Menachem Mendel Bluming Muses: Mention the Matriarchs!


“Rabbi, why do the matriarchs not get mentioned as often as the patriarchs in our prayers?” Bluming was asked recently by a congregant. After all, our Sages teach that they were, in spiritual stature, even greater than our patriarchs reflected in G-d’s commanding Abraham to listen to everything that Sarah tells him. “Yet” Menachem Mendel Bluming was asked, we pray by speaking of G-d as the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob rather than our matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah!”

“Here's one thought of many”, Bluming responded.
There is something unique about our forefathers, something the mothers did not have.
They were an unbroken chain.

Abraham's son was Isaac. Isaac's son was Jacob. That's three generations of commitment to Judaism. Abraham was the first Jew. Isaac was the first to be born Jewish. And Jacob was the first grandchild to follow the Jewish path.
The mothers were all first generation Jews. The fathers were a continuum of holiness.

This is profoundly significant. When faith survives for three consecutive generations, it leaves a permanent mark. Until then, it is still precarious. Abraham's path was followed by only one of his sons, Isaac, not Ishmael. Isaac's legacy was passed on to Jacob, but not to Esau. It was Jacob, the third generation, who bequeathed his spiritual heritage to all of his children.

There have been many visionaries, saints and revolutionaries throughout history who have walked the world's stage with big ideas to change humanity. But Abraham was the first to make it into a family business. And that is what made his revolution an eternal one.

So we mention the patriarchs in our prayers with the hope that our descendants too, continue the precious unbroken chain. Here we are, four thousand years later, still praying to the same G-d as they did. All because of one man who not only lived a meaningful life, but taught it to his children and grandchildren.

Menachem Mendel Bluming and Rabbi Moss

Popular posts from this blog

When to be Flexible

There are times to bend like a reed in the wind. And there are times to act as a stubborn wall against the tide. There are matters that lie at the periphery of life. In those situations stubbornness often stands in the way of harmony and peace. Every such “I” is the very root and source of evil. But when it comes to matters that touch the purpose for which you were placed in this world, that’s when you have to be that immovable wall. That’s when you have to say, “On this, I‘m not going to budge.” That “I,” that’s not evil. That‘s an “I” fulfilling the purpose for which you were given an “I.” Menachem Mendel Bluming,  Chabad.org and Rabbi Freeman
Read more

Menachem M. Bluming on Gun Control

In Las Vegas we were stunned once again by another staggering and grotesque mass murder and the resultant anguish for all those whose lives have been destroyed and irrevocably altered. We are left perplexed and wondering what in the world is going on in our country? This kind of vicious mass murder is something we have not seen before, certainly not with the frequency that we see it today. Would you believe that there has been a shooter incident somewhere in the country almost every day this year? In the latest tragedy in Las Vegas the killer doesn't seem to even have had a twisted ideological or religious motive. Just wanton murder. Although law enforcement may be baffled in their search for a motive in this case, A general societal shift may have contributed to the perpetration in these kind of atrocious acts. The most dramatic changes in American society over the past seventy five years has been, not in the technological realm (though superficially it may seem so), ...
Read more

Menachem Bluming Muses: Define Judaism

The Jewish people can best be described as a spiritual family. We are connected by our souls, and every Jew is a part of this invisible web by virtue of our Jewishness. You can either be born into the family or join by choice. But once you are in, you are family, no matter what. If Jews are a family, the Torah is the family rules. It recounts the family history, defines the family identity, and lays out the expectations of how members of the family should behave and the good they can contribute to the world. Some of the Torah is universal, but much of it is about our particular family and its relationships - with our brothers and sisters, our ancestors, our homeland and the Head of the family - G-d. If you break the rules, you are still a member, because family is family. But those who keep the rules keep the family together. Those who reject the rules usually find their children or grandchildren will drift away from the family entirely, not even knowing what they are leaving beh...
Read more