Nationality: American

Age: 22

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Orange County, CA, USA

Date: 4/30/2025

Language: English

Description: 

When you’re Jewish and you’re a baby, your parents are supposed to take you to Temple for, like the baby naming ceremony. What that means is you get your Hebrew name. It’s like a really big deal, and you do it in front of the whole congregation, and they give you like a little pamphlet thing that has your name. So, when I did it, I did it with my sister who was a baby at the time, which means that I was a lot older, which is not super common. But it was also just kind of like there was something very collective about doing it with my sister that made it kind of nice. When you have your baby naming thing, they have a blessing, but I can’t really remember what it is. And then you get your name. So essentially, like, my dad had his baby name. Which I don’t really remember what it was…it’s bat Matityahu something. So, basically, what they do is they’ll take your dad’s name if you’re a girl, and they’ll translate your name from English into, like Hebrew, and then they’ll name you after your father. So, like my Hebrew name is bat Matityahu, which means daughter of Matthew. I don’t remember what my sisters is…her name is Alexa, daughter of Matthew, too. 

Subject’s opinion:

Subject: I always have issues with that, because I always wanted my own name. I wanted to be separate from my dad. Because when you’re a boy, you get your own name. It’s separate from your parent. So, my dad’s is different from his dad’s, etc, etc, etc. Um, I think it’s. 

Interviewer: How does that reflect on the culture? 

Subject: It’s a very communal experience. So when you’re named when you have your Hebrew name at your Bat Mitzvah. When you’re called to read the Torah, you’re called by your Hebrew name. So, like when I had to go up for my Bar Mitzvah, they didn’t say. Uh, reading passage three is [redacted subject name], it was…they have a chant that they sing, and then they sing, uh, your name. It is kind of one of those things that plays into every facet of your life as you get older in the temple or, like, in the cult Hebrew culture. And it’s not something that’s talked about a lot until it’s kind of…necessary to be talked about. So, like when my dad had to come up and read a blessing from my Bat Mitzvah, he was called by his Hebrew name, his. His brother was called by his Hebrew name. It’s just that’s kind of how it is, so it’s when you’re in that space. Everyone also has that alternate name in a way. Oh yeah, just kind of, I don’t know. It’s kind of communal, and it’s not really ever talked about. It’s just. You’re kind of aware that if you’re there and you’ve had a Bat Mitzvah, you have a Hebrew name. 

Analysis: 

The subject highlighted both her intimacy with this Jewish tradition as well as her sense of emotional distance from the roots of the ritual. By reflecting on her role as a passive participant in this communal experience urged on by her family, the subject’s exposure to her cultural heritage is palpable, which clearly led to increased curiosity about her family’s past as a Jewish-American.