Call Me Classic

"Rabbi, are you Orthodox?" is a question I get all the time.

I recently read this great article on Chabad.org. I got a chuckle out of it, but I am proud to say that I am a Classic Jew.
Here is the beginning:

"It's got to be one of the toughest marketing problems of all time: selling Orthodox Judaism. You gotta hand it to Chabad. They're making amazing progress, especially when you think about what an unmarketable name they have to deal with: Orthodox Judaism.

Come on, just think about it. Let it roll off your tongue: Orthodox. Orthodox. Orthodox. I'm sorry. It just doesn't work. It doesn't roll off the tongue. No, sir. It stumbles. It tumbles. It lands in a puddle with a splat. But it doesn't roll. Nope. Oh, there are other names for people who keep the Shabbat, lay teffillen, etc: Observant, Shomer Shabbat, Ultra-Orthodox, Hassidic, Machmir. Yup. Lots of names. None of them good. Or at least not attractive, anyway."

Here's the rest

And the name is....

Tehila!
That means joyous praise. The word "Hallel" derives from tehila, and we recite hallel on only the most joyous occassions, like Yom Tov. So Esther and I thought it appropriate to express our gratitude to Hashem and to bless Tehila with a life full of selfless joy and giving.

Thank you to all of you who helped in the naming process. It was actually I who came up with the name Tehila, but I must give credit to all those who helped make my choice difficult.

In a close second place behind Tehila, we had Richarda (it was tough, Richard), Sheniqua (Rabbi G), Maimonidesia (Feldy), Achdut (Andrew) and Goldenpalace.com (Jason).

Honorable mention to Chaika, Shaina, Chaya, Shalshelet, Jacquelin, Leah (pronounced LAY-uh), Naomi, Shira, Rivka, Sarah, and last and least, Christina (bc she was born on the 4th of Tevet).