Mazal tov to Ricki '04 and Shelly Bornstein on the birth of a son, Tzvi Yehuda.

She-yizku le-gadlo le-Torah, le-chuppa, u-le-ma'asim tovim!

Here is the explanation of our name:

We wanted a name that depicts 3 elements of Jewish life: Torah, Nation, Land . We believe that these are the three pillars of Jewish experience and value that define our existence.

Tzvi:

The name Tzvi appears a few times in Tanach, each time referring to the Land of Israel as 'eretz hatzvi' – a beautiful land; more beautiful than any other lands. In Rambans commentary he explains that Israel is beautiful in its uniqueness in that it is the smallest geographic area on earth that has so much packed in! Nowhere else will you find such a small area with city life, beach culture, snow slopes, a rainforest, dessert lands, salt lakes, agriculture etc etc. We really do have a bit of everything here! In other words, the beauty stems from its variety.

Malbim explains that the beauty of Israel is not just physical, but spiritual too. The verse says "and I will raise my hands and take you out of Egypt to the land that I have chosen, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land more beautiful (tzvi) than all the other lands" The notion of God raising his hands and delivering us to Israel depicts the divine orchestration in the fact that Israel is not our destination, but rather our destiny. After 2000 years of locked doors we are able to live in the land designated to us and for us. At the end of the day, Malbim continues, you can try grow grapes on Bondi beach, but they won't survive. The best grapes that produce the best wine are grow in perfect conditions in France, where the climate is exactly fitted to produce the sweetness that we all sought after. So too, a Jew needs to be planted in his perfect conditions!

Yehuda:

When Yaakov is dying at the end of Genesis, he gathers all his children to bless them. Amongst other blessings, he blesses Yehuda that "his eyes will be red with wine, his teeth white with milk". The verse, in a narrow sense, is a blessing of financial security, and perhaps even wealth, that Yehuda will live a good life. The midrash explains a further idea: if a beggar asks for a cup of milk, liban shinayim¸the whitening of your teeth (ie greeting him with a smile), is even more valuable miyayin, than the wine itself. (in Hebrew the prefix 'm' can either mean 'from' or 'more than'. Hence, the simple reading of the verse is that Yehudas teeth will be white from milk, whilst the deeper reading is that the whitening of his teeth is more than (ie dearer) than the milk itself). Our blessing is that our Tzvi Yehuda will be able to greet people with a smile and relate to them warmly, with an open heart and kindness, and appreciate the value of everyone on their own level. There is also a linking element in that the milk promised to Yehuda may be the same milk from the verse quotes above, referring to Israel flowing with milk and honey. I would like to suggest that the blessing of Yehuda was that he will see Eretz Yisrael with the same respect and love that the midrash described him having towards his fellow man and community.

The name Yehuda is also very dear to me, as it was the name of my Rosh Yeshiva, haRav Yehuda Amital zt"l, who passed away earlier this year. Rav Amital was a visionary. Surviving the camps alone, he made aliya and began building immediately. He was one of the developers of the hesder yeshiva system, relandscaping the religious Zionist world in that it gave young men the opportunity (and privilege) to serve in the army whilst concurrently learning in Yeshiva. Today, R Amital's yeshiva is the biggest hesder yeshiva in Israel, with hundreds of men from all corners of the world learning and living the values that he built the yeshiva with. R Amital mastered Talmud and halacha, but more importantly, was a true mench. He had his hand on the pulse of every person he ever encountered. He was loved and respected by all – religious and irreligious alike. When he was buried last Tammuz, thousands of students and past students gathered in the streets to show their last respects to him. I was one of those fortunate to be there.

Yehuda was also the name of Phyllis's late father, and it is a pleasure to name our son after his memory.

Tzvi Yehuda:

Jointly, Tzvi Yehuda is also a commemoration to haRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook. Rav Kook was a very deep personality who devoted his life to Torah and Jewish sovereignty in Israel. Today, many regions in Israel that we take for granted are due to his courage in fighting and standing up for what is truthfully ours!

Kol tuv

Ricki & Shelley Bornstein

rsbornstein@gmail.com