Given by her father, Joshua Tallent, on the occasion of her zeved habat, 16 Cheshvan 5765.
The Tanakh, in 1 Samuel 25:25, teaches כִשְׁמוֹ כֶּן־הוּא (ki-sh’mo kein hu)—“Like his name, so is he.” The Talmud, in Berachot 7b, teaches the same concept: a name has a direct influence on its bearer.
As a matter of fact, the Hebrew word for “soul”, נְשָׁמָה (neshama) contains within itself the Hebrew word for “name”, שֵׁמ (sheim), indicating yet again the strong connection between one’s name and one’s soul, or essence.
When Lindsey and I started talking about what names we would like to give our coming child, this teaching of כִשְׁמוֹ כֶּן־הוּא was very important to us. Not only would this child be our first-born, she would be the culmination of two years of prayer and preparation. We wanted her to carry a name that would show what she means to us, while also giving her the power to be a personal blessing on everyone she encounters.
Early on, even before we became pregnant with this child, we latched onto on the names “Chaim” and “Chaya,” both of which come from the root word חַי (chai), which means “life.” Because of our past losses, our firstborn child was becoming a symbol of life for us more and more every day.
However, we decided to not set anything in stone. It is said in Judaism that parents are given the gift of prophecy at the birth of their children. This prophecy enables the parents to give their children names that are fitting, so that כִשְׁמוֹ כֶּן־הוּא. So, we thought of other names that were also full of meaning and waited until the baby arrived to make a final decision.
Chaya’s birth was certainly an act of life. I am still amazed at the fullness that I felt as I watched my wife birth our baby into the world—a fullness that was magnified by the care and devotion with which Lindsey prepared for the birth. Lindsey and I knew that this baby was Chaya from that very moment.
We thought about keeping her name a secret until this zeved habat, but that proved to be almost impossible. A baby with no name is hard to explain to people, especially those who were not going to be here. So, we went ahead and told everyone what her name was, with the side note that her middle name would not be announced until the naming.
The middle name we finally decided on was Tikvah, which means “hope”. The root of Tikvah is קָוָה (kavah), which means, “wait for,” and we certainly waited for this baby with great expectation!
Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (known as the “Ari”), a sixteenth century rabbi and kabbalist, wrote that the nature and behavior of a person, whether good or bad, can be discovered by analyzing his or her name. He also said that even the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in one’s name can be indicative of an individual’s character. Chaya is spelled in Hebrew: chet (8), yud (10), hey (5), for a total of 23. One important Hebrew word also shares this same numerical value—חֶדְוָה (chedvah), which means “joy.”
Chaya Tikvah Tallent is certainly a great source of joy to us, and her presence is a sign of life and hope.