
also heard that the name Bunem is attached to Simcha to differentiate between
Simcha as a masculine name and Simcha as a feminine name, as Bunem is similar
to banim (sons, בנים). According to this possibly folk etymology, this notion is
alluded to in Psalms 113:9 (see responsa Divrei Malkiel vol. 3, §78 and
responsa Binyan Av vol. 1 §55).
Page 299: Beider discusses the
name Eliezer and how it evolved into Leyzer and other derivatives.
- Such derivatives are not
necessarily the creations of Ashkenazic Jews, but are already found in the
Palestinian Talmud which has the name ליזער (Layzer) instead of
what is spelled אליעזר (Eliezer) in parallel passages in the
Babylonian Talmud.
Pages 318-319: Beider discusses
the nameגדליה (Gedalyah) and mentions Gidal as a derivative
of that name.
- The name Gidal (גידל)
already appears in the Talmud.
Page 325: Beider notes that the
name Gutman often appears as a kinnui for the Biblical name Tobias and
sometimes also for the name Moshe.
- Beider fails to mention that
this might be due to the fact that Toviah itself was understood to be associated
with Moshe in line with Midrashic assertions that Toviah is an alternate name
for Moshe (although h does mention the Tuvye-Moshe connection later, on page
434).
Page 331: Beider mentions the
Biblical name Hoshaye (הושעיה) and its Aramaic spelling (הושעיא).
- Another variant spelling of
this name in Talmudic Aramaic is with an ALEPH in the beginning—אושעיא.
Page 336: Beider discusses the
name Ishmoel/Yishmael.
- In his discussion of this name, he misspells the Biblical name ישמעאל in
Hebrew as ישמעל.
Page 345: Beider characterizes
the name Kasriel as a Middle Age invention.
- This name is likely derived
from the name of the angel Akasriel mentioned in the Talmud (Brachos
7a). Indeed, Rabb Shlomo Luria in Yam Shel Shlomo (Gittin 4:31)
writes precisely that.
Page 347: Beider discusses the
name Chanania/Khananye and writes: “Among several biblical bearers the most
important is a prophet (Jeremiah 28:1).”
- The Biblical character that
Beider mentions is most decidedly not an important character, as he was
actually a false prophet and was thus a wicked person. Instead, the most
important bearer of this name in the Bible is Chanania in the Book of Daniel
who was a member of a cohort of children from Judah that served in the court of
the Babylonian kings.
Pages 358–358: Beider discusses
the name Leyb and claims that Ashkenazic occurrences of Leon/Lion “are unlikely
to have been related to the use of a similar name their French coreligionists.”
- As far as I know, the earliest
Ashkenazic scholar to bear this name was Yehuda HaKohen ben Meir Leontin who
lived in Mainz in the late 10 century (and was Rabbeinu Gershom Meor HaGolah's
teacher). Some claim that he came from either France or Italy, but his name is
clearly Romantic and may have been the forebear of the Ashkenazic Leib.
Page 399: Beider discuss the
names Pantir/Pandir and notes that its shem ha-qodesh was Joseph.
- This might have been sourced in
the popular anti-Christian tract Sefer Toldos Yeshu in which Jesus’
mother Mary was said to have fornicated with a non-Jewish philanderer named
Yosef Pandira.
Page 409: Beider discusses the
Biblical name Shaltiel, which he spells שלתיאל and refers to Hag.
1:1 and Ezra 3:2.
- In the two Biblical passages
that Beider cites, this name is actually spelled שאלתיאל,
as it is also spelled in Hag. 2:23, Ezra 3:8, 5:2, Neh. 12:1, and I Chron.
3:17. There are however three places in Haggai where the name is indeed spelled
שלתיאל (Hag. 1;12, 1:14, 2:2).
Page 417: Beider discusses the
Biblical name Shlumiel.
- I would have mentioned that
this name is likely the etymon for the Yiddish slur Schlemiel, which is
used to refer to an incompetent fool.
Page 422: Beider mentions the
legend cited in Nachalat Shiva that the name Shneur began as a joke
nickname given to a man whose father was Meir and father-in-law was Uri.
- I looked at the Nachalat
Shiva and don’t see how he intimates that this was a joke. He brings in the
name of Rabbi Moshe Heilprin (Zichron Moshe) that there was a case of
man whose father was named Meir and his father was named Uri, so he named his
child Shneur to allude to these to names associated with “light.” This tale is
also told by Rabbi Shlomo Luria (Maharshal) in Yam Shel Shlomo (Gittin
4:26). However, see Azulai (Kikar La’Aden, Shem HaGedolim SHIN 3) who writes that the name Shneur
predates this story and was not originally introduced because of this case.
Page 423: Beider lists the name
Schalum as a variant of the name Shalom.
- It is quite possible that the
name Schalum is actually a different name, derived from the Biblical name שלוּם (Jer. 32:7, Jer. 35:4, Ezra 7:2, II Chron.
28:12) which is spelled the same as שלוֹם but is pronounced
differently.
Page 466: Beider discusses the
name Zundel.
- There is a tradition brought in
Otzar HaBris (vol. 1, page 360) that a child who is a mamzer or
is born out of wedlock is not given a shem kodesh and only bears the
names Zundel or Isser or Kidor.
Page 476: Beider mentions that
the Biblical character Athaliah (Asalie) was the daughter of Omri.
- I would like to refer the
reader to my paper: "Queen Athaliah: The Daughter of Ahab or Omri?" Jewish
Bible Quarterly 42 (1), 11-20 which discusses whether Athaliah was, in
fact, Omri’s daughter or Ahab’s daughter.
Page 477: Beider writes about the
feminine name Bakule/Bakol that its origins are unclear and cites that it might
possible of Czech or Semitic origin.
- This name reminds me of the
Talmudic explanation (Bava Basra 16b) that when the Bible reports on
Abraham being blessed “with everything” (Gen. 24:1), this phrase should be read
as a name instead of as a word, thus leading the Talmud to assert that Abraham
had a daughter named Bakol. Maybe that’s the source of this otherwise obscure
name?
Page 499: Beider writes that the
Hebrew name Eglah (which literally means “calf”) is derived from the
name Eyge/Ogia.
- The name Eglah
already appears in the Bible as a feminine given name of one of King David’s
wives (II Sam. 3:5). According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 21a) this was an
alternate name for King Saul’s daughter Michal (who married King David) and was
as dear to him as a calf.
Page 549–550: Beider writes that
the name Chomah (which literally means “wall” in Hebrew) is derived from
the name Nechama.
- The feminine name Chomah (חומה\חומא) already appears in the Talmud as the name
of Abaye’s wife (Yevamos 64b, Kesubos 65a), so it is not
necessarily derived from Nechama.
Page 553: Beider discusses the
feminine name Poze/Pazi
- Beider fails to mention that the
feminine name Pazi already appears in the Talmud as the name of Rav
Chiyya’s daughter (Yevamos 65b). Moreover, there was a Talmudic sage
name Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi, and many authorties assume that Pazi was his
mother’s name (see Tosafos to Bava Basra 149a and Teshuvos
HaGeonim Mussafia §12). This name is also mentioned in Nachlas Shiva who
discusses whether it ought to be spelled פזי
or פאזי. See R. Petachia Mordechai Berdugo’s responsa Nofes Tzufim
(§24). (See also Zacut’s Sefer Yuchasin assumes that Pazi was also a
masculine name and the glosses Nachel Eden to Seder HaDoros vol.
2 , s.v. ר' יהודה בן פזי).
Appendix: Onomastic Data from Sefer Ha-Gur
Just to highlight the notion that
familiarity with rabbinic works can help contribute to onomastic data, I'd like
to offer a brief onomastic survey of the five-volume work Sefer HaGur,
written by Rabbi Naftali Hertz Treves of Frankfurt (1493-1540). This work was
recently published for the first time by my cousin in Pardes Katz, Rabbi Aharon
Shapiro [I was only able to get ahold of the first four volumes, so all my
references to Deut. are through cross-references and not through seeing the
actual sources.]
As the author's
"surname" Treves implies, his family's origins are probably French,
but he studied in both Rhenish (Worms) and Bavarian (Nuremberg) cities before
becoming the Chazzan and a Dayyan in Frankfurt.
Besides for citing from Rashi and
the Tosafists, Rabbi Treves cites heavily from Rabbi Isserlin of
Ostreich/Austria (author of Terumas HaDeshen) and Rabbi Yochanan Luria
(author of Meshivas Nefesh).
One of the interesting I noticed
about this work is its non-uniform orthography. This suggests that —at least
outside of ritual bills of divorce—spelling in Hebrew characters was much more
fluid that one might think. This work in particular shows how one author might
spell the same name in different ways. For example, I noticed that while Rabbi
Treves generally follows the standard way of spelling Luria (לוריא) when referring to his teacher Rabbi
Yochanan Luria, he sometimes deviates from that standard and writes לוריו (Ex. 21:4, 24:14, Lev.
11:13, 19:3) or לוריוא (Ex. 40:3).
The names of students that Rabbi Treves mentions in his work include:
• יעקל (Ex. 2:1), יוקוף שור (Ex. 10:22),
• יעקב גינצבורק (Ex. 27:9),
• יעקב מרגלית (Ex. 19:4), which was also the name of a famous rabbi from Regensberg, who happened to have been Rabbi Treves' teacher.
• He also mentions his own son אליעזר טרויש (Lev. 9:7).
• שלמה לוריא (Ex. 13:17, Num. 30:10, also possibly mentioned Lev. 12:2 without surname, it seems that he was the great-uncle of the more famous R. Shlomo Luria, known as Maharshal).
• משה (Lev. 14:4), משה לוי (Lev. 17:3), possibly also the student משה שוואב (Gen. 29:1).
• שמואל (Num. 1:51)
• אברלן ווינבך\וייבך (Num. 13:23)
• זעלקלין זק (Num. 30:6)
• מרדכי מברונשוויק (Gen. 23:1, 50:13).
Interestingly, the first three
bullet are all permutations of the name Yaakov, while leads me to wonder if
they are all somehow references to the same person.
Other people Rabbi Treves mentions in his work include:
• גומפריכט לוי (Ex. 11:4), without title Levi = Num. 17:13, גומפריכט הלוי (Num. 27:13), abbreviated as הררג"ל (Gen. 11:32) [also mentioned in Deut. 1:16, 2:25].
• מאיר גירוטוואל (Ex. 25:10, Num. 10:7, 13:2), elsewhere, his name is given as מאיר גראטוואל (Ex. 40:27) and מאיר גירוטוויל (Ex. 28:15) [also mentioned in Deut 2:25, 15:4, 21:11].
• מאיר (Num. 26:24)
• יצחק מפולין (Gen. 1:20)
• קלמן'קי (Gen. 1:20).
• יצחק פולק (Lev. 21:1), מהר"י פולק (Gen. 2:7)
• שמחה (Gen. 2:7)
• זויסקינט סג"ל (Ex. 27:9), also spelled זוסקינט and without the appellation Segal (Lev. 10:16, Num. 35:14), זויסקינד sans appellation (Num. 21:14) [Also mentioned in Deut. 11:21, 24:9. (Deut. 23:16 mentions Zisskind sans Segal, so this might be a different person)]
• יעקב היילפרון (Ex. 1:15, Num. 27:16, Deut. 1:9, 25:19), possibly again as just יעקב (Gen. 24:65)
• דיוטא (Gen. 28:17, 29:34 Rabbi Treves’ brother-in-law)
• וייבש (Ex. 32:13)
• יחיאל בחור (Gen. 12:12, Ex. 32:13, Lev. 1:7, Num. 4:32).
• אברלן צונץ (Num. 11:26)
• יוסף היניק מהגנוא (Gen. 41:56)
• אהרן הקדוש (uncle of Rabbi Isserlin, Num. 13:33)
• יוסיל חזן וקנרטבורט (פרנקפורט) (Num. 21:14).
• מאיר וירשלר (Num. 27:16)
• משה בן שלמה (Gen. 14:14)
• חיים (Gen. 14:14)
• יוסיפא (Num. 30:2)
