My Name Is Natah 2

A few Shabboses ago I met a shy girl named Netah. I didn't chat with Netah, but I did speak with her mother, who is an Israeli Hebrew teacher in a Yeshiva day school. Israeli teachers tormented me when I was a child by telling me that my name was illegitimate. When I told them my name was Natah, they said I must mean Netah, which is what they proceeded to call me. Netah is a lovely name and I hope that the many Israeli women who are named Netah enjoy their name very much. But I am not an Israeli woman. And my name is Natah.

At sixteen I interned with Tzvika the art teacher in a Israeli camp. He paid little attention to me and called me Netah. In another branch of the same same camp years earlier I realized this was a tough battle to win. When I was ten I wrote a reflective essay in the camp paper. Next to the essay and the byline, which were in Hebrew with no vowels, was a thought balloon coming out of a drawing of a contemplative little girl. My brother enjoyed teasing me over that.

The correct vowels under the letters of my name are a kamatz under the nun and a patach under the tet. So it should be pronounced exactly like similar words with the same vowels. for example bet-reish-alef, with a kamatz and a patach, is barah. So nun-tet, ayin, with a kamatz and a patach is natah. Not so complicated.

When I told Netah's mother my name, she said "the same as my daughter." I pointed out that Netah has a segol - eh - sound, and that it's an Israeli name, while... "Actually it's not an Israeli name, it's a Yiddish name,"she interrupted. "No it's not," I was almost shouting. Natah is a Yiddish name for a man. Netah is an Israeli variation for women. Not so complicated.

To be continued...