Jewish Teacher/student named Adonai

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:just treat it like a homonym. This child is not God so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Exactly. (And for those who don't know, Adonai is Hebrew for "My Lord." It is NOT the name of God, which in the Jewish tradition is not to be pronounced, although I just learned from Wikipedia that "Adonai itself has come to be too holy to say for Orthodox Jews." see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Judaism#Adonai)

And as others said, if you are having difficulty, discuss this with your rabbi, not with internet strangers.

[Anonymous]

How, pray tell, am I hurting her by calling her Miss ( add her last name)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How, pray tell, am I hurting her by calling her Miss ( add her last name)?

Will you be calling all the other children Miss/Master Last Name? If not, then I don't think you can get away with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How, pray tell, am I hurting her by calling her Miss ( add her last name)?

You are subjecting her to different treatment than the other students (likely) based on her family's religious beliefs. That is not going to go well. If you switched to calling all the students by honorifics and last names you might be okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How, pray tell, am I hurting her by calling her Miss ( add her last name)?

You are isolating her and projecting your religion upon her, unless you also stop using first names for every other student, and only use last names at all times.

[Anonymous]

You did not mention being an orthodox Jew, so I am pretty sure you are one of those people who is just making this a problem for the sake of making it a problem. I just emailed my rabbi, and he responded that of course you would just call her by her name. "Why do harm to her for no reason? The teacher is clearly not referring to her as her lord."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You did not mention being an orthodox Jew, so I am pretty sure you are one of those people who is just making this a problem for the sake of making it a problem. I just emailed my rabbi, and he responded that of course you would just call her by her name. "Why do harm to her for no reason? The teacher is clearly not referring to her as her lord."

I'm hoping OP is a law student!

[Anonymous]

I'm just going to call my rabbi. I should have know better. Thank you , by the way to those that at least put themselves in my position before sharing. I do appreciate that. I have rights too, you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You did not mention being an orthodox Jew, so I am pretty sure you are one of those people who is just making this a problem for the sake of making it a problem. I just emailed my rabbi, and he responded that of course you would just call her by her name. "Why do harm to her for no reason? The teacher is clearly not referring to her as her lord."

Really? "Why do harm to her for no treason?" I call bs. No rabbi worth his or her salt would have referred to it being hurtful. They might have just said "not a problem"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How, pray tell, am I hurting her by calling her Miss ( add her last name)?

You're treating her differently than the rest of the class! How can you, as a teacher, not see that?

I don't think your personal beliefs trump her right to be called by her name.

I think she would be better off in a different classroom altogether. If you can't see that calling her Miss Last name is a problem, you shouldn't be teaching her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How, pray tell, am I hurting her by calling her Miss ( add her last name)?

You're treating her differently than the rest of the class! How can you, as a teacher, not see that?

I don't think your personal beliefs trump her right to be called by her name.

I think she would be better off in a different classroom altogether. If you can't see that calling her Miss Last name is a problem, you shouldn't be teaching her.

AMEN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm going to even further, and advise you discuss this with your own spiritual advisor. If your rabbi is anything like those I've known in my life, they will tell you that calling her by her name is not only the right thing to do as a teacher, it is the right thing to do as a Jew.

I mean, Judaism leaves a lot of room for "rule breaking" when the rules would hurt someone.

+1 totally totally this

but i also just don't see how you can possibly not call this child by her name, if you are her teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm just going to call my rabbi. I should have know better. Thank you , by the way to those that at least put themselves in my position before sharing. I do appreciate that. I have rights too, you know.

I am SO SO SO glad my children will never have you as their teacher. Maybe you should reconsider your career choice. Signed, Another Teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You did not mention being an orthodox Jew, so I am pretty sure you are one of those people who is just making this a problem for the sake of making it a problem. I just emailed my rabbi, and he responded that of course you would just call her by her name. "Why do harm to her for no reason? The teacher is clearly not referring to her as her lord."

Really? "Why do harm to her for no treason?" I call bs. No rabbi worth his or her salt would have referred to it being hurtful. They might have just said "not a problem"

He didn't say it was hurtful. He said it would isolate her for no reason, and it was not calling her 'my lord' as we use it in prayer., but was the name her parents had chosen for her and to honor her and her parents by using it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:just treat it like a homonym. This child is not God so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Exactly. (And for those who don't know, Adonai is Hebrew for "My Lord." It is NOT the name of God, which in the Jewish tradition is not to be pronounced, although I just learned from Wikipedia that "Adonai itself has come to be too holy to say for Orthodox Jews." see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Judaism#Adonai)

And as others said, if you are having difficulty, discuss this with your rabbi, not with internet strangers.

I am NOT a rabbi, but know something of halacha.

A. Not sure if the pronouncing hashem (or adoshem in some contexts) instead of Adonai is actually halacha, or minhag. Ask a real rabbi who shares your general halachic outlook.
B. The real question is - is this something you can violate for the sake of parnassah (making a living) If it is (ask your rabbi) than you can say it. If not, you will need to ask to be reassigned or you will need to quit. Obviously you can't expect a school child to adapt his name to halacha.
If your rabbi considers it an important minhag, but not halacha, it might be that you would need to ask for reassigment, but not if that actually endangers making a living.

There are some jobs an observant Jew just can't do. Pig butcher for example. Similarly this may be a job you can't do. Though likely it is not.