Parshat Shlach
by Rabbi Avi Billet
The Torah presents individuals and groups of people using names that sometimes reflect something about them. The Talmud (Sotah11b) tells us that the father of
Kalev ben Yefuneh was named Chetzron, and that “Yefuneh” is a word describing how he “turned himself away from the viewpoint of the spies.” (This is based on Divrei HaYamim I 2:9,18. A number of commentaries quote this Talmudic statement)
Kalev is credited with marrying two women (see Divrei HaYamim above, and Rashi there on 2:18) – first Azuvah, and after her death, Efrat, and our Sages tells us Efrat was Miriam, and the name Efrat (אפרת) is because the Israelites multiplied (פרו ורבו) in her merit.
Moshe’s father-in-law is credited with having up to 7 names, each one speaking something about the man, more than helping us know what his real name was.
Even Moshe Rabbenu’s name, the one he is most famous for, was given to him by the daughter of Pharaoh. The Sages teach us (Vayikra Raba 1)
that he had ten names, and the Midrash there explains each name’s significance: Yered, Chever, Yekutiel, Avigdor, Avi Socho, Avi Zanoach, Toviah, Shmaya ben Netanel, Hasofer, Halevi. Presumably his parents named him when he was born, but that name is not revealed to us in the Torah.
Similarly when it comes to the nation of Israel, they are sometimes referred to as עם (nation), קהל (community), עדה (assembly), and בני ישראל (Children of Israel). Do each of these words really mean the same thing? Are they referring to different groups of people? Do they refer to different attitudes of the people? Is it dependent on context for us to figure out who we are reading about?
