Categories
Uncategorized

Baruch Hashem?

The phrase Baruch Hashem is only found in the text of the Torah a sum total of 5 times. Here they are:

And [Noach] said, Blessed be Gd of Shem (G. 9:26); [The servant] said, “Blessed be GD, God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and truth from my master. (G. 24:27); [Lavan to the servant] Come, Blessed by G-d (G. 24:31); [Avimelech’s people to Isaac] You are now blessed by G-d! (G. 26:29), Yitro said: Blessed be G-d, who has rescued you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh (E. 18:10)

Isn’t it interesting that the Torah puts the words “blessed by/be G-d” only in the mouths of non-Jewish characters? What can it mean?

What is the connection between all of the above that ties them together? Might it be all connected to Shem, the ancestor of Avraham, and the act of decency that he performed for his father, Noach? Are all the “blessed by G-d” statements after the recipient does something good?

Comments are welcome!

Discover more from Creative Judaism

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading