Editorial 03.02.2022

Dear Parent,

The Gemoro in Menachos (28a) says that all the כלים (vessels) of the Mishkan were made לדורות (for all generations), except for the חצוצרות (the silver trumpets used to communicate to Klal Yisroel) which had to be made anew for each generation.

Why the difference? Why could the menorah, the shulchan, the mizbeach and all the other כלים be used for all generations and not the חצוצרות? What was special about these trumpets?

I once heard a magnificent idea from my dear friend Rabbi Malcolm Herman in the name of Dayan Abramsky ztl.

The function of the חצוצרות was to communicate to Klal Yisroel. It was the PA system used in the midbar. The lesson is that the message of Torah is eternal, but the method of transmission has to change to fit each generation. חצוצרות used for one generation would not be suitable for another generation.

Chalk on blackboards may have worked two generations ago and whiteboard markers for the previous generation, but interactive whiteboards and chromebooks are the new norm. We may be teaching the same parsha in Chumash or the same Bava Metzia in Gemara, but the method of communicating our eternal truth needs updating in each generation.

And the method of communication isn’t just in the classroom. Imbuing our students with the beauty of Yiddishkleit through this week’s beautiful Rosh Chodesh davening at both schools, HIPE activities, Kodesh Extra, Gesher trips, the soon to be resumed Poland trips, and so much more.

Dayan Abramsky’s answer is as important as it is timely and timeless. The message of Torah is eternal, but the method of transmission has to change to fit each generation, and this is something we are very aware of at Hasmonean.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi J Golker
Menahel