Chana (Hannah), my Jewish namesake

Since we are in the midst of the Jewish high holidays, I'll say a little something about my being Jewish. I converted, and have been a Jew since the summer of 2004. During the conversion process, my sponsoring rabbi asked me to choose a Hebrew name for myself. I think my main avenue of searching was online, and I found a site that listed the personalities of several biblical Jewish women. Some converts pick Ruth, the original convert, but I found Hannah, and liked her because her description said she was very devoted to her family.

I realized last year at Rosh Hashanah that the Torah portion that day is the story of Hannah! So, even if I don't go to services regularly, I get to hear my story as long as I go on Rosh Hashanah... which I will do every year barring some emergency.

I get these emails that I signed up for during the conversion process, little discussions/sermons written by rabbis about the week's Torah portion, and I got Hannah's this week. I haven't been reading them anymore, but I read this one and I paraphrase it here:

Class 11 - The Story of Chana: Prayer with a Purpose by Mrs. Leah Kohn

Chana's is the story of one woman's prayer. That a woman should be recognized as a role model for prayer is interesting given that, in terms of formal prayer, men have more obligations than women. Women are required to pray once a day, but can do so on their own and in their own words. A man's involvement in prayer is far more regimented and public, yet the sages teach us that many of the halachot (laws) of prayer are derived from Chana - a woman. She was childless, married to Elkanah, who also had a second wife, Penina, who had 7 children. Chana's anguish at not having children had to do not only with her own yearning to have a family, but with her desire to serve G-d by dedicating her offspring to Him. In response to Chana's entreaty from her heart, Hashem blessed Chana with a son Samuel (I Samuel 1:20), who would become a prophet compared to Moses and Aaron in greatness.

Chana's example indicates that, contrary to current misperceptions, different obligations between men and women in prayer do not indicate women's inferiority. Chana forged such a unique connection to Hashem through prayer that she became a role model for future generations, despite the fact that, as a woman, she was not even obligated in this area. Chana teaches us that devotion to G-d helps us to rise above perceived limitations in life. Certainly, we come into the world with parents, talents, resources, and life circumstances, but if we are sincere in our divine service, we may accomplish our most meaningful goals. Chana asked for a personal blessing so that she might more fully serve G-d. Her joy at bearing a child expressed not only her personal thanks to Hashem, but her gratitude and wonder at His total mastery of Creation. Through Chana we understand that when G-d blesses just one of us, He is in essence blessing us all. Our sages tell us that Chana's prayer is prophetic, inasmuch as it describes not only the history, but the future of the Jewish people, when the Messiah will redeem all of Israel.

Women in Judaism, Copyright © 2005 by the Jewish Renaissance Center and Torah.org. These classes are available here.

I took out most of the overly religious messages that were in there, because my main point is that I didn't really know what I was talking about when I told my sponsor I wanted to be Hannah because she was family-centric. She's more a groundbreaker than a family woman. And what this discussion doesn't mention is that when she was praying, she only mouthed the words, and the other men there told her to get out because they thought she was drunk. This I learned last week when LH's hometown rabbi gave his sermon about Chanah. I don't see why it's so bad to pray when you're drunk. Alcohol is a truth serum, right? I guess that's a question for the rabbis.

Anyway, my sponsor said, "well, sort of," when I told him my reason for picking Hannah. Then he said, "That's probably the best name anyway, because it's the closest you'll get to 'Jen.'" So I thought I had lucked into the perfect Hebrew name, and I do still like it, but there's less for me to feel connected to now that I know the whole story.