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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!pegasus!avi
From: avi@pegasus.UUCP (Avi E. Gross)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Too many Gross'es
Message-ID: <2124@pegasus.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 26-Feb-85 11:47:30 EST
Article-I.D.: pegasus.2124
Posted: Tue Feb 26 11:47:30 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 28-Feb-85 12:25:27 EST
References: <3780011@csd2.UUCP> <323@mhuxm.UUCP> <73@cvl.UUCP> <328@mhuxm.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft NJ
Lines: 53

I have already had to separate myself from Ari Gross in net.religion, and
now have to do it in net.religion.jewish. Joe Abeles, who I actually know
well, quoted Ari Gross in article 328@mhuxm.UUCP by name and ended his
rebuttal with:
>	These remarks of Avi Gross are without foundation.
			 ^^^
I happen to be much closer in my attitudes to Joe than to Ari, and Joe knows
that. He tells me he put my name in by accident. I would like to clear up the
confusion by listing some of the people with the name of "Gross" that have
appeared in net.religion.jewish in the past.

 Avi	Gross	(pegasus!avi)
	- One of the founders of this newsgroup who has been unusually quiet
	  on the net since he got married (after meeting his wife-to-be at a
	  Jewish singles group which he found out about because Joe Abeles
	  posted news about it on the net) and who is not Orthodox, although
	  he has a full yeshiva background to the college level (among other
	  assorted backgrounds).
 Jack	Gross	(pegasus!josie)
	- A co-worker with Avi Gross who is Orthodox, and also recently got
	  married.
 Ari	Gross	(cvl!arig)
	- No relation to Avi Gross, and presumably Orthodox.

Many other Gross people occasionally post to the net. Please try to refer
to the Gross of your choice by a full name. :-) I chose the name "Avi" when
I was seven, and see no reason to change it just because other people were
given similar names.

Finally, I have a question oriented to net.religion.jewish about yet another
Gross. My wife and I are expecting a daughter at the end of May. My parents
and brothers and sister (initially) did not want us to tell them whether the
child would be a boy or girl. Eventually, most of them found out. Is there
any valid Jewish (especially Orthodox) reason why people are afraid to be
told? Is it related to the taboo against talking about selecting names before
a child is born? I have no fear of the "evil eye" and related "superstitions",
so I may not be as sensitive to some Jewish cultural taboos. I wonder if the
the fact that people (in the "good old days") did not usually have the
opportunity to find out anything beforehand (except perhaps the presence of
twins) leads to a certain degree of inertia. Yes, I have heard arguments
like "we want to be surprised" (5 months of surprise was long enough for me)
but I am wondering if there is a reason intrinsic to Jewish culture. For the
record, some other family members did want to know (and even wanted to know
the name we chose for her!!).

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-- 
-=> Avi E. Gross @ AT&T Information Systems Laboratories (201) 576-6241
 suggested paths: [ihnp4, allegra, cbosg, ahuta, ...]!pegasus!avi