What's in a name? A lot -- especially when you're Jewish. Rabbi Al Axelrad will perform a naming ceremony for you or someone you love. This ceremony can have special meaning for many people, including:

*A child of any age who would like to receive a Hebrew name.
*Any child OR adult who already have a Hebrew name, but who might like to have
an additional middle Hebrew name.
*Any child OR adult who may be confronting serious illness and who might be
comforted by having an additional Hebrew name which incorporates within it the
notions of healing, and extended life. (This practice is rooted in the ancient Jewish
notion that when we are dying, the angel of death is said to be hovering over our
beds, waiting to clutch our souls from our bodies thus putting an end to physical
life. The idea here is to confound and confuse the angel of death by changing ones
original Hebrew name. The notion is not to scuttle the original name.)

Rabbi Al Axelrad served as the Rabbi at Brandeis University for 34 years. He is currently the professor of Religion at Emerson College in Boston. He is also a
published author.