Your name is a fascinating thing. Whether you see it written or hear it being called, it grabs your attention and it gives you positive feelings. When you hear your name, a chemical reaction – the release of feel-good hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin - literally takes place in your brain. When this happens, unconscious signals of empathy, trust, and compassion are sent to your brain, and you feel excited and happy. 

Dale Carnegie, famous author, and human behavior expert, says: “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” 

In a recent study using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), brain activation patterns were examined in response to hearing one’s own first name in contrast to hearing the names of others. The study found that several regions in the brain’s left hemisphere (including the middle frontal cortex, middle and superior temporal cortex, and cuneus) showed greater activation to hearing one’s own name.

In fact, hearing one’s own name is so impactful, that even people in a persistent vegetative state (PVS), in which awareness of both the self and the environment is absent (in other words, they cannot move, speak, identify others, etc.), demonstrated brain activation upon hearing their names! 

Perhaps, at the beginning of Parshas Bamidbar, we find an allusion in the holy Torah to this concept about the impact a name has on a person. The Torah states: שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ כׇּל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם בְּמִסְפַּ֣ר שֵׁמ֔וֹת כׇּל־זָכָ֖ר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָֽם׃ - Take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel, according to their families, according to their fathers’ household, by number of their names, every male according to their head count. 

The Seforno says that, at that time, the names of the individuals reflected their specific individuality, in recognition of their individual virtues. The name of a person is Divinely inspired, and it reflects the persons individual life’s mission and calling.  

You see, in Judaism, we understand that a name is more than just something you are called; it is something that represents your calling. The מספר שמות – the counting of one’s name – has the capacity of שאו את ראש – to elevate a person; to lift his mood and his sense of self-representation. When we hear our name, it validates our existence and affirms our self-worth! 

Names are powerful. Let us strive to lift ourselves and others by tapping into the essence of our names.  

Have a holy Shabbos!