[Avodah] R'Zeira/Gemara Megilah

[Mordechai Goldstein]

Hi, I had done a google search on the R'Zeira maaseh, and saw on your
list that some
years back everyone was begging for a transcription of this "geshmakeh pshat"
the agadata in Megilah from the Lubavitcher Rebbe.  Since I found it
in its entiretly
I thought I'd forward the URL to you:

http://www.sichosinenglish.org/cgi-bin/calendar?holiday=purim13305

I think if saying this pshat at one's seudah, one would run it
together with the nice
Dvar Torah that Rabbi Berger posted, I include that below, too, one would have
a very nice Dvar Torah on their hands indeed!

Best,

Mordechai Goldstein

"The Names are Suitable for Yisrael"
Rabbi Yosef Sharabi, Rabbi of Givat Mordechai, Jerusalem

The above sentence is from Midrash Tanchuma. Names are very significant to a
person both during his lifetime and certainly after his death. During life a
name is often a factor leading to good or evil. And after death, a name denotes
how a person will be remembered. This is similar to the words of the Almighty:
"This is my name forever, and this is my memory from generation to generation"
[Shemot 3:15].

A person's name is not only a way to identify his body but mainly a mark of
his soul. As was written by the author of Noam Elimelech, the main aspect
of the name of a person, such as Reuven or Shimon, is the soul and not the
body. As proof, one can look at someone who is asleep. It is easier to wake
him by calling his name than by shaking him. The reason is that the soul
rises during sleep, and the best way to retrieve it is to call it by name.

The significance and importance of a person's name can be seen in the
first verses of this week's Torah portion. "And these are the names of Bnei
Yisrael... Together with Yaacov... Reuven and Shimon" [Shemot 1:1-2]. This
teaches us that the tribes are not only sons in Yaacov's family but are
specifically "Reuven, Shimon, Levi, and Yehuda." This is emphasized by Rashi,
based on the Midrash. "These are the names of Bnei Yisrael -- He listed them
again in order to show his fondness for them. He would take them out and
return them by counting and by name, as is written, 'He takes their hosts
out by number, He calls them all by name' [Yeshayahu 40:26]."

In recognition of the importance of a name, Rabbi Zachai gave as one of the
reasons for his long life the fact that he never called a colleague by a
nickname (Megilla 27b). The Tosafot explained that he did not use a nickname
even if it was not derogatory. Rabbi Zeira was also proud of the same thing:
"I did not call my friend by his nickname" [Megilla 28a].

This was the way our sages have always been. They called a person by his
personal name and not by his family name. This was true not only in calling
one to the Torah or in formal documents such as a bill of sale or a divorce
but also in daily contact. In addressing a rabbi, they would always add the
proper title before his name.

It is true that most people long ago stopped caring about this matter.
However, as is written in the book Get-Mekushar, "Many of the simple people in
these countries are called by their family names." That is, this is a custom of
"amei haaretz," the simple people. Wise men always turned to each other with
the phrase, "Moshe, you have spoken well!" Thus, if you use a proper name,
you have spoken correctly and appropriately.