We are a superstitious people, so the idea of naming a child after a living person is a big taboo. Sephardic Jews follow the tradition of naming sons after their grandfathers, but Eastern European Jews prefer to honor those who have gone on by adopting just the first letter of the person’s name. |
| One theory is that because the Torah recounts how the world was created in six days the number ‘Six’ is considered a perfect number (six coins arranged in rows form a triangle, the most stable geometric shape). Seven (Shabbat, the day of Rest) is "one more than perfection." So, the eighth day is either the day beyond Perfection, symbolically tied to images of a future paradise. Or alternately, the eighth day represents the beginning of a new cycle of days, a metaphor for the beginning of the baby boy's new life in the House of Israel. |
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