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שבת שלום · פרשת ויחי

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Click play to watch the video shiur by Rav Pesach Wolicki

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The entire yeshiva wishes a big mazal tov to Rabbi Jeffrey and Alyssa Aftel and family, on the birth of a baby girl last Friday! Shetizku l'gadla l'Torah ul'chuppah ul'maasim tovim! We also wish a big mazal tov to Rabbi Ariel and Atara Greenberg and family, on the birth of a baby boy on Tuesday! Shetizku l'hachniso b'brito shel Avraham Avinu b'ito uvizmano, ul'gadlo l'Torah ul'chuppah ul'maasim tovim! We were very privileged to host Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, shlita, a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University, this past Sunday. Rav Goldwicht gave a shiur to our students on several ideas in Masechet Berachot, which our shana alef students are currently learning b'bekiut. He also spoke about the war in Gaza, and discussed our responsibilities as bnei Torah to those on the front lines. We also were privileged to host Rabbi Meir Sendor, shlita, mara d'atra of Sharon, Massachusetts, and father of our own Rav Noam Sendor. Rav Sendor offered a class in Jewish meditation, and afterwards addressed the entire yeshiva, giving a shiur on the seventh perek of Baba Metzia. This Shabbat is an in-Shabbat, and will be hosted by Rav Yisrael Herczeg. Rav Herczeg will be offering several shiurim, including a shiur after the kiddush on Shabbat morning entitled, Yosef Yefei Toar. The Friday night oneg will take place at the home of Shmuel and Goldie Katz. Everyone in the yeshiva is eagerly anticipating the upcoming week. On Sunday, we will be addressed by Rav Mordechai Willig, shlita, and on Monday, Rav Herschel Schachter, shlita, will be visiting the yeshiva and giving a shiur. Later in the week, the students will be embarking on a four-day tiyul to the North of the country, which will also include our annual Shabbat in Tzfat.

Baruch Shem and Hashem Echad
By Rabbi Scott Kahn

"Yaakov called to his sons, saying, Gather together and I will reveal to you that which will occur to you at the End of Days." (Bereshit 49:1)

Chazal tell us that Yaakov meant to reveal the ketz hayamin - the date of the Ultimate Redemption - but suddenly found himself unable to do so:

"Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: 'Yaakov called to his sons, saying, Gather together and I will reveal to you...' Yaakov attempted to reveal to his sons the ketz hayamin, at which point the Divine Presence departed from him. He said, Perhaps, G-d forbid, there exists a 'flaw in my bed' (i.e., one of my children does not share my beliefs), like Avraham, who fathered Yishmael, or my father Yitzchak, who fathered Eisav! His sons said to him, Shma Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad - Listen, our father Israel, just as your heart only believes in the One, we, too only have the One in our hearts. At that moment, Yaakov Avinu said, Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto L'olam Va'ed. (Pesachim 56a)

Why did Yaakov respond to his childrens' declaration of belief with the phrase Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto L'olam Va'ed? What does this statement mean?

The answer can be found by noting the unique method of making blessings in the Beit HaMikdash. According to Masechet Taanit 16b, before the conclusion of every blessing in the Temple, the phrase Baruch Hashem Elokei Yisrael Min Haolam Ve'ad Haolam - Blessed is Hashem, the G-d of Israel, from this world until the future world - is added. And the response to these special blessings is not the standard amen, but Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto L'olam Va'ed.

The blessings recited in the Beit HaMikdash were unique, just as the Beit HaMikdash was unique. The Beit HaMikdash was the ultimate venue in which Hashem's presence throughout history was tangible and real; despite His seeming absence from the rest of the world, He allowed Himself to be directly experienced in the Temple itself. The Beit HaMikdash, in other words, was the spot wherein the veil which hides G-d was removed, and His normally hidden reality became manifest. Thus, the blessings in the Temple included the phrase, "From this world until the future world," for one's experience of the Divine Presence in the Beit HaMikdash allowed him to view history as a continuum, moving in a specific direction towards a lofty goal. While our everyday reality permits us to believe this to be true, the manifest presence of G-d in the Beit HaMikdash allowed us to experience it as true.

The response to seeing and experiencing the entire continuum of history, to transcending time and viewing the entire spectrum of our historical experience, to understanding in full that we are moving inexorably toward the redemption, is the statement of Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto L'Olam Va'ed. This phrase, translated as, "Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom for ever," means that we recognize G-d's presence in history, and that His apparent absence is merely an illusion. We say it when He has allowed us to see Him where before He was concealed. Accordingly, Baruch Shem is recited aloud in the Beit HaMikdash not only in response to blessings, but also upon hearing the ineffable Name (Mishnah Yoma 3:8); for that Name means that G-d exists equally throughout time, even when He appears absent, and that He continues to bring things into existence, even when we cannot recognize it. (See Nefesh HaChaim 2:2) When that name is said aloud on Yom Kippur, bringing that which is normally hidden to light, the only response is Baruch Shem. Similarly, the ministering angels recite Baruch Shem (Devarim Raba 2:25); unlike man, they are privy to the meaning behind history, and understand the direction toward which history is heading. And when we gain this insight once a year, on Yom Kippur - when we see our actions for what they truly are, and reorient ourselves to achieve the glorious future we can only then apprehend - we say Baruch Shem aloud.

When Yaakov Avinu wanted to reveal the End, but felt the Shechinah departing, he was filled with angst. He was tremendously concerned that, unbeknownst to him, one of his children might have been harboring secret thoughts denying G-d's unity, and His plan for the future. His worries were alleviated when all twelve sons recited the words, Hashem Echad - G-d is the only One in our hearts - in unison. Yaakov's twelve sons were the embodiment of Klal Yisrael, both past and future. Their declaration that their hearts contained not even the slightest doubt regarding G-d's unity reassured Yaakov that Am Yisrael would be a witness to Hashem Echad throughout history. Although Hashem did not want Yaakov to reveal the End, the unified declaration of faith by the entire people of Yisrael, and their reassurance through this declaration that their faith would be unshakable throughout history, was an even more powerful demonstration of G-d's presence than the revelation of the End of Days. (See Kesef Mishnah on Rambam, Hilchot Kriat Shma 1:4) Hashem is revealed not only in the ultimate future, but every time the declaration of Hashem Echad is stated. The twelve sons's statement of Hashem Echad allowed Yaakov to know that G-d would be revealed throughout history, not only in the End. For this reason, he immediately recited Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto L'Olam Va'ed, for he had received a greater revelation of history's majesty from his sons than he would have had from prophetic revelation.

The primary appearance of Shma Yisrael in the Torah occurs in Parashat Vaetchanan, where Moshe recites the Shma without any mention of Baruch Shem. This can be easily understood based on the above idea. According to Rashi, Moshe's statement in his Shma of Hashem Echad refers to the entire human race acknowledging G-d's unity in the ultimate future. (See Rashi on Devarim 6:4) This, obviously, is not something we can witness now; therefore, the phrase Baruch Shem is absent.

The Talmud in Masechet Pesachim suggests that we recite Baruch Shem in an undertone as a compromise between Yaakov's version and that of Moshe. On a deeper level, this compromise might represent our dual realization of the simultaneous concealment and revelation of Hashem. We recognize that the ultimate future has not arrived, and we cannot deny that G-d's kingdom remains hidden. We also know, however, that every time we recite Hashem Echad, and thereby testify to the reality that underlies history, we actively reveal the hidden G-d. We must look to the future with hopeful anticipation, while realizing that our recitation of Shma in the here and now is not solely a declaration of faith, but an actual revelation of G-d's oneness. When we recite Hashem Echad, we reenact the great scene at Yaakov's deathbed, showing that we truly carry the revelation of Hashem with us at all times.

May the rest of the world understand Hashem Echad soon, so that we can proclaim Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto L'Olam Va'ed in full voice, as we usher in the ultimate redemption.