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Chomer Lidrush
Some ideas to turn your gears heading into Yom Tov (and a thought for the potentially overlooked parsha)
1) Don’t forget about Tzav!
There is a parsha being read this Shabbos! See R’ Hirsch’s note on Trumas HaDeshen – is it the last thing done at the end of a long day, or the first thing done at the dawn of a new one? Seeing it as a bridge between today’s avodah and tomorrow’s, Rav Hirsch writes “It would give the idea, as the introduction to the service of the day, that: Today brings no new mission, it has only to carry out, ever afresh, the mission that yesterday too was to accomplish. The very last Jewish grandchild stands there, before God, with the same mission of life that his first ancestors bore, and every day adds to all its predecessors in the whole passing of the centuries, his contribution to the solution of the task given to all generations of the House of Israel. The Jewish ‘To-day’ has to take its mission from the hand of its "Yesterday".
2) Sacred Love in a Broken World (for Shir Hashirim)
In this thoughtful piece, our chaver and executive committee member Yitzchak Blau explores Rabbi Akiva's profound insight on Shir Hashirim. R. Blau connects Rabbi Akiva's famous laughter upon seeing foxes at the Temple ruins with his defense of Shir Hashirim as "holy of holies" even during national tragedy. While some questioned whether a love song between God and Israel remained relevant in exile, Rabbi Akiva saw in it an essential source of hope.
R. Blau suggests that genuine Jewish optimism requires balance. A mature spiritual life weaves together both "the optimism of Shir Hashirim and the pessimism of Kohelet." Neither naive positivity nor cynical despair serves us well. Instead, Jewish faith acknowledges life's hardships while maintaining trust in divine promises, allowing us to mourn present losses yet still anticipate redemption. This perspective offers a perfect lens for approaching Shir Hashirim in our own complex times.
3) Freedom to Serve (for last days Pesach)
Rabbi Zvi Dov Kanotopsky explores the concept of freedom through midrashic analysis of the phrase "מה זאת" ("What is this?"), a phrase appearing three times in the Yetzias Mitzrayim narrative. He argues that true freedom isn't merely the absence of bondage but rather service to a higher purpose. When both Egyptians and Jews questioned their liberation, they revealed a limited understanding of freedom as simply breaking shackles, which ultimately leads back to servitude to material pursuits.
The paradoxical conclusion presented is that authentic freedom (חרות) requires willing service (עבדות) to God rather than to selfish passions. The article, written in 1948 as Israel established statehood, emphasizes that redemption (גאולה) comes through accepting the "yoke of heaven" (עול מלכות שמים), transforming the master-servant relationship from oppression to divine purpose. This positive concept of freedom under Torah law creates stability and meaning that mere liberation cannot provide.
4) Rabbi Paysach Krohn and Shoes on the Danube (for Yizkor)
There were a few remarkable aspects of Bibi’s recent visit to Hungary: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán welcomed him warmly, announcing that his country would withdraw from the International Criminal Court (currently prosecuting Israel for alleged war crimes).
Additionally, the two visited “The Shoes on the Danube Promenade”, a prominent Holocaust memorial (for more on the Shoes, see our Media piece below). Fitting and timely for your Yizkor remarks, see Rabbi Krohn on the story behind the memorial.
5) A story for Yizkor
A soul-crushing story for Yizkor, from the Spring 2009 edition of Shaarei Tikvah, ATIME’s quarterly. It’s about reciting Hallel on Pesach night in the Kovno Ghetto right after the liquidation of Jewish children – a Pesach with no little ones to ask the Mah Nishtanah.
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