Hidabroot - Torah & Judaism - Purim Unmasked - Part 1: Twin Mix-up - Rabbi Paysach Krohn

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Rabbi Paysach Krohn says that Purim and the month of Adar are a time to remember that anything can happen, so a person should never give up hope, and that a parent should love each child equally regardless of whose name or family line the child carries. He illustrates this with a bris on Purim in Passaic that went wrong when the wrong twin was brought in first.

Key Points

• The Gemara in Masechet Taanit says that when Adar arrives, joy should increase, because wonderful things happen in Adar.
• At a bris for twins, the older boy is done first, and the second twin is kept in a separate room so there is no halachic question (shaila) about the brachos.
• At this bris, the grandfathers each wanted to be sandak: one for the older twin who would carry the family name, and one for the younger twin who would not.
• The wrong baby was brought in first; the rabbis ruled the bris could not be moved mid-process because a mitzvah in progress cannot be bypassed.
• The father became angry, but the mashgiach, Rebbe Reb Yehuda Cohen, later explained the episode as Hashem showing that a family should be happy with any child and love all children equally.
• The speaker ties the story to the idea of "Ad d'lo yada" and "Ein Kol Atzur Lehoshia," which he presents as the principle that no situation is so hopeless that it cannot change.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions: At a bris of twins, do the older boy first, keep the second boy in a different room or area so there is no shaila, and make the brachos on each boy separately. Before the bris, confirm which baby is which, since the wrong baby was brought in here. Once a bris has started, the mitzvah is in process and the child should not be moved away to be replaced.
• The bris took place on a Sunday morning on Purim after the Megillah reading, in a shul in Passaic, with roughly 200 to 250 people present.
• The speaker uses the story of his friend Yehuda Ha'kohen, who was given little hope after an accident and was in a nursing facility in Queens, to illustrate that people can recover and that a Jew should never give up.
• The transcript does not state the outcome of the twins' naming beyond the grandfathers ultimately holding the babies on their laps.

Bottom Line

Purim and the month of Adar are meant to be times of joy and hope, reminding listeners that unexpected outcomes are possible and that love for every child should be equal.