I knew of a man who once became very sick, and his family also added an extra name to his name. Has anyone heard of this?
Lisa, may your father recover soon and that his treatments be successful!
Of course I have heard of this...
http://www.jewishanswers.org/?p=859Adding a hebrew nameWhat is the basis for adding a new Hebrew name to an existing name for someone who has a serious illness?“Rav Yitzchak said: Four things tear up the decree against a person, and these are them: Tzedaka (charity); crying out (in prayer); changing one’s name; changing one’s deeds, and some say even changing one’s residence” (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16b). As a precedent, the Talmud points out that our Matriarch Sarah was destined to be childless until G-d changed her name (in Genesis 17).
From here, the Rema teaches that it is proper to change the name of a very sick person, to tear up the decree against them (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 335:10).
Why does changing one’s name help? The commentaries offer several different reasons. Among them: a drastic act like changing one’s name can influence a person to change many other things about him or herself, thus leading to Teshuva (repentance). Further, changing one’s name changes a person’s mazal, the flow of spiritual energy to that person.
Generally, changing someone’s name is only advised for a very sick person. A Torah sage should be consulted (indeed, a sage should already have been consulted for guidance long before things reached this level). There is a formula for how exactly to go about the name change, found in more detailed Siddurim (prayer books). It involves gathering ten men to recite Tehilim (Psalms) and saying a prayer for the sick person using his or her new name. The new name is usually an extra name added before the old name (i.e. “Yosef” may become “Chaim Yosef”). It is often a name suited to bring extra blessing (like Chaim [meaning “living”], Raphael [“G-d heals him”], Baruch [“blessed”]).
