Why do Jews change their names? There are many potential reasons.

For one, many of the most Jewish names are considered hard to pronounce or spell. There are only so many letters addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Goldshit that a person can take.

Another is that many major businesses were/are antisemitic, meaning a name change might be the only way to acquire gainful employment.

Still others may change their names as a way of rejecting, or at the very least concealing, their Judaism — embarrassed instead of embracing their Hebraic heritage.

Needless to say, we're not fans of such alterations. We're proud Jews and if that means we get the occasional sales call for "Mr... ummmmm...", well so be it.

But some cases...

Well, let's be honest with ourselves: the first day that someone declared "Check out the news coming down the wire from Josafat's!" would have been the last.