עברית
Faith
The Meaning and Significance of the Name Asnat
Is the Name Asnat Appropriate to Keep?
Question
Hello, my name is Asnat. I am wondering whether I should change my name. From what I understand, Asnat was the granddaughter of our forefather Yaakov through Dina. She was born as a result of the rape by the sons of Shechem, and therefore Dina named her Asnat because of the disaster of her children. The name is beautiful, starting with an 'A' and ending with a 'T'. I checked and found that it appears 70 times in Tanach and three times in the Mefula (a Kabbalistic textual count). Also, its numerical value equals 7. All this, and in the end, Asnat marries Yosef. When my name was given to me, my parents did not know its meaning. Thank you very much, Asnat Cohen.
Answer
Hello, the name Asnat is a very excellent name and it is not proper to change it. The kabbalists teach that the soul of Asnat was a very elevated soul that was held captive by impurity. At that time, this soul was under the control of Shechem ben Chamor, and for this reason, Hashem arranged matters so that Asnat's soul would be extracted from the kelipah (spiritual shell). When the righteous Yosef overcame the test with Potiphar's wife, all the kelipah imprisoning this soul was broken, and Asnat was redeemed to holiness until she merited to reach the highest levels through her marriage to Yosef Hatzadik, who is considered a tzadik yesod haolam (a foundational righteous person for all generations. The Midrash (P'sikta Rabbati, chapter 3) explains that when Hashem wished to bless Menashe and Ephraim before dying, the Shechinah (Divine Presence) departed from him because he saw through Ruach HaKodesh (holy spirit) the severe consequences from their descendants. Yosef then began to plead, saying, 'Father, my children are righteous like me; they are the children that Hashem gave me through this one,' referring to Asnat their mother who came before his father. He said, 'Father, please, if only because of this righteousness, take them to me and bless them.' Yosef brought them to himself, embraced and kissed them, and rejoiced in them. He said that perhaps through his joy the spirit of holiness would rest upon him. It is explained that she was a completely righteous woman. The Midrash further explains (Yalkut Shimoni, Yehoshua, hint 9): 'There are pious women converts such as Asnat, Tzipporah, Shifra, Puah, the daughter of Pharaoh, Rahav, Ruth, and Yael the wife of Hever the Kenite.' Just as no one refrains from giving the Jewish names Tzipporah, Ruth, or Yael, so there is no impediment to being called Asnat. Regarding what you checked about the division into seven in the name Asnat, I will add another point written by the great kabbalist Rabbi Natan Shapira in his book Megaleh Amukot (Parashat Korach). He writes: Since the priest opens the upper gates of joy, do not read 'sovea' (abundance) but 'sheva' (seven), the secret of raising seven upper lights. Therefore, the gifts are divided into seven sections corresponding to the seven gates that he opens, the gates of righteousness, which have the numerical value of b''t (2) sh''a (7). This is the secret of Aharon's wife Elisheva, as explained in the Zohar. The name is like 'Elisheva' as a secret of kindness to all day, like David's wife Bat Sheva, the secret of Tehillim beginning with Ashrei, and Ashrei has the numerical value seven times wisdom. Similarly, Yosef's wife Asnat has the numerical value seven times wisdom. I also have some wonderful hints about the name Asnat and about the high level of her soul, which perhaps we will discuss in the future.
Wishing success,
Menashe Israel.
