2024 – לכל איש יש שם

The terrible massacre that took place on Simchat Torah 2023, exactly fifty years after the Yom Kippur War, which was the starting point of the poem "Every Person has a Name" by the poet Zelda, reawakened its relevance, with essential questions being asked all over again about personal and collective identity.

The poet Zelda wrote the poem "Every Person has a Name" inspired by her personal research regarding identity. Each and every person is defined by their name. A name defines essence. There is something hidden in a person's name, which is a revelation of the individual and the unique human essence.

The poem describes 26 different dimensions of a person's identity and essence, which are expressed through adjectives that include a rich selection of diverse angles about hopes and expectations, weaknesses and downfalls, things that a person has no control over, and things that the person chooses, names that are given externally, and names that the person chooses internally, names given to him by other human beings, and names given to him by his Creator, at his birth and at his death.

"A name is better than good oil, and the day of death is better than the day of one's birth" (Kohelet 7:1).
The verse clarifies the fact that, at the end of his days, man receives his full name – given to him in light of the deeds and actions he chose to do within the unknown period of time given to him in his life.

"Three names were given to man:
One is the name his father and mother call him
One is the name other people call him
And one is the name he acquired for himself
The best one is the one that he acquired for himself” (Midrash Tanchuma, Parashat Vaikhal, 1)

The most accurate name for a person is the name that he gives himself, through his actions, choices and achievements. This name sometimes differs from the expectations and hopes instilled in the name his parents chose for him, and sometimes differs from nicknames given to him by his peers, relating to physical, geographical and descriptive elements that are beyond his choice and control.

All this together creates one`s complex name, which captures his essence in introspection into human life:
"It is stated, in the name of the Ari Z”L, that no person is identical to any other person from the day of man's creation and onwards, and no one can repair what another person must repair. Every person has a specific destiny and role, which only he can fulfill and accomplish in his life. Every person has the specific reason for which he came to the world. Hashem provides each person with all the exact accurate circumstances and conditions through which he can fulfill his exact destiny and role in His world. This means that all the conditions of a person's life, both physical and spiritual, good and bad, were all given in order for him to correct his ways and fulfill his mission. Even the hard and difficult situations in a person's life are given to him, in order to reach a higher good. One must remember throughout life challenges, that no evil ever comes down from heaven and everything is for the good of man, and through these circumstances and challenges he will achieve his destiny and fulfill his role in his world"
(The Rebbe of Slonim, Sefer Nativot Shalom, Parashat Lech Lechah).

This exhibition wishes to awaken a renewed observation of each artist upon fundamental questions of personal and collective identity: How do different people give us different names? What are the different names we give ourselves? How do the diverse, and perhaps even contrasting names given to us, illuminate different sides within us? How is this poem, written exactly 50 years ago, relevant to us today, and how can we grow from the messages hidden within it?

Dr Nurit Sirkis Bank
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Every Person has a Name

by the Poet Zelda

Every person has a name
which was given by God
And was given by his father and mother

Every person has a name
which was given by his stature and the manner of his smile
And was given by his cloth

Every person has a name
which was given by the mountains
And was given by his walls

Every person has a name
which was given by his fortune
And was given by the neighbors

Every person has a name
which was given by his sins
And was given by his wishes

Every person has a name
which was given by his haters
And was given by his love

Every person has a name
which was given by his holidays
And was given by his craft

Every person has a name
which was given by the seasons
And was given by his blindness

Every person has a name
which was given by the sea
And was given by his death