digestVidSign in
summary

Beni Krohn - A Pre-Shabbos Message from Rabbi Krohn - Ekev 5780

Thumbnail of the video “Beni Krohn - A Pre-Shabbos Message from Rabbi Krohn - Ekev 5780”
Community upload. AI output has not been independently verified.
Author: Beni Krohn
Categories: Religion History
Tags: religion, history
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 00:55 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Rely on mutual responsibility and care for one another, recognizing that our individual deficiencies were designed to make us depend on and help each other. The speaker connects the Torah's use of the plural in the second paragraph of Shema (the "yoke of the commandments") and the bracha of Asher Yatzar to this idea, using the image of an army where no soldier can succeed alone. The message is delivered as a pre-Shabbos reflection during a difficult summer, with the community encouraged to keep helping one another.

Key Points

  • The first paragraph of Shema (Veahavta) is in the singular because it concerns one's personal acceptance of the "yoke of Heaven" and a personal relationship with Hashem, which an individual can pursue alone. The speaker attributes this explanation to a source referred to as 'the Chamalaibes' (likely a mispronounced/garbled name).
  • The second paragraph of Shema is in the plural because it concerns the "yoke of the commandments," which requires others: for example, davening with a minyan needs ten people, and a mourner needs others to comfort her during shiva.
  • The Midrash on Parashat Eikev's "crossing the Yarden to conquer cities" is used as the source for the bracha of Asher Yatzar specifically on drinking water, linking the difficulty of the task to needing to make a blessing.
  • The bracha of Asher Yatzar thanks Hashem both for the body's many openings and systems and for our deficiencies, because those lacks create the need for chesed toward one another.
  • Community members were praised for stepping up during the current challenge, offering items from their homes, Shabbos food, and charging stations.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: The speaker gives no step-by-step instructions. The actionable guidance is to recognize that others depend on you and to fill their needs, such as offering help, food, or access to resources, and to say the bracha of Asher Yatzar with gratitude for the needs it reflects.
  • The speaker asks the community to read the second paragraph of Shema, known as the second parsha, in the following morning's service.
  • The analogy compares the community to an army in which some soldiers are on the ground, some in the air, some at sea, and some in command centers, all working in tandem.
  • The speaker notes that the speaker cannot explain why Hashem has given the community this summer's challenge, which is framed as a lack of power and related needs.
  • The speaker expresses hope that normalcy will return over the weekend and that power will be restored.

Bottom Line

Our shared needs are not a flaw but a design: they bind us together, so caring for one another is both a responsibility and a reason for gratitude.