Adoption of Hebrew Names by the Druze: An Aspect of Acculturation

Nissim Dana, Ariel University

The Eleventh International Conference on Jewish Names, Paper Abstract

Adoption of Hebrew Names by the Druze: An Aspect of Acculturation

At the time of the establishment of the State of Israel, the country’s Druze population numbered some 15,000; today, there are about 130,000 Israeli Druze, who reside on the Carmel mountain range, in Upper and Lower Galilee, and on the Golan Heights.

The establishment of the State was a formative event in their lives, since for the first time in their history, the Druze gained religious freedom, something they had never experienced in the course of a thousand years. This turning point in the life of the Israeli Druze had implications for the relationship that developed between them and the Jewish population.  An interesting closeness was created between the two peoples, for which there are a number of prominent manifestations: linguistic, mental and cultural. 

For example, according to the Druze faith, death is a meaningless process, since the soul of the departed person transmigrates into the body of a child who is born at that time. It is against this background that we can understand why there is no definition of laws of mourning among this community and why no annual remembrance day (yahrzeit) of one’s death is observed. However, living in a Jewish society has had much influence in this area, and nowadays Druze are officially granted seven days to mourn for a family member who has died. There are even those who mark the anniversary of the death of their deceased, place wreathes on their graves, and the like. All these customs stand in sharp contradiction to the tenets of the Druze faith. Furthermore, one can even find “Jewish” inscriptions on Druze tombstones, such as ז"ל ("of blessed memory"), תנצב"ה (R.I.P. = literally: "May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life").

In the same manner, assimilation has occurred in fashions of choosing a birth name for a child.  The phenomenon of Druze’s giving a baby a Hebrew name was apparently a result of acculturation through joint military service, their studies alongside Jews in a variety of educational frameworks, and in general working together with Jews.  Examples of such names are Sonia, Amos, Yaffa, Yigal, and Zvi. 

The study will focus on a selection of Jewish or Hebrew names given Druze children taken from thousands of marriage certificates of Druze couples. An attempt will be made to investigate and clarify the motives for the “adoption” of such names.