Teshuva: Name of a Convert

By Rabbi Dr. Barry Leff

 

3 Kislev 5764

November 28, 2003

Question:

May a convert choose to use a name other than Ploni ben/bat Avraham Avinu v’Sarah Imanu?  Especially today, when it is the custom in many congregations to call people to the Torah by both the father and mother’s name, calling someone to the Torah as Ploni ben/bat Avraham v’Sarah gives the appearance of announcing the person’s status as a convert.  Many converts prefer not to be reminded of their status in such a public fashion.  Also, with no disrespect towards Avraham Avinu and Sarah Imanu, some converts may find that they relate more strongly to other Jewish figures of the past.

Response:

There is a clear tradition that converts are named ben/bat Avraham Avinu.  In the Shulhan Arukh Even HaEzer 129:20 it states: .åðéáà íäøáà ïá éðåìô :áúåë øâ èâá  ”In a convert’s get is written: Ploni son of Avraham Avinu.”  The Rosh in a teshuva (Clal 15:4) states ,íéáúåë ÷äáåîä åîùå ,íäøáà ïá éðåìô :íéøâ ìù ïéèâå úåáåúëá áåúëì ïéâäåð êë àìà

.íìë éáà àåä íéåâ ïåîä áàå..  ”thus it is our custom to write in ketubbot or gittin of converts: Ploni ben Avraham, and his preferred name is written, and he is the father of a great nation, father of all.” 

Isaac Klein confirms this as normative for Conservative Jews as well (A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice, p. 445):  “The patronymic ben or bat Avraham Avinu is insisted upon for purposes of identification.” 

From looking at the various teshuvot on the subject, it is clear that identification means simply identifying the correct person, not that there is any other reason to identify a convert.  The Tur (Even HaEzer 129) elaborates on this concept.  The Tur states that if someone is mad at his or her father and does not want to recognize him by going by his name, he may not just call himself by some other name (ben Shmuel instead of ben Shimon) in a get because people might get him confused with someone else.

The Beit Yosef, however, gives us an opening to use a name other than Avraham Avinu for a convert.  The Beit Yosef on Tur, Even HaEzer 129:20 brings a teshuvah from the Mintz, Moses ben Isaac (15^th century Ashkenaz) which says:

åðéáà íäøáà ïá åà øâä áåúëéù ïåâë øâ àåäù äéðéî òîúùéìã ïåùìá áåúëéù êéøöù éúàöî

“I found that one needs to write in language that implies that the person is a convert, for example write “hager,” the convert, or son of Avraham Avinu (emphasis added).”  This teshuvah clearly says that even in a get it is sufficient to identify the person as a convert, without necessarily also naming them after Avraham Avinu.

            Tosefta Gittin 6:4 (cited by Tosafot to Bavli Gittin 34b) goes even further: it says that a convert who changes his name to a gentile name and is divorced under that name, the get is kosher.  The Tosefta goes on to state that similarly this applies to gittin that come from overseas, because when a Jew lives overseas he has a name like a Gentile name.

In Terumat Hadeshen (Section 2, 197), Rav Yisrael Isserlin brings an opinion that: .äöøéù åîë åîöòì íù úåðëì ãçà ìë ìåëéã àèéùô

øùë åá ùøâå íù éø÷î éøëð íùì åîù äðéùù øâ åìéôàã

“It is obvious that a person is able to call himself by whatever name he wishes, that even a convert who changed his name to a gentile name, and was called by that name and divorced with it is kasher.”  Isserlin’s statement that a person can call himself whatever name he wishes might also suggest that a person can be called to the Torah by a name other than his or her “official” name as used in legal documents.  However, this specific issue is not addressed by this teshuva.

            We do have records of converts using names other than ben/bat Avraham. In his teshuva “On the Conversion of Adopted and Patrilineal Children (Proceedings of the CJLS 1986-1990, p. 168),” Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner shows that using the name “ben/bat Avraham” is just a custom.  He brings examples of converts using other names from the Bavli Yevamot 101b.  Rabbi Reisner concluded that adopted children who are converts do not need to use ben/bat Avraham (Ibid, p. 174).

Even if it is minhag, not halacha, one might argue that ever since Caro codified the use of the name Avraham Avinu in the Shulhan Arukh, the use of that name has become a longstanding tradition that we should be reluctant to change. 

It is good to honor tradition.  However, in this case, we have a clear understanding of why the tradition came about—it was to make sure that converts were accurately identified in documents.  This need can be fulfilled in other ways, by simply identifying the person as a convert in the document.

In the Talmud Bavli, Bava Metzia 58b we learn that we are forbidden to taunt the convert, to remind him of his former status.  The Gemara states that to remind a convert of the things he or his ancestors did would be to violate the commandment not to wrong or oppress the stranger (Exodus 22:20).  The Gemara forbids even reminding the offspring of a convert of the status of their ancestors.  The Gemara continues with a discussion of how really terrible it is to publicly embarrass someone.  This conclusion of the Talmud was accepted as halacha by both the Tur and Shulhan Arukh (Hoshen Mishpat 225:2), as follows:

úåîå÷î äîëá åéìò øäæåäù éôì ,åðåîîá ïéá åôåâá ïéá ,øâä úàðåàá øúåéá øäæéì êéøö  “One needs to be especially careful about oppressing the convert, whether himself or monetarily, therefore we are cautioned about this in several places (in the Torah).”

If we continue to insist on Avraham Avinu (and Sarah Imanu), especially in these times when the name of both the father and mother are used in calling someone to the Torah, we will effectively be labeling converts as converts every time they get called up for an aliyah, and this could be a violation of íéøáã úàðåà.

Furthermore, as pointed out in Terumat Hadeshen, a person is entitled to call him or her self whatever he or she pleases.  According to halacha, the convert has made a complete break with his or her former family; for many purposes, a convert is treated as if he or she has no relatives (see, for example, Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 269:1, as a matter of Torah law a convert is allowed to marry his mother or sister that converted; the rabbis had to make a decree against this).  However, in these days where there has been significant intermarriage, divorce, blended families, etc., converts do not turn their backs on their gentile families, and in fact we counsel converts in ways to be both Jewishly observant and to maintain peace with their families.  Some converts may wish to acknowledge their non-Jewish blood relatives with their name; for example, if the father was named “John” a convert might want to call him or her self “ben or bat Yohanan.”  Or if a convert has a beloved relative who has passed away, he or she may want to acknowledge a connection to that person.

Other converts may find that they simply have a stronger sense of identification with biblical characters other than Abraham and Sarah.  If a convert feels a particularly strong connection with Ruth and her journey, for example, she may feel herself a “spiritual descendant” of Ruth, and prefer to call herself “bat Ruth” instead of “bat Sarah.”  Allowing a convert to select a name that resonates more strongly with him or her may have the beneficial effect of increasing the sense of comfort he or she has with their new Jewish identity.

Conclusion

Therefore we conclude that while we may wish to encourage converts to choose the name ben/bat Avraham Avinu v’Sarah Imanu to honor a long-standing tradition, we need not insist on it, even l’chatchila (before the fact) if a proselyte has a preference for a different name.  The only caveat is that the person must take care that in any official documents, such as ketubbot or gittin, that the convert must be identified as rdv or ,ruhdv in order that there will not be any possibility of confusion in identifying the person, as described in the teshuvah from the Mintz.  For example, if a convert chose to call himself Shmuel ben Yosef, we would not want someone looking for a non-existent Yosef, or confusing the convert with someone else of that name.

And certainly, b’dievad, after the fact, if a convert had received a name other than Ploni ben/bat Avraham Avinu at the time of a halachic conversion, there is no requirement for the person to change his or her name.