WHAT IS IN A NAME?
The Hebrew of ancient days attached great value to names. One of the first favours bestowed upon Adam was the power to give names to creatures. This was Adam’s initial act. First he gave genetic names to the animals. Then he called his first offspring by personal names, Cain and Abel. Thus, at first, he calls his wife Woman; later she acquires her own name, Eve, the Biblical explanation being “because she was the mother of all living”, while the implied meaning supplied by the Sages is that Eve is derived from Hivia — snake. God Himself is praised in that “He giveth them all their names” (Psalms 147.4). The name carries something of the essence of the named, irrespective of which came first, the name or the essence. Therefore the Holy Name, the name of God, Elohim, is of such great import.
Some persons were called names indicative of their ultimate fate, like Abel, whose name — Hevel in Hebrew — means naught, -and who really came to naught. Sometimes names are changed, following upon events or upon meaning added to their lives, as occurred with Jacob turned Israel. A name can also acquire a new meaning and shed its former significance. This is what happened to Jerusalem.
***The challenge of Jerusalem: Betwixt thicket and altar / Israel Eldad, Arieh Eldad (translated by J.Bension/ Eleora Eldad), Tel Aviv: Simanei Dfus, [1992].
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