Dear Jonathan, It is certainly true that organizations were sometimes named after the initial letters of some biblical or liturgical verse that was relevant to the organization's goals. For instance,

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Dear Jonathan, It is certainly true that organizations were sometimes named after the initial letters of some biblical or liturgical verse that was relevant to the organization's goals. For instance,

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You should probably assume that the correct original spelling of his name would have been Eisig Leib (and not Lieb). I would make that assumption because he was called Leon, which like the Yiddish nam

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You should probably assume that the correct original spelling of his name would have been Eisig Leib (and not Lieb). I would make that assumption because he was called Leon, which like the Yiddish nam

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Yes indeed; my former eye-doctor, who spells his name Schinazi, comes >from Egypt. I actually knew a David Spanier -- he was a fellow student at Cambridge. I distinctly recall that he was of what I wo

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Yes indeed; my former eye-doctor, who spells his name Schinazi, comes >from Egypt. I actually knew a David Spanier -- he was a fellow student at Cambridge. I distinctly recall that he was of what I wo

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Well, if I may modify that statement, it is true that the original medieval Briitish aristocracy would not have included any Jews; but beginning in the 19th century there have been several Jewish peer

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Well, if I may modify that statement, it is true that the original medieval Briitish aristocracy would not have included any Jews; but beginning in the 19th century there have been several Jewish peer

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Dear Peregrine, You don't specify exactly where your grandmother was born, but since you speak of documents in German , perhaps it was somewhere in the Austro-Hungarian Empire? In the 19th century tho

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Dear Peregrine, You don't specify exactly where your grandmother was born, but since you speak of documents in German , perhaps it was somewhere in the Austro-Hungarian Empire? In the 19th century tho

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All very true. I would add an additional possible explanation. I don't know about Poland (perhaps someone else can enlighten us) but if the system was the same as in the Austro-Hungarian empire, it wo

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All very true. I would add an additional possible explanation. I don't know about Poland (perhaps someone else can enlighten us) but if the system was the same as in the Austro-Hungarian empire, it wo

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To name a child after a living grandparent was also quite customary in the 19th century Anglo-Dutch Ashkenazic community. There are numerous examples in my own family. As has been pointed out many tim

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To name a child after a living grandparent was also quite customary in the 19th century Anglo-Dutch Ashkenazic community. There are numerous examples in my own family. As has been pointed out many tim

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Dear Michael, Whoops! You aren't arguing with *me* at all! -- I absolutely agree with you that all of those names are nothing but variant transliterations of a single Yiddish/ German word, namely Hirs

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Dear Michael, Whoops! You aren't arguing with *me* at all! -- I absolutely agree with you that all of those names are nothing but variant transliterations of a single Yiddish/ German word, namely Hirs

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But surely Hans/Haensel is a name found only among German or Austrian Jews, and scarcely prevalent in the East European background of the Asher-Anshels we have been discussing? Judith Romney Wegner

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But surely Hans/Haensel is a name found only among German or Austrian Jews, and scarcely prevalent in the East European background of the Asher-Anshels we have been discussing? Judith Romney Wegner

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Answer to question (1) . This is not only likely , but is more or less required by custom, though not an actual law. When the father dies between the child's conception and his birth, it is a firm cus

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May I set the record straight on this one? In discussing the historical development of the above names, Peretz actually puts the cart before the horse! Naftali -Tsvi is the original Hebrew couplet (fo

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