A Quick Torah Thought

Usually the term brit has a positive connotation; two parties are bound together, covenantally, and are sworn to each other. It could be a pact, or a strategic arrangement. In the case of our forefathers, Hashem says very clearly that he placed his faith in Avraham because of his undying loyalty, and because He knew that Avraham would educate his children after him to walk in His paths. Hashem even asks himself prior to the destruction of Sodom: "Can I fail to divulge to Avraham my plans to destroy Sodom?" After all, Avraham is my partner, with whom I hope to make the world a better place.  That would seem to be a very uplifting message; Hashem then carries out that destiny by instructing both Avraham and Isaac which of their sons can dutifully and honorably carry out that message. At the same time, it's familial - or maybe at a later time, tribal, in nature.  The significance of that arrangement can be seen in this week's Torah portion, Bechukosai; very ironically, H...

Jeremiah is often known for his searing prophecies, yet in this week's Haftorah it would seem that that is far from the case. To the best of my knowledge, no other prophet has an English word named after him - namely, the "Jeremiad," a long, and mournful complaint, but his words this week ring a hopeful peal of belief, and return.  Jeremiah, in jail, is visited by his cousin, who seeks to sell him a plot of land. It is not a good time to get into real estate. Jerusalem is besieged, battering rams at the ready, ramps constructed for the impending onslaught. King Zedekiah, who jailed Jeremiah, is beside himself, confused, not knowing what to do; Jeremiah has defied him and defamed him, prophecying about his exile and gruesome death, and the lost thought on anyone's mind is the purchase of parcels of land, however cheap. If anything, people would be liquidating assets, not adding to their real estate portfolio. And so, when Hanamel comes to ask Jeremiah to redeem a parce...

When one reads the Hallel – the festive Carlebach melodies aside – one notices a strange phenomenon. Rather than being a set of psalms festive and sanguine in nature, most of them have a very strong overtone of sadness, recalling sorrows, past and present – and ones' greatest and most dire difficulties. Is that the purpose of the Hallel, a prayer that we reserve for the times of greatest joy, the three Torah-ordained festivals, Pesach, Sukkot and Shavuot, and Chanukah, and Rosh Chodesh, when festive offerings were brought in the temple, to celebrate our monthly renewal, as a people and nation? Interestingly, the Gemorah takes a very different tack, sharing a narrative very much at odds with the one we have taken as a given. Firstly, the Gemorah records six different opinions at to who first uttered the words of the Hallel, interestingly, none of them being the famous psalmist, King David. The first opinion – Rabbi Eliezer – is Moshe and the Jewish people, beseeching Hashem at the...

  Elephant, Elephant, Tiger Moshe Barth Z"L (9.1.1926-14.4.2024) "Saba Moshe", or Moussa – what he called himself when speaking to an Arab – or Min Hamayim Meshitihu ("From the waters, I was drawn"), when checking the acumen of a yeshiva buchur, who would more often than not, correctly guess his name, was someone who was so many different things for so many different people. That, one could say was what enabled him to survive the greatest human tragedies perhaps ever witnessed by mankind. Inflicted by man, the Holocaust shaped our grandfather (1926-2024), who we ourselves called Saba, more than anything else, yet I wonder, if when we, his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren (which he called his "great-grands") think about him for just a second with our eyes closed, think about him in that way. He did see horrific things, but at least for me, ever so impressively, the Holocaust was always the backdrop of his life, and not the forefront...