Northern Light-Reading

  BENAYAHU SON OF YEHOYADA, יְהוֹיָדָ   בְנָיָהוּ בֶן Solomon’s Facilitator   In this week’s Chayei Sarah Haftarah portion at 1Kings 1:1-31 a successor to King David is to be chosen. There is a controversy between Adoniyahu and Solomon. Although David had promised Bathsheba that Solomon would succeed him, Adoniyahu jumps the gun and has himself declared King. At verse 26, a certain Benayahu son of Yehoyada appears. He seems   to be siding with the proponents of Solomon. Who is he? What do we know about him? He is a man who emerges from the shadows, making it possible for Solomon to reign in peace. A couple of weeks ago in our Berakhot Talmud class at 18a-b we learned something about Benayahu son of Yehoyada ,   יְהוֹיָדָ   בְנָיָהוּ בֶן Benayahu is the stuff of legends. He is praised for three mighty feats: striking down two lion-hearted warriors from Moab, killing a lion in a pit, and defeating an Egyptian giant (2Samuel 23:20-21). This is onl...

   CHOOSING ABRAHAM’S FAMILY, THE 1 ST PROTO-JEWS RELOCATING THEM TO CANAAN  THEIR PROPENSITY FOR ABSTRACT THOUGHT HASHEM’S PLAN Hashem no doubt has a plan to make Himself known to the world at large.   In order to implement His plan, Hashem requires a select group of trailblazers who will transmit His Message.   Like it or not we Jews inherited this task, but how did it all begin? Why did God choose Abraham’s family to be the founders of monotheism and of the Jewish nation?   What traits did this special family possess that singled them out to be the first leaders of the Jewish nation? The answer to the first questions begins with the dawn of humanity, 100’s of thousands of years before Abraham and his family.   It has to do with the connection between the first human beings and abstract thought, putting two and two together. The answer to the second question is a no-brainer.   Abraham’s family are not passive; they movers and shak...