Bacia's
Names
The Mohel suggests we keep the Hebrew names of the baby a secret until
the Bris (as well as the honor roles), and it was a wonderful surprise
for the attendees- both "live" and "online". We lost the Internet connection
to the Bacia family in Israel just before the ceremony- so this is the
first they and everyone else we missed is hearing these names, and why
I chose them for my son. I am just full of surprises these days :) In
the Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, we often name our children to remember
loved ones we lost. I lost a lot of people I love recently, to give
my son all their names would be very long name indeed, so I used family
names for his "English" names. Bacia
PDRM0291aron
Bacia is for Aron Bacia: Aron was someone that those of us lucky
enough to know him will always cherish, a special man. I can't say
enough about him. I guess part of the point of naming my son "Bacia"
was to give us all an excuse to tell stories about him. His jokes,
his charm, his perfect values, his survival against the odds, his
casting off fortunes for ideals.
This picture is from May of 2005, the 60th anniversary of the "Release"
from the concentration camps, the end of WWII. This wall is a new
memorial on the kibbutz for the families of kibbutz members killed
in the concentrations camps. Aron is pointing to the names of his
father and mother, and the name "Bacia" on the wall. More
about Aron Bacia .
Strick
edithmom
My mother, Gertrude Strick Katz in pink on the right, and her sister
Edith Strick Sheppard on the left at my sister's wedding. Bacia's
second English name is "Strick" in honor of both of them.
I was very close to both of them. I miss them terribly.
I lost my uncle, Ed Katz, within a month of losing Aron. They were
friends too. Ed's last name is already my last name, so that is
already there for Bacia. With the Hebrew names I could honor Ed
more specifically, as his name on his birth certificate was "Israel",
so Bacia's first Hebrew name is Israel. (Ed was like me, changing
his names around. He was Israel, he was Isadore, he was Ed, he stuck
a "P" in his name for his father, Philip, my grandfather.)
He was, like Aron, a happy man.
Lena Grolnick Katz was my grandmother. I was named for her, the
"L" in Lena became the "L" in Laurie, my English
name is Laurie Rachel Katz. With Bacia's second Hebrew name, Ilan,
I hope to honor her. (It's the sound of "Len" in the Hebrew
name Ilan).
helen001
With the name Ilan I also hope to honor Helen Johnson, a housekeeper
who helped to raise me with endless kindness and patience.
B is for...
Blair016
I also lost my dear friend from high school, Blair, to breast cancer
2 years ago. The last thing she said to me was wishing me well in
having this child. The "B" in Bacia's name is also for
her.
Honoring these people in my son's
name was a selfish thing for me to do, for as much as it is to honor them,
it is for me to still have them with me, and looking out for my kid from
heaven- although Bacia is his own person and can be whoever he wants to
be.
I waited until I actually met my son to give him these names. Although
he was carried by a surrogate , I was on my way to his birth and he came
early. When I arrived at the nursery in the hospital the nurses all told
me how remarkable he is, how he didn't cry or complain, how he was unusually
easygoing and happy. He's a simple kind of guy, hold him and love him
and he's OK. When he had to take the uncomfortable tests in the hospital,
he just did what had to be done and didn't make it worse for himself or
anyone around him. He couldn't wait to be born, couldn't wait to live
life and start his adventure, so he was OK with waiting for me some hours
and gave me his love unreserved and completely.
So I knew then that he was, in fact, Bacia.
My son's name is Bacia Strick Katz, his Hebrew name is Israel Ilan. I
am so terribly fortunate to have a son like this, to have family and friends
like you and to have known such people as he honors with his name.
