The service was beautiful! The Rabbi was wonderful, and grandparents, aunts & uncles got to each say certain parts of the service. At the end, everyone was invited up to the Bima. Mike, Miranda & I were wrapped in my Dad's Bar Mitzvah Tallis. Everyone was invited to hold the tallis around us. If you could not touch the actual cloth, you touched a person in front of you who touched the fabric. Then we sung "Simintov & Mazel Tov"! It was beautiful!
I also gave a speech about Miranda's 4 special names (Two are her Hebrew names and two are her American names). Here is the speech I gave. I hope Miranda will look back at this speech and always know how special her names are and how special she is. She represents so many people and is surrounded by so much love:
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Miranda is a very lucky girl as she has four very special names. We are here today as she is given her Hebrew name, Hannah Eloria.
These two names come from two very special women. The name ‘Hannah’ is Hebrew for Anne. Anne Hirsch was my paternal grandmother. She was a wonderful wife, mother, and grandma. We were extremely close and I will be delighted to share stories of with Miranda about her great-grandma. I’m also going to share with Miranda, Grandma Anne’s special recipe for ‘Luncheon and Cheese.’ Grandma passed away two years ago and although we lost a very dear woman, her name will live on with Miranda.
Miranda’s Hebrew middle name is Eloria. The name Eloria is for Mike’s maternal grandmother, Eleanor. The ‘EL’ in Eloria stands for ‘G-d of’ and the name Eloria stands for ‘G-d of Light.’ Mike and his grandma were very close and he always shares stories of when she would babysit him and John. Mike already said he’ll cut Miranda’s sandwiches into 4 quarters the way his grandma did. He is also looking forward to playing many games of Scrabble with Miranda, as he played with his grandma. Mike’s love for both his grandma and papa will be shared with Miranda.
Miranda is very lucky to be named ‘Hannah Eloria’ in honor of these two special women.
Miranda is also honored to be named after two other special grandparents for her American name.
The ‘M’ in Miranda is for my paternal grandfather Martin, my Zayda. Grandma and Zayda were married for over 50 years. They would drive up from Florida to Co-Op City in the Bronx, to pick Josh and I up and drive back down to Delray Beach, Florida, to their home in Las Verdes. I have many memories of staying at their house, and Josh, Dad, and I speak of these memories with such joy. Zayda taught me my favorite game, Rumikub. I have fond memories of playing Rumikub with Zayda, Grandma, Dad and Josh. Zayda built my dollhouse when I was five years old and I am so excited for when Miranda will be old enough to use it.
Miranda’s middle name is Rose, who is my maternal grandma. Grandma Rose was married to my Grandpa Abraham, both of whom were Holocaust survivors. Even though Grandma Rose passed when I was two years old, her strength and courage are always with me and will be with Miranda. My mom shares stories of her that always make me feel like I knew her. During Rosh Hashanah, my Aunt Faye always makes Grandma Rose’s special ‘chocolate roll cake.’ Having this cake during dessert leads to more memories being shared around the table. When my mom and I see a white butterfly, we know Grandma Rose is watching over us.
As you can see, Miranda is a very lucky girl surrounded by so much love.
Thank you all for sharing in this special day with us for our daughter, Miranda Rose, Hannah Eloria.
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Here are a bunch of pictures from Miranda's Baby Naming - 10-23-10 -
And last but not least, a picture of Miranda in her special dress:
It was an amazing day. I'm overwhelemed with a feeling of being proud of my daughter. She is such an amazing litle girl. I'm the luckiest woman ever to be Miranda's mommy :-)
