In focusing upon the disparity between the names given to the child by his respective parents, the Ramban comments that Rachel sought to emphasize the pain and sorrow connected with his birth. In contrast, Yaakov wanted his son’s name to have an optimistic connotation. The word “oni” can be translated as “mourning” or “strength.” Yaakov sought to preserve the name that Rachel had chosen, while giving it a positive undertone. In an article written in the winter of 1943, during the height of the slaughter in Europe, Horav Eliyahu Meir Bloch, z.l., used the words of the Ramban to encourage…
