Eyal Yitzchak — the strength of Yitzchak – is the name chosen by Judaic Studies Principal Noam Weissman and Student Activities Director Raizie Weissman for their son, who was born Nov. 16.

More than 100 people piled into the Beit Midrash at Shalhevet including family, friends, students, and faculty for the baby’s brit milah Nov. 25, when the name was announced. After davening Shacharit in the Media Center, everyone came in to the Beit Midrash for a breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, eggs, French toast, and a speech from the new father.

With Raizie sitting beside him holding Eyal, Reb Noam Weissman stood at the lectern and connected the name Yitzchak to his grandfather, Irving Weissman z”l, as well as the Jewish patriarch of the same name. In the Torah, he explained, even though Yitzchak’s father and son are more famous —  Avraham was the first Jew, and from Yaakov the 12 tribes descended — still Yitzchak held a load on his shoulders.

Yitzhak passed down Judaism from Avraham to Yaakov, and he also kept tradition flowing and held everything together for the future as “a link in the chain of the covenant,” said Noam Weissman.

Similarly, Irving (Yitzchak) Weissman was the only one of seven siblings who elected to become observant. When Reb Noam asked his grandfather why, Saba Irving replied, ‘It was the right thing to do.” He also encouraged Jewish education and learning in day-schools.

Between the strengths of Yitzchak Avinu and his grandfather, Reb Noam said, the name Yitzchak symbolizes strength and focus in determination. So Noam and Raizie added Eyal, meaning strength, to the name to combine it with that of Yitzchak and Noam’s grandfather.

“We hope we can give [Eyal] the additional fortitude to live up to the mentality of Yitzchak to have the gevurah, the ‘eyal,’ of Yitzchak,” said Reb Noam Weissman.

“Raizie and I both love Judaism so much,” he added, saying that they hoped to convey its beauty to their son as they do with their students.