[Avodah] Hebrews/Israelites/Bnei Yisroel - Jews

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Oct 17, 2007 at 09:27:28PM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:
:                                ... Then R Yochanan says: "le'olam
: mibinyamin ka'ati", he came only from Binyamin and not from Yehuda.
: "So why was he called Yehudi?  Because he denied AZ, for anyone who
: denies AZ is called Yehudi, as it says 'There are Jewish men [...who
: don't serve your gods]' (Daniel 3:12)."

And how do you know this is intended as peshat rather than derashah?

The name Shneiur originated from Signor. However, Rav Aharon Kotler named
his son for the fact that he was born Friday evening, when "shenei or"
should be lit. So, while the names is from "Signor", my nephew in Lakewood
was still named for the derashah of "two lights".

Yarmulka is a Slavic word for cap, coming from the Turkish. Yiddish
speakers associated with with "yarei Malka". Did the name for the
traditional head covering win the "market share" it did because of the
Slavic origin, or because people were thinking about yir'as Shamayim?

The same might be what the gemara is trying to say. But personally, I
still think it's simply darshening the pasuq.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha