Customer Reviews

Your Name Is Your Blessing: Hebrew Names and Their Mystical Meanings

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3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found this very interesting both as a baby naming book and as an interesting and enlightening (and even fun!) insight into friends' and family names. In addition to the usual content of Hebrew-English name books, this book adds the additional "spin" of giving insight into such names based on the recognized Jewish mystical concept of "gematria" (which Rabbi Blech explains very well in the preface and which uses the numerical value of Hebrew letters and thus of Hebrew words and names to make linkages between different concepts with like numerical values -- I'm not explaining it well, so you'll have to read it there!).

AT LAST A BOOK THAT GIVES YOU MUCH MUCH MORE THAN NAMES AND THEIRMEANINGS! sIURE YOU,VE GOT TO BE A BELIEVER IN KABBALAH AND JEWISHMYSTICISM, BUT HEY WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE IF YOU TRY TO SEE WHAT THIS REMARKABLE TRADITION HAS TO SAY. As an aside I tried comparing a dozen of my friends with what the book says their names tell you about them and I found it frighteningly and fascinatingly accurate most of them.... This is really a book that started hours of discussion in our study group and I cant recommend it highly enough . It sems to be runing out in bookstores so grab it it Amazon if its avasilable!

If you research the history and meaning of names AND use Gematria, your results will be exquisitive! You will need this book as an auxilary.

Even if "your" name is not listed in this book and you know the gematria (= numeric value) of the name, you will find a blessing of this name by Rabbi Blech. You just look up the gematric index in the back of the book, find out the allegoric name with the same gematria and the blessing there will be yours too.

As you notice, I am very enthusiastic about this book!

What I love about this book is that it does not just give you the simple meanings. It also gives a pasuk (a verse from the Torah) that applies to the name and give you the deeper meanings of the name and blessings associated with it. I used Your Name Is Your Blessing to help find a name for my second child. I have since lent it out many times. It seems to have disappeared, so now that I am expecting again, please G-d, I am buying it again because I enjoyed it so much last time. This is a very special baby naming book. It is one you will never regret buying. Confession: I even read it way after my child my born and named, simply because I enjoyed it so much.

I would recommend this book to anyone. While reading it with a circle of friends, we realized that many of the descriptions attributed to each name were amazingly accurate, and some of my friends even admited that though certain descriptions came as a shock to us, they personally recognized it as part of their personality. Even if you don't believe in the deep meanings this book has to offer, it's always just fun to read with or without friends. as always, great job Rabbi Blech!

Western society forgets that a majority of historical and current names come from eastern roots, especially Hebrew names: Abraham, Rachel, Dinah, Ron, Joe (Yosef), David, Arielle, and strangely Barak. This collection uses a format that is helpful in explaining the hebrew translation, gematria, a word, phrase, blessing. Additional information about gematria and naming a baby after a relative is included. It is interesting to quote this material to someone who has no idea what their name means! Good reference and read.

One of the most popular books in our bookcase. Most people who visit open it to check their children's names. It helped us choose one as well that has deep spiritual meaning for us and she is a wonderful blessing. :-)

For our purposes, this book was perfect. It contains a short piece of information about each name, which usually answered the questions we had. If you're looking for in-depth interpretation about the name and it's origins, this is not your text. If you're looking for the most basic information and background about a large number of names, this is your book. It makes a great starting point for more involved research.

Dont buy this book for its academic content. A load of emotional garbage based on unfounded superstition, bells & whistles; where the name meanings and purported explanations are all basically the same except maassaged to sound different. This book is just another money making exploitive exercise with no inherant value or purpose. The fact that Rabbi Blechs wife has lent her name to the title only serves to diminish Rabbi Blechs reputation as a fine scholar and orator.