We got married by two rabbis. One of them is a friend from college, the other our rabbi from NYC. In this case our rabbi from NYC, Felicia Sol, delivered a beautiful sermon while we were under the chuppah (pictured with us here). She shared a beautiful poem in her sermon entitled, “Each of Us Has A Name,” which is by Zelda. I found it moving and therefore, that’s why I’m sharing it in this forum today.
Photo by Zlatko Batistich.
Each of Us Has A Name
Each of us has a name
given by God
and given by our parentsEach of us has a name
given by our stature and our smile
and given by what we wearEach of us has a name
given by the mountains
and given by our wallsEach of us has a name
given by the stars
and given by our neighbors
Poetry Friday is being hosted by AmoXcalli.
Filed under: friday poetry, poetry
Beautiful.
Thank you for sharing it.
Lovely! Somehow it is comforting to hear we have names given by our “failures” as well as our triumphs. The circle satisfies. What a great poem for a wedding. Thanks for sharing it here!
Oh, I like that.
Oh, I love this poem. I’m going to use it with my students!
Thanks for posting this!
[...] And so, from November 2006 – June 2007, I had to remember to change the pronunciation of Lila’s name every time I called Mom or ran into her on the street. I became a master at the switch, which somehow felt a bit unethical to me. However, we don’t choose our names… our parents (and others) do. This experience taught me that kids sometimes need to have a say in what they’re called so that they’re comfortable walking through life. I’m glad I didn’t buckle to the pressure to call Lila Lay-lah. She would’ve been miserable and uncomfortable in my classroom. (I later found out she had pulled this off when she was in fourth grade too since her fourth grade teacher also called her Lee-lah.) The poet Zelda wrote a poem entitled “Each of Us Has a Name.” (Click here to read the entire poem if you find the first few stanzas, below, meaningful.) I think that this poem, coupled with the experience I had with Lila reminds me of the importance of names and what we’re called in life… and what we’re called by others truly matters. EACH OF US HAS A NAME [...]