28/05/2026
Shalom my friends, this is Simcha Hochbaum of Hebron standing outside the kever of Yishai, Dovid HaMelech’s father and Ruth the Moabite, the great-grandmother King David.
This past Shavuot, coming off the high of receiving the Torah, but also coming here to Hebron to read Megilat Ruth at the kever of Ruth.
Here, her words resonate so strong. עמך עמי ואלהיך אלוהי
Your nation is my nation. Your God is my God.
And Ruth abandoned all the comforts of life and came and followed destitute mother-in-law Naomi and started to collect Section 8 and food stamps. לקט, שכחה, ופאה
And eventually she met Boaz, the relative of the deceased Elimelech.
From that union came out King David. The seed of moshiach was planted right here.
This Shabbat we read abroad Parshat Nasso which begins with the passuk נשא את ראש בני גרשון גם הם lift up the heads of the children of Gershon.
They too. Levi, the son of Jacob, has three children: Gershon, Kehat and Merari. Each one had a different function and different job of carrying different vessels in the temple.
They were gatekeepers. They were singers. Kehat was always the most important of the children of Levi, carrying the aron, carrying the tablets.
But then there was also the children of Gershon and Merari.
Sometimes the word Gershon means to be cast out, to be driven out. So many times in our school system today with all the great intentions, everyone wants in yeshiva the top students, the most intellectual, most gifted, most motivated, those who come from that perfect home.
But yet sometimes you have to remember we need to lift up the children of Gershon. They also need a rabbi. They also need a place. They also have a chelek in the Torah. They also need a way to express the service of Hashem.
And Bnei Merari are the children who only takes the bitterness. They never tasted that smile, the sweetness of the Torah. They never tasted the Torah as a “drug” of life, but unfortunately had the opposite experience.
Therefore, the Torah tells us נשא את ראש בני גרשון גם הם You have to lift up those heads. You have to find a place, an expression, for all the souls of Israel, for all the children of Levi.
They should feel the sweetness and beauty of Torah in service of Hashem. Rather than drop outs, we should all see drop ins, people strengthening and joining the Jewish people, the Jewish nation.
And children should all be privileged to be from those who carried the aron, but not as a burden, but as something where the Torah is carrying them and Judaism is carrying them.
Shabbat Shalom.
