Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Accidentally Following Tradition

Another one from The Book of Jewish Practice:
"A biblical commentator, quoted by Nahmanides, noted that Judah chose the name for his first son while his wife named the second (Genesis 38:3-4).  On the basis of this passage he suggested that in ancient times the father named the first child, the mother named the second.  The custom, however is the opposite.  The mother has the choice of name for the first child, the father for the second, and so on."

Oddly enough, my parents followed the tradition.  I'm the oldest; my mother chose my first name.  It was a coincidence, though.  My mom won the right to name me in a hand of cards.
Although...you could argue that it was destined.  If God does not play dice with the Universe, then my mother winning a card game doesn't have to be an accident.

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