[Avodah] City named after AZ

[Joseph C. Kaplan]

RAM wrote: "I suspect the answer is in his last line there: It just doesn't feel right. Nowadays, no one relates "Tamuz" to avodah zara, but queasiness over "Christchurch" doesn't surprise me a bit. "El Salvador" probably depends on one's familiarity with the Spanish language.

Could it be that we're dealing with a social issue, and not a halachic one?"

I suspect that this analysis is the correct one.  And if it so, it very well might be that it applies to Mumbai as well.  I wonder how many of us knew, before this thread started, that the name Mumbai was derived the name of a Hindu goddess.  I'll be the first to admit that I didn't. I use the name not to honor a goddess but because I believe in using the names for cities and countries established by the governing authorities of such places.  And, if Israel decided that the official English name of Jerusalem was Yerushalayim, I would expect the New York Times, other media and our and other governments to respect that decision and use that name.

To be trite:  sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Joseph Kaplan
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