When I was in high school, I began working at TBE on Friday afternoons to help set up for Shabbat. Today, I have Fridays off from my job at a non-profit, so I still come in to work at TBE. Every week, I set up and alphabetize the nametags. Have you ever noticed them?

I would be lying to say this is exciting work. It’s not—but I’m actually kind of happy those nametags are there. They are a way of making people feel welcome in our community. If someone knows your name, that’s a form of acceptance, and the first step towards knowing who a person is. My family has been involved at TBE for many years, so everyone there seems to know who I am – even when I can’t remember who they are! Those nametags have saved me from many awkward moments and helped me to remember who someone is.

Names have always been an important part of Jewish identity. One of the Torah’s earliest scenes depicts Adam, the first person, coming up with names for all the animals, so he could relate to them on a deeper level. Flash-forward a few generations, and Abram is the given the new name Abraham to enter the covenant and form a new relationship with God.

Giving and using names is an important Jewish value. When I was in high school, I was in TBE’s JAWS production of the musical Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. In one scene, Joseph is chained up in prison and sings, “Just give me a number…instead of my name…” He doesn’t feel like a real person. The director said this was intended to be a reference to the Holocaust. In our history, Jewish people needed their names to feel valued.

By helping everyone have a clear nametag, congregants are recognized as important members of the community.