What's In My Name? (Or, From a Chick to A Lion)

Rating Advisory: B

There is a scene in the children's DVD משירי פניה ברגשטיין: בוא אלי פרפר נחמד were Avigayil Arieli turns to Itai Ogav, who has been showing off his knowledge of aviary nomenclature, and slyly remarks אתה יודע, יש לך מוח של אפרוח ("you know you have a brain like a chick"). Of course he takes this as a compliment.

I happened to like this line and for some reason it just stayed in my head.

When a few days later I was trying to come up with a name for my blog, the line was still there and I decided to use מוח כמו אפרוח mo'ah kemo efro'ah ("brain like a chick"). Besides just liking the line, I also thought it was an expression of humility. Of course this did not work out, as other bloggers and readers started referring to me simply as mo'ah ("brain"), which was the opposite of how I was trying to describe myself. I'm still not sure if they thought mo'ah was really my first name, or if they were mocking my self-professed humility. Then again, any self-expression of humility is not that humble to begin with.

I spent some time over Sukkot with Oren of Teaneck. Trying to find an excuse why he does not read the blog, he claimed that this name just doesn't draw him in. Maybe if I tried a new name, he claimed, I might better entice him.

Then Balashon had a post about פרגית pargit, in which he noted that efro'ah also means "young woman" (related to the English usage of "chick" for a young woman?). Now I knew that I really needed to rename the blog. (Then again, at least I knew enough Israeli slang not to use to the Arabic cognate--frecha!).

* * *

My fellow landsman/blogger Jacob also never understood my nome de plume. He had advised me a number of times to change it, most recently following a delicious Shabbat lunch at his home. I knew by then I needed to change it--but to what?

A few days later I received an email from Jacob:

I was ruminating on a new blog title for you (as I have nothing better to do) and here it is: LION OF ZION. It rolls with your name . . . and you are a Zionist too so that works out. And it rhymes very well.

Personally I am sensitive to self-descriptions of Zionist proclivities since I don't live there, yet I do like the sound of his suggestion (and it sure sounds better than mo'ah kemo efro'ah). Actually, I did live in Zion for about two years and because of a bureaucratic mix-up (?) I still technically have an address there. So I guess the designation "of Zion" can still fit.

And so it is.

(Another change to the blog will be forthcoming.)