Dvar Torah - Lily Stein

My Torah portion is Va’eira it is found in the book of Shmot.

The parashah takes place in Egypt where the Jews were enslaved. One day G-d tells Moses to go to pharaoh and say to him that he must let the Jewish people free. Pharaoh says that he will not and G-d sends 7 plagues and there is no result.

At the start of the parashah G-d explains his/her name to be Adonai but to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob G-ds name was El Shaddai.

Why does G-d need 2 names?

There are many names of G-d and these are just a few of them… Adonai, el Shaddai, Eloheinu, Harachaman, Matir asurim and Hashem.

G-d is called by these different names in different times or different situations like if someone is in need or if they are angry or if they are apologizing and there are many other times in which G-d has different names.

G-d is called something different in different religions as g-d is believed differently. G-d is called different names when people are different ages because as you grow you learn more. And g-d may sometimes be called different names with different genders.

I grew up calling G-d hashem and honestly didn’t know some of his other names but as I have grown and started learning for my batmitvah I have discovered and learned many different names of G-d. I was particularly interested and drawn to the name El Shaddai as it means G-d almighty and I think and know g-d as being the great and powerful so I think this is a very important name for G-d.

I am also called by many names such as lily, לאה and angelica and my nicknames which are lils, Lolly, Polly, Milosh, Tutty, Isaac, Lilith, Lilinater, and the list goes on…

But the most important to me are my names lily and לאה.

I think the name lily was a very well given name for me as a lily is a flower and there are many types of lily’s and these are the ones I relate to and why.

Water lily’s because I love to swim and I love the ocean.

Tiger lily’s because I’m quite a feisty girl

and arum lily’s because they grow in the wild and I’m quite a wild child they are also tough but beautiful flowers and they can survive anywhere like me.

And now my name לאה she was one of the matriarchs and she was the first of Jacobs wives she was also a very tough and strong woman. She had 6 sons and at least one daughter.

Now, why does one person need so many names?

More than one name is important because than everyone is more complex than one name suggests.

To end off my dvar torah I would like to add that all my names mean something and the people calling me those names mean something to me and when I get my next name which with be one of the most special names that I have which is a batmitvah and that is the name given to me for working hard and deserving it. It is showing that I am ready to take a new big step in my life of becoming a woman and taking the responsibilies of being a young Jewish woman. I take this name showing that I am ready to be a batmitvah and ready for this new exciting step in the long staircase called life.