Correcting names

Lieberman was offered to become Havivi

A member of the Israeli parliament from the opposition Kadima party, 57-year-old Ronit Tirosh, approached her colleagues with a proposal to translate their first and last names into Hebrew. The deputy wants to revive the tradition of Hebrewizing the names of the country's leaders, which was adopted in the early years of Israel's existence. “I appeal to you today to take Jewish names for yourself, this will be a symbolic but important gesture that emphasizes the importance of the Hebrew language,” Ms. Tirosh said. former Director General of the Ministry of Education.

The head of the “Our Home is Israel” party, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Avigdor Lieberman (pictured) , fell under the hot hand of Mrs. Tirosh; he was asked to change his last name to Havivi. Among other Russian-speaking deputies who, in the deputy’s opinion, should not bear overseas names, is the Minister of Absorption Sofa Landwehr, who was asked to change her surname to Magen. There are also ideas from Knesset members. Anastasia Michaeli could take the name Tkhiya, Faina Kirshenbaum could take the surname Duvdevani, and Yulia Shamalova-Berkovich would become Yulia Ben-Baruch.

And the matter doesn't stop there. Minister of Social Security Yitzhak Herzog was asked to change his last name to Rosen, MP Yitzhak Aronovich to Ben-Aharon, and Meir Shitrit to Hakham. The former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MP Silvan Shalom, was asked to abandon his Latin name meaning “forest” and become Alon (oak), Erez (cedar) or Oren (pine).

The Israelis reacted to this initiative with humor. In recent years, repatriates prefer to leave their last names the same and change only their first names. The Svets in Israel become the Sivans (sivan means light in Hebrew), and the Yaroslavs become the Yarons. However, this is a personal initiative; no one will force you to change your last name or first name in Israel. Upon arrival in the Jewish state, the famous Soviet dissident Anatoly Sharansky, who became Nathan, chose to change his name but keep his surname. But the Soviet dissident Eduard Kuznetsov remained Eduard Kuznetsov.

The practice of changing first and last names was popular in the Jewish state in the 1950s shortly after independence. The unspoken rule of Hebrewizing surnames was introduced by the founder of the state, David Ben-Gurion - he believed that Jews, having found their own country, should get rid of everything that symbolizes exile, including foreign surnames. The first Israeli prime minister changed his surname Green to Ben-Gurion back in 1910.

However, today Knesset members who have already become known under their current names are unlikely to dare to change them. The press service of the Kadima party assured the Vremya Novostey correspondent that the initiative of deputy Tirosh is her personal idea, which has nothing to do with other party deputies.

Maria GRISHINA, Jerusalem, Dmitry DUBOV, Tel Aviv