The name

The initial question people usually ask is, "What's her name?" The often prompted question that follows is usually, "Is she named after someone?"
Sara Chana is indirectly named after Moshe's grandmother. However, Grandma Dorothy (a"h) shares a name, Devorah, with Shoshana's mother (she should live and be well). So, being that it is not within the Ashkenazic (Jews of Eastern European decent) custom to name after a living relative, we chose a different name. Since we believe that a name is a person's essence, we did examine characteristics of Moshe's grandmother to find names that paralleled those positvie traits.
Grandma Dorothy was the matriarch of the Marshak family. At every family get-together, she would ensure that everyone was there and together. She would insist on cooking, way too much, and no one ever argued since she was a very good cook. She not only used her talent of cooking for her family. Every year on Sukkos, which corresponded to her parents' yortzhiet, she would make a cholent for the entire Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation, a feat for which she was well renowned and would attract new faces to the shul.
Sara Imainu is one of four matriarchs of the Jewish people. She provided for everyone who came in her household. Travelers would stop there for the well-known hospitality, and would become inspired by her husband Avroham’s teaching of Hashem and his Torah.
The name Chana comes from the Hebrew word “Chein” which means grace, and refers to inner beauty. Every name has a corresponding posuk or passage from Tanach. (Tanach is an abbreviation for Torah, Neviim, and K'suvim - the five books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings). The posuk for Chana is taken from Ayshes Chayil, “woman of valor,” which is traditionally sung every Friday night. In Hebrew it is “Chagra b’oz mas’neha, ve’tyamatz zeroseha,” which means, “she strengthens her legs, and invigorates her arms.” It is referring to strengthening her legs to run to do Mitzvos, and invigorating her arms to carry them out. It is our bracha (blessing) to our daughter that this posuk be with her for her entire life, constantly giving her the strength to do the will of Hashem.
There are many more nuances in our daughter's personality that we are discovering, almost daily, that show us that this name truly is her essence.