Five men whose namesakes were famous Jewish personages share what it’s like to carry their names
Is it satisfying, amusing, or annoying to come into a room and be introduced as “Moshe Feinstein” or “Ezra Attiya”? What’s it like to sign a check or fill out your child’s camp forms with a name everyone around you associates with a famous gadol? Five men whose namesakes were famous Jewish personages share what it’s like to carry their names
I’ve been meeting Rabbi Akiva Eiger for years, and not always in the beis medrash. I’ve met him walking the streets of Boro Park, a tall man with his head bent over. I’ve encountered him at a Downtown Brooklyn train station. I’ve even davened in shul several times next to the person carrying one of the most revered names our nation holds.
Rabbi Akiva Eiger, a Boro Park resident, is an eighth-generation ben achar ben from the great figure entitled by his generation of greats as a gaon. With his high fur kolpik and illuminative eyes, he even looks like his saintly ancestor, though his physical bearing would likely tower over the famously diminutive figure of the man whose kushiyos and piskei halachos are studiously labored over to this day.
“Baruch Hashem, I was zocheh to this name,” says Rabbi Eiger, who works in the diamond industry. “But it’s a tremendous responsibility. It’s too chashuv of a name to have, to be honest. It’s not an easy name to carry. I get used to it, but on the other hand I always think to myself — nu, you have such a name, did you learn enough today?” It demands a lot from me.”
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