JustASC

Knock me over with a feather: The Jerusaelm Post reprinted my column on hyphenated last names, and the talkback comments are (for the most part) thoughtful!

Malcolm Parker-Lisberg of the U.K. writes: 

Adding the hyphen means you now have to spell out your surname; with mine is it a ‘u’ or an ‘e’ in -Lisberg and I would guess that you, Andrew, have to spell out the two ‘r’s and two ‘l’s. Does not a change of name signify a significant event in a Jewis life? Was not a name change instigated when life threatening or changing events events loomed?

Jon Levi writes: 

Your article brings up deep issues beyond the scope of the hyphen in the last name. Interestingly enough it’s a great way to bring up the subject of sexual divisions evident in Judaism, from the division of the sexes in the temple during prayer to agunot. 

An Israeli named Bracha writes:

What was Avraham Avinu’s last name?
Or Rashi’s? I’ve kept my own last name for 30 (so far) years of marriage (our names were too long to hyphenate). We have a wonderful, Torah-observant home and so far my children seem to be fine. Why do these rabbis insist on taking non-halachic issues and pretending that they have halachic significance? 
 

And then there’s this, from an NJ charmer named Abe:

FEMINIZED MEN HYPHENATE THEIR NAMES
It’s also a brand of liberals, showing that they are open-minded enough to share their wife’s name. Kumbaya to you Andrew.

And Shabbat Shalom back at ya, Abe!

This entry was posted on Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 2:00 pm and is filed under JustASC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.