Blessing Our Works – with Strength and the Divine

I often check to see what I've written in the past to avoid repeating. Would have been a good move, especially since this Parsha has limited components where most commentaries bother at all to comment. What follows is a different take on one source quoted in last year's (so sorry!) comments on this Parsha, though it goes in a different direction. 

Parshat Eileh Fekudei

by Rabbi Avi Billet

After seeing that all of the work for the Mishkan was concluded, with everything having been done exactly as God had commanded Moshe, the Torah reports to us that Moshe blessed the people. 

 That blessing, according to Rashi, was “It should be that His Shekhinah should be present in all the works of your hands.” (יהי רצון שתשרה שכינה במעשה ידיכם) In other words, God’s contribution to your success in building the Mishkan should be palpable. 

Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein asks why this blessing was necessary at all. After all, God had promised in Terumah (25:8) that “when you make a Mishkan, I will dwell (ושכנתי – the Shekhinah) in it.” It would seem that by dint of finishing the job, Moshe’s blessing now, in 39:43, is superfluous.

Honoring Our Past and Building Our Future (homage to Betzalel and his forebears)

Parshat Vayakhel

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

While he was introduced to us in last week’s parsha, the Midrash goes on a bit of a wild tangent over the introduction of Betzalel this week, when we meet him along with his father and grandfather and Shevet. The Midrash ties this introduction to the concept of שבח לו ולמפשחתו ולשבטו (praise for him, his family, and his tribe), for both Betzalel and Oholiav, while comparing to other characters who are introduced to us with ancestry (the megadef in Emor – שם אמו שלומית בת דברי) and Akhan - עכן בן כרמי בן זבדי בן זרח למטה יהודה, who was from the tribe of Yehuda and stole from the Cherem against the city of Yericho in the time of Yehoshua. 

Man Plans and God Also Plans

 Parshat Ki Sisa

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Many years ago I read an essay entitled “Welcome to Holland” written by Emily Perl Kingsley to try to explain what life as a parent to a child with a disability is like – in her case, I believe it was Downs Syndrome. She compares it to intending to go on a trip to Italy, which ends with the flight attendant welcoming you to Holland.  Apparently there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. Her point being it’s a journey – not what you expected – but Holland has its fine points as well. It's not a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's different! It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. 

Zachor Sermon: Mitzvot of Memory – and Aharon HaKohen

Zachor and Tetzaveh

Mitzvot of Memory – and Aharon HaKohen

Parshas Zachor literally means the section of memory. Its name comes from the first word of the segment – זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק – Remember that which Amalek did to you. But the message of זכור is much bigger and much greater than just remembering what Amalek did. 

While it is summarized in today’s Maftir, the story is the last 9 Pesukim in Parshas B’Shalach. It will be our Torah reading Purim morning. It concerns Amalek attacking a fledgling nation, just recently having experienced the Exodus, the Splitting of the Sea, and being recipients of Manna from heaven. Amalek took advantage of a weak point in the story of Bnei Yisrael, their fights with Moshe concerning water in Rephidim, and aimed to further weaken Bnei Yisrael at a time when Bnei Yisrael felt God had taken them out of Egypt to have them die in the wilderness. Amalek came… to remind them that abandoning their Father in Heaven was a recipe for disaster. 

Using Religion Improperly – Can We Atone For a Lack of Sechel?

Parshat Tetzaveh

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In the context of a discussion surrounding tzara’as and Lashon Hora, the Talmud in Arakhin 16a asks “Why are the vestments of the Kohanim mentioned near the section about offerings? To teach us that just as offerings bring atonement, the Kohen vestments bring atonement.” 

The Talmud goes on to list what sin each garment atoned for: 

The tunic (כתונת) atones for murder; the pants (מכנסים) atone for sexual sins/immorality; the hat (מצנפת) atones for those who are haughty; the belt (אבנט) atones for sins of the heart; the breastplate (חשן) atones for sins in judgment and law (דינין); the apron (אפוד) atones for idolatry; the cloak (מעיל) atones for lashon hora; the forehead plate (ציץ) atones for those who are bold-faced (in a negative way). 

(This is also discussed in Zevachim 88b)

Clearly the significance of the Kohanim wearing their garments is meant to not only make them look polished and holy, but to work behind the scenes so that those who see the garments would achieve atonement for certain private sins. 

Finding Our Potential For This World and Next – Through Body and Soul

Parshat Terumah

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

In his comments on the Menorah, Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Efraim Luntzchitz) goes into great detail about the 3 indoor Mishkan vessels instructed consecutively in our Parsha: the Aron (Ark), Shulchan (Table for Showbread), and the Menorah. [The small Mizbeach is instructed at the end of Parshat Tetzaveh.]

“These include [a reference to] all successes of a person in this world and the next world. 

“The Ark is the guide for a person to achieve one’s potential… which is through the Torah which provides for lengthened days on its right, and wealth and honor on its left. (אורך ימים בימינה לעולם שכולו ארוך ועושר וכבוד בשמאלה). The section on the Ark simply focuses on its design and how to build it without referencing the benefit the person gets from it. In truth it has its own benefit in that when one studies the Torah it is its own rewards… 

Distance From Falsehoods

 Parshat Mishpatim

by Rabbi Avi Billet

There is a passage in the Talmud Shavuos 30b-31a. which asks the question – how do we know…. (there are many fillings for that blank - though most deal with the behavior of judges in a courtroom). And the answer, in each case, is מדבר שקר תרחק – because we are commanded to distance ourselves from falsehoods (23:7) 

 These are the questions the Gemara asks – and the answer is always the same (translation is from Sefaria, with a slight expansion to explain the words of the Talmud): Because the Torah says to distance from falsehood. 

Note To Congregation On Return of Bibas Children HYD

 February 20, 2025

Dear Friends 

For those watching the news out of Israel, today is a very dark day. 

In thinking through what to share with you, I was reminded of the first time I went to Yad Vashem – I was probably 11 or 12 years old. In going through one of the rooms that is filled wall to wall with photographs, I recall seeing faces of a few babies. The photos being in black and white made it a little harder to relate to. Though in thinking about it now, over 30 years later, I imagine that had those babies lived, they’d only be 8-10 years older than my parents. They were most likely born between 1938-1941. I was looking at their faces less than 50 years after they had been murdered. 

 The photos of smiling babies in various poses were from a happier time, a photoshoot of some kind, and bore no resemblance to their fate at the hands of their murderers, nor their final moments prior to their murders. 

 We have all seen photos and videos of happier times of the Bibas children, HYD, with their bright red hair and adorable ways. It gave us hope that they’d run again and play again and have a chance to live out their lives. 

 But today I saw a photo of Shiri HYD holding her children, taken shortly after they were captured (see below). The look of terror in her eyes is haunting. Her clinging to her children, hoping against hope to be able to protect them from the barbarism they were already subject to… this is a picture straight out of the Shoah. Except this time it is in color. The crime: being Jewish in the Holy Land. Their tormentors: Islamo-fascists who gleefully fulfill their mission of Jew-hatred in the same manner as the Nazis, y’mach sh’mam v’zikhram. This follows the release of the tortured and gaunt men last week, who looked every bit like Holocaust survivors minus the striped “uniform” of the concentration camps. 

 For a reminder that this is part of a larger saga of barbarism and a war against innocent children, Sivan Rahav Meir posted on Facebook that 38 children were murdered on Simchat Torah (October 7). 20 children were orphaned of both parents. 96 children lost one parent. 42 children were kidnapped and taken hostage. She went on to mention families that have been murdered in the past – Kopsheter, Hatuel, Fogel, Kedem-Siman Tov. 

 The loss of most of the Bibas family is heartbreaking – as is the latest news that the woman “returned” is not Shiri! It is the same heartbreak we have felt off and on since October 7th, contemplating the unimaginable numbers – a pogrom in Israel, committed by a “society” of evil barbarians who delight in the murder of Jews, and all atrocities against Jewish people – and every fallen soldier since, and the news of every hostage we find out is no longer alive. Not to mention the many maimed soldiers who have paid a different heavy price to root out Hamas. And of course, the remaining hostages who are still held in captivity, both alive and dead.

 Even those of us who feared for a long time that this was the fate of the Bibas family still held onto a thread that they’d live to tell the tale of their awful imprisonment, and how a nation rallied for them, seeing them as the litmus test of hope for a brighter day for them and all of Israel. Hence this being a very dark day. The thought that murderers were released in exchange for dead babies sickens us to our core. That anyone sees the Jews in a bad light over this kind of “deal” boggles the mind.

 The enemy knows our weakness. Our weakness is the love of life. Our weakness is our desire to see the fulfillment of וראה בנים לבניך שלום על ישראל (Tehillim 128:6). We want to live to see children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, future generations of the Jewish people. And we give up terrorists who have blood on their hands (who are not starving or horribly mistreated), in exchange for a living victim of their depravities, or even a dead victim – to have closure for our people. And we only want to be left alone to live in peace.

 Shame on any nation in the world (including the US - particularly through USAID) who have given money to these terrorists. Shame on the “civilized” nations of the world that turned a blind eye to how their “aid” to the “poor palestinians” was spent. Shame on every “useless idiot” on a college campus who buys the propaganda of al Jazeera and Hamas. Shame on the Red Cross – the most useless and corrupt organization of Uber-drivers-for-Hamas the world has ever seen. Shame on anyone who can’t see the difference between a defensive war fought by Israel to protect its citizens, which inevitably has some civilian casualties, but is by no means a genocide, and an all out attack by a terrorist group invading private homes and a peace-loving music festival on a Shabbat and holiday – which saw murder, rape, mutilation of the dead, burning people alive, seeking out men, women, children, elderly for target practice, and a celebration of all of the above – who wouldn’t stop their genocidal intent were it not for civilians and soldiers rising to defend themselves. Every casualty of this war is on their hands. 

 A million times over I would rather be one of us than one of them. 

 My heart isn’t broken specifically for the Bibas family, though obviously they are a piece of a larger breaking of the heart. I am shocked Yarden is alive. I hope he can find a path forward in life, get the help he needs, and rebuild a life. My heart is broken because despite all the rhetoric of “NEVER AGAIN” of the last 80 years, we have seen in the last 500 days that it happened again. The dead babies of October 7 did not have a campaign to save them. For them it was too late. But we all "knew" these children. They are enshrined in the Shoah Hall of Memory with a name and an identity - not just an unknown face. And for all the talk of the world that the Jews will have a safe haven for themselves, that safe haven has never been fully safe, and people are still saying it shouldn’t exist at all.

 Shame on all of them for not learning from history. Shame on all of those who see Jews – especially after the collective and moral guilt of the Shoah – as anything other than “people who should be left alone.” 

 I hope Israel learns the lesson from history, and finishes the mission – eradicating Hamas, and removing all terrorists and terrorist-sympathizers from its borders, so we can have the best chance of seeing our hopes and dreams fulfilled - וראה בנים לבניך שלום על ישראל

 Amen! 

Rabbi Avi Billet

Different Meanings of Eating “Lifnei HaElohim”

Parshat Yitro

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

After getting through the formalities of their reunion, which takes place in Moshe’s tent, Yisro brings offerings to God, and then sits down for a celebratory meal. The Torah’s way of describing it is “And Aharon and all the elders of Israel came to eat with Moshe’s father-in-law Lifnei HaElohim.” (18:12) Targum Yonatan (and others) note that Moshe isn’t mentioned because he is serving the food to the guests. Rashbam feels Moshe did not need to be mentioned because it was his tent – obviously he is there. 

Is that what “Lifnei HaElohim” means? We know that sometimes the word Elohim is לשון חול – meaning it does not refer to God, but refers to human leaders. (See Shmos 22:27) So perhaps the verse is simply saying Yisro is eating in Moshe’s presence. (see the 4th approach below) 

Most of the Midrashim and commentaries, however, see things differently, in that the phrase Lifnei HaElohim refers to the Divine, though there are different ways they come around to understanding what that means. 

The Two Tests of Faith

Parshat B’Shalach

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

I recall hearing the following conversation several times in school. 

Student: Why did you fail me on the test? 

Teacher: I didn’t “fail you.” The grade you got is the grade you earned!

A school test has several purposes. It is meant for the teacher to assess what the students have learned. It is for the students to demonstrate their mastery of the material, and when done right, their ability to transfer their knowledge and skills to new information, scenarios, examples that they haven’t studied yet, but which are solvable with the information they possess. 

There are other kinds of tests as well, such as tests of character, grit, ability, mental capacity, stamina, and even tests of faith. 

No House Which Did Not Have a Corpse

Parshat Bo

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In the prelude to the 10th plague, the verse says (11:5) וּמֵ֣ת כָּל־בְּכוֹר֘ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַיִם֒ מִבְּכ֤וֹר פַּרְעֹה֙ הַיֹּשֵׁ֣ב עַל־כִּסְא֔וֹ עַ֚ד בְּכ֣וֹר הַשִּׁפְחָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר אַחַ֣ר הָרֵחָ֑יִם וְכֹ֖ל בְּכ֥וֹר בְּהֵמָֽה: In the actual plague it says (12:30) - וַיְהִ֣י׀ בַּחֲצִ֣י הַלַּ֗יְלָה וַֽיקֹוָק֘ הִכָּ֣ה כָל־בְּכוֹר֘ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַיִם֒ מִבְּכֹ֤ר פַּרְעֹה֙ הַיֹּשֵׁ֣ב עַל־כִּסְא֔וֹ עַ֚ד בְּכ֣וֹר הַשְּׁבִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּבֵ֣ית הַבּ֑וֹר וְכֹ֖ל בְּכ֥וֹר בְּהֵמָֽה: Both describe that the death toll encompasses the first borns, from the first born of Pharaoh to the lowest status Egyptian (though it changes from the warning to the actuality as noted in bold above– which will be addressed below), and the first born animals. The verses which follow each of the above verses talk about how there will be, and indeed there was, a terribly huge cry in all of Egypt, with the verse in chapter 12:31 concluding with our title – no house was spared. 

How could that be? If a first born for the purpose of this plague is a male, not every household’s firstborn is a son. The father might not be a firstborn. And if he has only daughters, then how could his house NOT be spared? [Rashi and Ibn Ezra say that the Pasuk is generalizing, and that since it was a majority of houses, that is what the Pasuk refers to, even though it says no house was spared…] 

The Many Faces of the Plague of Blood

Parshat Va'era 

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

 Rabbi Meir Soloveichik wrote regarding the plagues – firstly noting that the first sign to Pharaoh was of a staff becoming a tannin, which is most accurately translated as a crocodile*: 

Aaron’s rod transforms into a crocodile and swallows the others. The reference here, obvious to all in Pharaoh’s court, is to Sobek, the Egyptian god of the Nile who takes on the form of a crocodile. Aaron is signaling that the Nile, the source of Egyptian prosperity, is about to be undone. The waters will turn to blood. Thus begins the steady, unremitting attack on the Ma’at of Egypt, where every aspect of the natural order, and the animal gods that embody them, turn on their master, on Pharaoh. This brings us to our next plague, which is tzefardea, frogs. Here too, as noted by both Rabbi Sacks and the Hertog Koren Tanakh, what is being described is no mere affliction… Heqet is the frog goddess of fertility, and this is a clear ironic reference to the Egyptians being punished for throwing the Israelite babies into the Nile. Thus plague after plague—each one symbolically linked with purported divinity or agricultural prosperity in Egypt—steadily strips away the theological claims of the tyrant Pharaoh himself, 

It’s an old argument, that the plagues are not only to afflict the Egyptians but also to prove the defeat of Egypt’s many gods. Rabbi Soloveichik notes that the plague of darkness is the penultimate plague as it darkens the sun, whose god, Ra, was of the greatest in Egyptian culture. 

On the Doubling of the Name "Moshe Moshe"

Parshat Shemot

by Rabbi Avi Billet

When God first addresses Moshe at the burning bush, He calls out “Moshe Moshe!” (3:4) We know that in the Torah Moshe has one name. And unlike the former UN Secretary-General (last name Ghali), that was not a doubled name. Why is God saying Moshe’s name twice? Is He stuttering, mocking the stammering prophet/soon-to-be-deliverer? 

The classic answer, as noted in the Pesikta and other Midrashim, is that this doubling of the name is called לשון חבה, a demonstration of God’s love for Moshe. The Midrash Sechel Tov attaches the same meaning to when Avraham is called אברהם אברהם, and when Yaakov is called יעקב יעקב, and when Shmuel is called שמואל שמואל. 

Hadar Zekenim takes this to a bit of a stretch as far as the “trop” (cantillation marks) presents things (for this argument he ignores the טעם מפסיק, the trop that causes a pause), but he adds that everyone whose name is doubled, which not only includes Avraham and Yaakov, but also Noach and Terach, merits two worlds. Terach must have therefore done Teshuvah in his life (Noach, of course, is defined in the Torah as an איש צדיק -righteous). 

Preparing for Olam Haba Means Not Being Afraid of Olam Haba

Parshat Vaychi 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

 In Pirkei Avos there are several teachings that encourage people to consider paths of behavior that prevent a person from coming to sin.

 • “Know what is above you – including a seeing eye, a hearing ear, and that all things are written down.”

 • “Know where you’re coming from, where you’re going, and before Whom you’ll need to give a reckoning for your deeds.”

 • “Rabbi Yaakov would say this world is a hallway leading into the next world. In this world you prepare to enter the banquet hall.” 

 There’s a pasuk in Koheles:

 קהלת ח:ח אֵ֣ין אָדָ֞ם שַׁלִּ֤יט בָּר֙וּחַ֙ לִכְל֣וֹא אֶת־הָר֔וּחַ וְאֵ֤ין שִׁלְטוֹן֙ בְּי֣וֹם הַמָּ֔וֶת וְאֵ֥ין מִשְׁלַ֖חַת בַּמִּלְחָמָ֑ה וְלֹֽא־יְמַלֵּ֥ט רֶ֖שַׁע אֶת־בְּעָלָֽיו׃ 

“No man has authority over the lifebreath—to hold back the lifebreath; there is no authority over the day of death. There is no mustering out from that war; wickedness is powerless to save its owner.” 

Yosef's Relationship to Pharaoh

Parshat Vayigash

by Rabbi Avi Billet

After revealing himself to his brothers, Yosef tells them to go home and to tell their father that he has become an אב to Pharaoh, and an אדון to all of Pharaoh’s household, and a משל in all of the land of Egypt. Then he says to tell their father “God has placed me as an אדון for all of Egypt.” 

The words presented above in Hebrew require explanation. Most of us would likely translate the word אב, for example, as a father, or a father figure. This would only make sense, however, if Pharaoh were a child-king (which isn’t impossible), or if he were insecure enough (or perhaps secure enough!) to see Yosef in that way. 

Rashi (quoting Bereshis Raba) says that אב means לחבר ולפטרון, simply translated as a colleague and a patron. 

Sifsei Chachamim explains that if the Midrash had simply said patron, it would imply that Yosef was above Pharaoh and could make decrees over him. Therefore he is described as a colleague as well, indicating that he has a similar power to be able to decree. Had he only been called a חבר (and not also a patron) the implication would be that he’d have to run any idea past Pharaoh before making it a rule or law. Having both titles indicates that he is a colleague, who also has similar power to Pharaoh and doesn’t need to ask permission.