Torah in the news!

Q: How do we get Torah into the Australian media headlines?
A: Simple. Find a sporting champion with that name.

Torah Bright, a devout Mormon from Cooma has achieved exactly that. A few weeks ago very few Australians had heard about her - or Torah. Now many in this country know something about both.

Wikipedia writes this about her unusual name:

Personal life:
Born to parents Peter and Marion Bright, Bright is the fourth of five siblings. Her parents named her Torah after Marion Bright learned the word meant “bearer of great message” in addition to referring to the five books of Moses.

Other websites say that it was a Jewish neighbour that advised her mother about the meaning of the word.

Ajnwatch has long been amused (and sometimes appalled) at the unusual, weird, and sometimes plain idiotic names that some parents in our community give to their  innocent and unsuspecting offspring - as featured most weeks in the AJN birth notices.

So how come no one has ever named a daughter (or even a son) "Torah"?

Possible answer may be that most religious Jews tend to give traditional names rather than modern-day 'inventions'. On the other hand, those parents who go for odd and peculiar names are usually not overly religious or traditional. The last thing on their minds would be "Torah".

Of course things may change now that a internationally famous sportswoman carries this moniker...