A Great Name
Thoughts on Parashat Lekh Lekha 2020
At the onset of the parashah,
we read about God’s promise of blessing to Avraham for following His
command. In addition to wealth and progeny, God promised Avraham a “great name”
for going forth on a journey into the unknown (Bereshit 12:2). Reading this
story within its larger context, the relevance of a “name” is somewhat
predictable. Immediately prior to God’s call to Avraham, we read about the
builders of Bavel, whose misguided construction was driven by their will “that
we may make us a name” (11:4). That story was followed, in turn, by the
elaborate lineage of Noah’s son Shem – or “Name” (11:10-26). What is the relevant
lesson of this drawn-out story about names?
Let’s first
consider the initial acts of “naming” in the Torah. God named His creations
during the days of creation. He called the light Day and the darkness Night
(1:5), the vault (rakia) – Heavens (1:8), dry land – Earth, and the
gathering of waters – Seas (1:10). Following Adam’s creation on the sixth day,
God handed him the “power of naming”: “And whatever Adam called a living
creature was its name” (2:19).
Giving names
manifests our Godlike ability to reason. The name of any given entity
represents its uniqueness. To give one requires an elaborate knowledge of
the world and the ability to recognize its particularities by comparing the
similarities and differences of one thing to the others. It is for this reason
that the Torah later referred to distinguished individuals as “people of name”
(Bemidbar 16:2). Since a name represents the uniqueness of its bearer,
calling them “people of name” was effectively describing them as “unique
people.”
Our privilege to name began with God’s invitation to Adam to name the
animals. The people of Bavel wished to continue that legacy with an ambitious
building project to establish their own name. But God foiled their plan. He
taught that although it is natural to give names to others, it’s unhealthy to
name ourselves. A genuine name of distinction is not to be seized
through power or conquest, as the builders of Bavel then believed, but must
instead be received as a product of our accomplishments.
Fascinatingly, the mention of a name would soon again appear in the story
of Avraham. This time it had nothing to do with Avraham’s name, but that of
God: “And he built an altar to God and he called out in the name of God”
(Bereshit 12:8). Avraham then declared the singular existence of God by mentioning
his name. Indeed, the Rabbis taught that Avraham was the first human being
to refer to God as Adon, or “Master of the universe.”[1]
God’s very own name, then, didn’t emerge from His own pronouncement, but
was rather discovered by another.
God’s promise to Avraham of a “great name” contrasted with the prevalent
notion of that generation. It was a subtle lesson in how the builders of Bavel
misunderstood the merits of distinction.
God cautioned us from the attempt to “make a name for ourselves.” He
taught that we must, instead, receive a “great name” from others.
Running after a “great name” is a fruitless exercise. Receiving one from
others is the merit of a journey of faith.