Romach

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Massaged Divrei Torah?

Go to a bris, ufruf, sheva brachos, any simcha and you'll see it. How can you miss it? It happens everytime. With every speech, every dvar torah. Consistently. You know what I mean.

Everything connects to the parsha.

Its amazing, isn't it? No matter what the simcha, the names just happen to match up. Their attributes are exactly like the ones in the parsha.

Rabbis do it all the time too. They pick something in the parsha and massage it to bring out their message. I don't mind it, though I usually discount the massage and look at the message. And its a good way to get the attention of your congregants.

Don't get me wrong, its not bad. Its a good way to review the weekly parsha. Not everyone has the skills or knowledge to look in other areas.

Still, I wish people would pick a random parsha, story in Nach or gemara, and discuss that. I'd find it more meaningful. Pick and choose, find the trait you really want to discuss, and actually discuss it. Instead of twisting around the words to match whichever parsha fell out the day the catering hall had an opening.