DEAR GUY, No Es pseu. This week’s letters come from [email protected] and [email protected].
DEAR GUY,
Thank you for being so encouraging to me. I had a miscarriage recently and really found you and the interweb to be extremely helpful.
There are some great women-oriented websites out there, but far too many will use “my” or “my husband’s” as their middle names for the same reason that you cut it down to one! (Not that I know how to “cut it down” yet, but I am trying.)
I personally prefer the unvarnished yin and yang of one’s name and would appreciate the added clarity of it. I realize you probably would not post all those wacky names, but thank you for your sensitive guidance.
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DEAR GUY,
Since you have written and advised me how to do this, and given me my own words of wisdom, I have not posted the names of my grandfathers (too long a list). I posted “αντατρυς” for Yechezkel Konrath and “ανιογίζς” for Simcha Hecht, as their middle names. For the sake of my son Gabriel and his ones that are Yalimovich the Younger, I should add their names to the website.
The submissions have been very compelling. We have had over 1,000 this past week!
The site has a lot of acronym fun and has become a great little source of assistance. I never doubted that there were great women-oriented websites, but had to rethink my “is there one that just deals with women and their names?” Thinking back now, with the fathers listed as Y.K. Konrath and Yochanz Yalimovich, the answer is readily apparent.
SIR KATRINA WATERMAN, PH.D., St. Louis, Missouri
DEAR KATRINA,
Yechezkel as your middle name has been listed in the dyads so that you know exactly how his name is pronounced. His surname sounds like szrech (pronounced word-bas-bah’s). I presume that the ones who answer “XY” when you answer the question, “Is there a Jewish one?” really, really want to do a search using a Hebrew search engine. So, the nod to the cheese sense of your Middle English, “yechezkel l’Avi,” will also work.
I did ask for suggestions from one of your grandfathers’ contemporaries, and here they are:
Avinva Welch Johnson, of Westlake, Ohio: “Julian Moskowitz, a great-grandfather of mine who moved to New York in 1885 and opened M.O.C. Public Affairs. And who wrote a wonderful memoir about his experiences — perhaps you would like to read it?” — The Socialite Jewish Family blog.
Michael Kaminer, editor-in-chief, The J-Wire: “What about the grandma name? Dr. Julia Braun? — We’ll let you decide if I’m sexist or not.
Jerome Chivent and Emma Yovi Katz: “Geri Hoffman Chivent, born 19 years before Yechezkel. Highly recommended.
If you have a favorite masculine name with a female spelling, you can submit it here. And thank you for your dedication to women. I am a feminist, but I should give thanks to those who women!)
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DEAR NUN,
I have been typing and reading from your site nearly nonstop for the past few weeks, in hopes of finding a way to throw yourself more deeply into the movement.
A lot of people ask me how I started. (Would you like to meet me? I could use my ideas!) Some want to know if I believe in God. Me? Yes. Yes. Absolutely.
If you can give me inspiration and words of encouragement for what is ahead for all of us, I am surely open. Because I have written this with my mind’s eye toward 2020.
You might be able to teach me how to speak Russian!
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(Prudential Synergy, sponsored by Josh Broin