Have you found a meaningful connection with a friend based on trust and belief? What enabled you to succeed? How did you handle failure?

In the 2012 Super Bowl (XLVI), the New England Patriots lost to the New York Giants in a dramatic fashion, 17-21. With less than five minutes left and a slim lead, the Patriots had a chance to seal the game. All they needed was a first down to control the clock. Tom Brady, calm under pressure as always, dropped back and threw a short 8-yard pass to Wes Welker—one of the most reliable receivers in football. In that pivotal moment, Welker dropped the pass. The Giants took over and went on to score the game-winning touchdown.

After the game, Tom Brady’s then-wife Gisele Bündchen famously remarked, “My husband cannot throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time.” Her frustration was understandable: Brady had performed brilliantly (276 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions), but victory still slipped away because even the greatest quarterback cannot win alone.

That quote echoed in my mind during a recent Torah study session with my Rabbi. I was struck by the simple yet profound truth: the Torah cannot teach itself. You need a rabbi who knows how to “throw,” and a student who is open to “receiving.” Gisele was right. Tom can’t throw and catch the ball. And a rabbi can’t teach Torah unless a student is ready to learn.

Yesterday was my daughter Caroline’s 29th birthday. She’s getting married in a few months. I remember vividly the parental expression regarding watching children grow: “days goes slowly, but years pass quickly.” I have proudly watched Caroline grow in ways I could not have anticipated. As I sat thinking of Caroline’s growth and my own journey as a father, I remembered fondly our many meaningful moments cheering for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots together.

When Caroline was 4 years old, I remember watching the Patriots with Caroline and my friend John. Caroline asked what the players were doing (They were tackling and hitting each other), I said that they were “hugging.” For  years after, Caroline would affectionately cheer the Patriots hugging the opposing players on the field. Then Caroline and I started to go to Patriot games in person. Our highlight travel game was going to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City for the AFC Championship game on January 20, 2019. It was sub-zero temperatures with a stadium packed with almost 80,000 Chiefs fans. After a very dramatic game, the Patriots beat the Chiefs in overtime (37-31). On February 3, 2019, I traveled to Atlanta and cheered Tom Brady and the Patriots to their 6^th Super Bowl victory as they beat the LA Rams 13—3 to win Super Bowl LIII.

Watching Tom Brady’s touchdowns with Caroline over the years, I saw not just her growing up, but myself growing as a father. Reflecting on our shared passion for the Patriots, I now see a surprising connection between those terrific Tom Brady’s touchdown passes and the timeless teachings of Torah.

In Hebrew, the word Torah comes from the root יָרָה (yarah), meaning “to throw,” “to shoot,” “to direct,” and ultimately, “to teach.” Torah is a sacred toss, an act of transmission. And when we truly learn, it’s because our teacher threw the Torah portion with purpose and we were there to catch it.

There are three components involved in a touchdown pass: the quarterback, the football, and the receiver. The quarterback must read the defense, anticipate the receiver’s movement, and throw the football, not where the player is, but where the quarterback believes that the receiver will be.  The receiver, also, must believe in the quarterback’s ability to anticipate his movement and intentions to arrive at the same place and space in the future. Touchdowns are the result of a dynamic combination of timing, vision, trust.

Football is not like archery, where both the archer and the target are still. In football, the quarterback is under pressure. The receiver is in motion. And defenders are trying to break the play. To succeed, the quarterback must throw the football into space—into what could be—believing the receiver will arrive in time to receive his intentional throw.

I experienced this concept when I played water polo in high school and college, I was a goalie.  After a defensive stop, I had to start the offense and throw the ball far down the pool, not to where my teammate was, but where he would be swimming. If I was off by just a few feet, the pass would miss the mark, maybe hitting his head or body or even landing towards the other team. But when it landed—when my teammate and the ball arrived at the same place at the same moment—it felt like purpose, timing, and trust had all come together.

During my torah study with my Rabbi over the past twenty years I’ve studied certain Torah passages multiple times. At first, I thought I was simply reviewing material, but then I realized something deeper. As the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote, “No man steps into the same river twice—for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” My rabbi didn’t just teach me Torah over the years, he taught younger versions of me. He tossed spiritual ideas to someone I used to be. While some of those Torah tosses fell incomplete at the time, many have slowly grown inside me, sprouting and blossoming as I’ve lived, grieved, learned, and celebrated.

Torah study is much the same. Sometimes, my rabbi throws me a short pass, and I catch it right away. Other times, he tosses a long one—an idea meant for who I might become months or years down the line. When that happens, I may not be ready to receive it yet. But the Torah is already on its way.

In Hebrew, the word for sin is חֵטְא (chet) which literally means “to miss the mark.” When a quarterback overthrows a pass or a receiver drops the ball, the play fails. In life, when we miss the target spiritually, we too commit chet. But Judaism gives us a way back. The word תְּשׁוּבָה (teshuvah) means “return.” It’s the act of adjusting our path, recalibrating, and preparing for the next play.

That’s what the best teams do. After a missed connection, Brady and his receiver would huddle in order to talk, study, learn, and adjust for the next play. So, too, do my Rabbi and me. When a Torah idea doesn’t land, we reflect and prepare for the next spiritual spiral downfield. I’ve also huddled with Caroline and Lucy, not to coach them, but to listen. To learn how to be a better father to who they are now, not just who they used to be in my memory.

Tom Brady’s final two games as a New England Patriot offer a powerful parable, one of mitzvot, meaning, and the mysterious interplay between action and reflection. While Brady threw an astonishing 737 touchdown passes over his legendary career, it was his 613th, on December 29, 2019, versus the Miami Dolphins, that carries specific spiritual resonance. In Jewish tradition, there are 613 mitzvot each one a sacred act of intention and alignment. These include 248 positive commandments (the “do’s”) and 365 prohibitions (the “don’ts”). Fascinatingly, the human body contains 248 bones, and the calendar holds 365 days. A reminder that the Torah is not merely a moment in our minds, but a daily expression of our bodies with awareness and intention.

Just as a quarterback needs a trusted receiver, the Torah offers us a powerful spiritual parallel in the relationship between Moses and Joshua. In Numbers 27:18–20, God instructs Moses:

“Take Joshua … and lay your hand upon him. Give him of your splendor, so that all the congregation of the Children of Israel may obey.”

After forty years of leading the Israelites through wilderness and wonder, Moses knew he would not enter the Promised Land. But he didn’t fumble his final moment. He made the perfect pass, transferring his wisdom, authority, and divine spirit to Joshua. It was not merely a handoff of leadership; it was a deeply intentional act of trust, timing, and spiritual alignment.

In many ways, this was the original Torah touchdown.

Moses was the ultimate quarterback of the Exodus generation. He read the defense to overcome Pharaoh, the chait/sin of the Golden Calf, Amalek, rebellion, and fear; adjusting the playbook accordingly to each one. He brought the Children of Israel to the brink of redemption and then, with God’s guidance, threw the final pass. Joshua caught it. Not with speed, but with humility. Not with athleticism, but with faith.

This sacred connection between Moses and Joshua mirrors the legendary quarterback-receiver duos in Tom Brady’s career. Brady didn’t throw 737 touchdowns into empty space, he threw them to someone.  The most meaningful of those throws were caught by trusted receivers who had run their routes with intention and precision. Each of the following receivers demonstrate Kavannah (כַּוָּנָה) which is a Hebrew word meaning intention, focus, or direction of the heart. In Jewish tradition, kavannah refers to the inner mindset and spiritual concentration one brings to an action, especially during prayer, mitzvot (commandments), Torah study, and especially catching Touchdown tosses.

• Rob Gronkowski (105 TDS). Brady’s Joshua of the red zone, always dependable and fearless in the fray.
• Julian Edelman (41 TDs) Was the scrappy student, catching spiritual short routes and turning them into miracles. None more miraculous than his catch in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons, arguably the greatest catch in Super Bowl history. The ball bobbed, wobbled, brushed defenders, hovered in limbo and then, somehow, landed in Edelman’s grasp inches from the turf. It was a moment of perfect Kavannah (כַּוָּנָה), of never giving up on the spiral of possibility.
• Randy Moss (40 TDs) Stretched the length of field with his speed and reach, a reminder that some Torah truths fly far before they land.
• Wes Welker (38 TDs) Was the consistent vessel:reliable, humble, and ever ready to receive.
• Mike Evans (36 TDs) A late-career addition, reminds us that even at the end of a journey, new receivers can rise.

Moses and Joshua. Brady and Gronk. Brady and Edelman. It’s not just about the throw, it’s about the bond. The trust. The belief. The kavannah.

In Torah and in football, a pass is only as meaningful as the trust it represents. The spiritual spiral only becomes a revelation when someone is there to receive it with open hands, full heart, and total prescient presence.

In Brady’s final regular season game as a Patriot, he threw his 613th touchdown pass—a perfect symbol of a mitzvah fulfilled. But just one week later, in his final playoff appearance for New England, that sacred spiral was countered by a symbolic misfire: a “pick six” interception returned for a touchdown by former teammate Logan Ryan, sealing a 24–27 loss to the Tennessee Titans. That painful interception—a missed mark—echoes the Hebrew word for sin, חֵטְא (chet), which means “to miss the target.”

The juxtaposition was striking: a Torah touchdown and a chet interception. Together, they form the biblical bookends of life itself: moments of grace followed by moments of reckoning. But Judaism offers a powerful path forward through תְּשׁוּבָה (teshuvah)—return, repair, realignment. For Brady, that next step came in the form of a bold departure. A few months later, Tom Brady left the Patriots and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his very first season with the team, he led them to victory in Super Bowl LV, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 31–9. It was Brady’s seventh Super Bowl title and his first outside of New England. He was named Super Bowl MVP for the fifth time. The game, played on February 7, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, marked the first time in NFL history that a team won the Super Bowl in its home stadium.

On June 12, 2024, Tom Brady was inducted into the New England Patriot’s Hall of Fame. His career, like Torah itself, reminds us that every pass holds the potential for purpose, and that redemption can also arrives after each fumble.

As much as I have rejoiced in Tom Brady’s 7 Super Bowl wins and his 737 touchdown passes, I have discovered that each time I catch one of my rabbi’s torah touchdown tosses, perfectly in stride, it changes everything.

Enjoy a haiku inspired by this blog:

Torah in motion
Spirals of thought, thrown with care,
Caught when hearts are still.

Appendix

On August 8, 2025, the New England Patriots will unveil a statue of quarterback Tom Brady outside of Gillette Stadium. Plans for the 12-foot bronze statue were originally announced on June 12, 2024, when Brady was inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Fame. June 12, 2024, is now affectionately known as “Tom Brady Day” in Patriots territory because that represents the number of Super Bowl championships Brady won with the team (six) and his jersey number (12) and number of years (24) Tom Brady played with the Patriots.

The statue will stand alone in the plaza outside of the Hall of Fame to symbolize his position, “not as the greatest in franchise history, but as the greatest in all of NFL history,” team owner Robert Kraft said at the time.

Brady, 47, was a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player who holds the league records for completions (7,753), pass attempts (12,050), passing yards (89,214) and touchdown passes.(649). He added his record seventh Super Bowl championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 season.

Caroline and Andy at Kansas City January 20, 2019, AFC Championship Game

Caroline and Andy at Gillette Stadium September 8, 2019

Andy and Tom Brady at Gillette Stadium on June 3, 2019

You can find a Hebrew version of this blog here.

• Have you ever made a contingency plan that required sacrifice and faith?
• How did you stick to the plan during difficult circumstances?

On September 17^th.18^th, 2024, after a summer of darkness, there was a sudden blast of hope.  The Mossad’s pager and walkie talkie operation burst through the clouds of despair. The first phase was the explosion of almost 5,000 pagers in the hands of senior Hezbollah commanders and officers. The next day, thousands of walkie talkies also exploded. These devices detonated across Lebanon and parts of Syria, killing at least 42 Hezbollah operatives and injuring around 3,500, with approximately 1,500 fighters wounded. The explosives’ pinpoint lethality targeted only the users, sparing nearby civilians. This surgical strike, triggered by coded messages, turned trusted tools into weapons, shattering Hezbollah’s command structure.

Espionage is planned for a reason and not a season.  Seeds are planted with purpose. Fortified by faith. And often act at a time known only to Hashem/G-d.

Mossad carefully planned how to mitigate the threat of the Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon.

Over many years, Israeli intelligence, operating under the guise of a fake Hungarian company called BAC Consulting, infiltrated Hezbollah’s supply chain. They embedded 1-2 grams of precisely calibrated high-grade explosives, likely PETN or RDX, into 5,000 pagers and over 16,000 walkie talkies that Hezbollah trusted for secure communication. Mossad amplified the ruse with a sophisticated social media and advertising campaign, promoting the pagers and walkie talkies as durable, reliable alternatives to cell phones, while planting seeds of doubt about cell phones’ vulnerabilities to surveillance.

The operation’s genius lay in its decade-long orchestration and psychological warfare. This blend of technical precision and psychological manipulation broke Hezbollah’s spirit and redefined the battlefield. While Hezbollah fighters and commanders no longer carried their electronics, they carried a burden of fear and worry.

This cascade of disruption culminated in the assassination of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on September 27th, 2024, in a precision Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Guided by meticulous intelligence, F-15I jets struck a fortified compound, killing Nasrallah and senior commanders, with at least 33 dead and over 195 injured, primarily Hezbollah members due to the strike’s targeted nature. This surprise attack was poetically paired with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s UN Security Council Address. While leaders of the world watched Bibi with rapt attention, Nasrallah was evicted from this world.

Espionage of Exodus

In Numbers 13–14, Moses sends twelve spies to the land of Canaan. They spend forty days traversing the Promised Land. But when they return, ten are overcome by fear. “We looked like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we appeared to them” (Numbers 13:33).

All twelve spies agreed that the Land of Israel was full of danger and risks. However, only two of the 12 spies, Caleb and Joshua had confidence that they could successfully defeat the threatening armies and take possession of the land. They urged the people to believe in God’s promise. “The land we passed through to explore is exceedingly good… Do not fear the people of the land… the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” (Numbers 14:7–9)

The other ten spies threatened to stone Caleb and Joshua to death. Moses was persuaded, and Joshua and Caleb led the path into the promised land.

Faith Over Fear: What fortified the faith and determination of Joshua and Caleb?

How can spies remain resolute on their mission in spite of the obstacles?

What made Caleb and Joshua different?  Joshua and Caleb were not just spies. They were spiritual warriors:

Joshua whose name means “salvation” (a foreshadowing of Jesus), is a warrior. He once battled Amalek, a foe destined to clash with Israel for generations, and would later be asked by Moses to lead the Children of Israel into the Promised Land (Exodus 17: 8-13).

Caleb, whose name means “heart”, went to Hebron, to the Cave of Machpelah, the burial site of Abraham and Sarah, to pray (Sotah 34b). While others gathered intelligence, Caleb gathered courage.

Spying, is not only about seeing the land, but about seeing ourselves. That requires heart. It is fervent faith in God that enables us to overcome present challenges and in order to seek future possibilities.

Miracles

The Hebrew word for “Miracle” is “Nes.” The Torah, curiously, never uses the word “Nes.  Although there are many wonders, none are specifically called out as miracles.

Hanukkah: The Festival of Espionage

Hanukkah can provide a greater insight into the concept of miracles.

The two miracles in the Hanukkah story are the Oil lasting for eight days in the temple which inspired the Hanukkiah (Menorah) lighting tradition. This is a miracle of g-d/hashem. The second miracle is the underdog victory of the smaller Maccabee army over the much larger Syrian Greek army. This is a miracle of man.

Hanukkah is celebrated with light emanating from darkness. A light illuminating a festival of faith within the winter solstice. But its miracles are rooted in shadow.

The dreidel, the humble spinning top, was once a decoy. Under Syrian-Greek persecution, Torah study was forbidden. Jewish children would keep watch outside as they played with their seemingly innocent tops, while adults studied inside in secret. If soldiers approached, the children deceptively spin their dreidiels and make playful cries to alert the adults to hide the torah.

The first time that the word Nes is introduced is in the context of celebrating Hanukkah.

On Hanukkah, dreidels have two versions:

• “Nes Gadol Haya Sham” — A great miracle happened there.
  • This version is played outside of Israel
• “Nes Gadol Haya Po” — A great miracle happened here.
  • This version is played inside of Israel

The idea of Great Miracles (Nes Gadol) happening inside and outside of Israel is a prophetic reminder of the global reach of Mossad to reach any target anywhere.

Another important biblical reference to spying occurs in the Book of Judith (in the Apocryphal texts).  

Judith is the unsung heroine of the Hanukkah story. With guile and grace, she carefully and repeatedly entered the camp of the Syrian-Greek General Holofernes. She tricked the guards to accept her coming and going as a welcoming reprise for the general.  Armed with beauty, wine, and cheese; she seduced him into a drunken stupor. She then decapitated him and carried his severed head it back as a trophy of victory, even in front of the unsuspecting guards. Her act wasn’t just bravery; it was a calculated strike, a psychological blow that sent the enemy fleeing in terror. Her story, though not in the main Hanukkah text, was so revered that her face was painted by Michaelangelo on the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

Pictured above: Judith carrying the head of Holofernes. Artist: Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Vatican City, c. 1512.

Just as Judith’s deed of decapitation struck fear into the Syrian-Greeks, the Mossad’s pager operation left Hezbollah reeling; a modern echo of ancient audacity.

Conclusion 

Mossad, like the spies of old, understands the power of legacy. Each operation is a dreidel spun in the face of oppression, a declaration that Israel’s enemies will never rest easy. From the Promised Land to Lebanon, from Hanukkah’s miracles to modern espionage, the thread is unbroken: faith fortifies and human hands craft the wonders we call miracles.

May we learn to wait in silence, act with purpose, and believe with all our hearts. And may we remember: even when we cannot see it, a miracle may already be waiting hidden in plain sight.

Appendix:

Commemorating the Avengers:

Spy Legends: Medals of Memory, Seeds of Eternity

When Judith returned to the town of Bethulia, with Holofernes’ head wrapped in her belongings, Uzziah, the leader in Judaea said to her:

“O daughter, you are blessed by the God most high above all other women on earth… Your praise will never depart from the hearts of those who remember the power of God.  May God grant this to be a perpetual honor to you, and may he reward you with blessings, because you risked your own life when our nation was brought low, and you averted our ruin, walking in the straight path before our God.”  And all of the people said, “Amen, Amen!”
– The Book of Judith 13: 15-20 

In this spirit of honoring Judith, Spylegends.com has created a set of Medals to commemorate the missions of Mossad, like operation Grim Beeper.

The purpose of these medals is to:

• Remember those lost
• Honor those who acted
• Deter those who plot harm

The courage of such spies, ancient and modern, finds a quiet tribute in the work of Spy Legends, a website dedicated to preserving the legacy of espionage and missions of Mossad.

Through their collection of commemorative medals, Spy Legends honors the valor of operatives, each piece a testament to missions that shaped history. These medals, etched with codes, symbols, and intricate details, are more than artifacts; they are seeds of memory, carrying the stories of bravery into the future. Accompanied by brochures that illuminate the missions’ significance, they serve as educational tools, inviting us to reflect on the sacrifices made in the shadows.

Breaking Matzo readers can get a 10% discount on these these commemorative medals using the promo code: breakingmatzo

Personal Statement from Avner Avraham, founder of Spylegends.com

I was a bad student in school, and I didn’t like history classes the most. They forced me to read boring “books without pictures”. The medals are a different and creative way to commemorate and tell a big story. Each medal comes with a brochure in Hebrew and English that explains the story. The medals always have a lot of small details, sometimes secret and hidden. Some are explicit and some are hidden.
I arrived at MOSSAD at the age of 22 and retired at the age of 50. The organization has an obligation to keep documents, but there is no importance or instruction to keep objects. Over 3 decades, I collected thousands of objects that became a special spy collection, from which I built the Spy Museum before I retired.

The Beeper Operation is undoubtedly the most important and decisive operation carried out by the Mossad, and perhaps the most advanced in the world in its complexity and combination of many capabilities, cunning, timing and very deep thinking.

Efforts were made not to harm those not involved, and that was the case. The goal was not to kill, but to injure in a way that would not allow those terrorists to continue to operate against us. Each such wounded person became living testimony to his mistake, of his organization that is currently collapsing and disarming. The work is being continued in a smart way by the United States government, which supports the new regime in Lebanon and brings it out of the darkness into the light.

To date, I have produced 9 different medals for famous operations. This time we chose to produce a medal in the shape of a rectangle. We were thinking of something the size of a credit card, but very quickly we reached a size almost identical to the original Beeper.

I have researched and lectured on the MOSSAD’s assassination operations. There was never any revenge there! Not even after the massacre of 11 members of the Israeli delegation to the 1972 Munich Games. The goal was and still is – to stop the terrorists from continuing to harm us. To remove them from the chain of evil and murder.

The massacre of October 7, in which thousands of terrorists invaded from Gaza – land that was fully handed over to them, is a shocking event that has not ended. It is worth noting that Nasrallah and the Hezbollah organization – which operate with the funding and guidance of Iran, decided to start a war against Israel the day after tomorrow, on October 8, and to send dozens and later hundreds of missiles at our communities and our innocent citizens. Justice was done, among other things, through this amazing operation!

Appendix:

“The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:16)

The Children of Israel will fight against Amalek for all generations. There will always be an enemy testing our resolve and fighting against us.

Amalek is a nation descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother, through Esau’s grandson. Seen in the Torah as a symbol of evil and opposition to Israel.

In Exodus 17:8–16, Amalek attacks the Israelites in the wilderness shortly after the Exodus from Egypt. Joshua leads the Israelite’s defense and defeats Amalek in battle. After the battle, God declares that He will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation:

In Deuteronomy 25:17–19, God commands Israel to remember what Amalek did and to “blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

Enjoy a haiku inspired by this blog:

Spy for a reason,
Not a season—faith revealed,
Hidden in plain sight.

You can find a Hebrew version of this blog here.

• How do you find faith during difficult circumstances?
• How did you feel when you finally were able to celebrate overcoming the challenges?

Yuval Raphael, a 24-year-old Israeli, whose voice became a beacon light that helped lift Israel and Jews worldwide from the depths of suffering to the heights of joy. Her journey, from surviving the horrors of Hamas at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, to the triumph of winning the #1 Fan Vote and second place at Eurovision 2025 echoes an ancient rhythm. The song of Miriam, who led the Children of Israel in dance and timbrel after the trials of the wilderness (Exodus 15:20).

On that fateful morning of October 7, 2023, the Nova festival pulsed with the heartbeat of Israeli youth; some 3,500 souls dancing under the desert sky during the joyous holiday of Simcha Torah. Then, in a moment of unimaginable horror, Palestinian Hamas terrorists descended, turning celebration into carnage. At least 364 young lives were lost. Approximately 40 more were taken hostage, part of over 250 Israelis abducted across southern Israel that day, in an attack that claimed at least 1,195 lives, the deadliest civilian massacre in Israel’s history. Yuval survived the attack by hiding in a bomb shelter. In a desperate phone call to her dad, Yuval’s father told her to “play dead in order to survive.”  Yuval hid underneath dead bodies of fellow festival goers. Refusing to give up she endured, all the while praying to survive. Fast forward to May 17, 2025, her  resilience was revealed again, her music a defiant note of hope in the face of hate.

In Exodus 15:20, Miriam stood at the edge of the Sea of Reeds, her timbrel in hand, leading the Children of Israel in song and dance. “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing. And Miriam sang to them…” The Children of Israel had known suffering during the bondage of slavery and a dangerous escape from Egypt while chased by Pharaoh’s army. Miriam did not linger in the shadows of pain. She danced, she sang, and she inspired.  Her voice invigorated the people, turning their weary steps into a celebration of life. Her timbrel became a symbol of joy reborn, a testament that even after the deepest trials the heart can find its rhythm again and our voices can express our faith.

Yuval and Israel would face dual terrorist threats again on May 17, 2025. While Houthi Terrorists launched missiles on Tel Aviv, Israelis watched Yuval overcome the threats of violence by Palestinian Hamas terror supporters in Basel, Switzerland, during Eurovision. Yuval inspired Israel with her resilience and determination. At the end of her song, Yuval proudly and defiantly exalted  “Am Yisrael Chai” as a tribute to Israel and Jews world-wide. Each and every loss of life on October 7th and IDF soldier lost since  was conveyed in each and every note Yuval sang In that moment, all of Israel, Jews, and Yuval marked the moment from suffering to celebration, made possible by perseverance, faith in G-d/Hashem, and compassionate community.

In the Jewish tradition, song and dance are sacred acts, weaving the earthly to the eternal. Miriam’s timbrel resounds through the generations, a reminder that joy is not the absence of suffering but the courage to sing through it. Yuval’s journey mirrors this timeless truth.

From the bomb shelter on October 7, 2023, to the global spotlight on May 17, 2025, from the shadows of Nova to shining stage of Eurovision, Yuval wove her melody to lift the Land of Israel, and lead a modern exodus, from sorrow to strength, inviting all to join in the dance of hope and determination.

What does it mean to sing through shadows? Yuval Raphael’s triumph asks each soul to pick up their own timbrel. To find a moment of beauty, to share a note of kindness, to dance even when the ground feels unsteady. In the quiet of this moment, listen for the melody of resilience. Let it guide our hearts to a new day, where joy rises like a song that cannot be silenced.

Who will lift a timbrel today? What song will carry us forward?

Appendix

Israel has had remarkable success at the Eurovision with four winners in the past 15 years.  It is particularly remarkable for Israel to have placed #1 Fan Favorite, #2 Overall, and #5 overall since October 7, 2023, despite the virulent antisemitism and pernicious propaganda and threats of the pro-Hamas Palestinian terror supporters who threatened and tried to impede the Israeli singing and participation efforts.

Eurovision 2025: Yuval Raphael – “New Day Will Rise”

Final Result:

• #1 Fan Favorite
• 2nd place

You can enjoy Yuval’s song here.

You can read more about Yuval’s survival story here.

You can read about how Yuval’s Eurovision outfit paid homage to the Bibas Boys here.

Eurovision 2024: Eden Golan – “Hurricane”

Final Result: 5th place

You can watch Eden Golan’s song here.

You can watch Yuval Raphael and Eden Golan singing together here.

Andy met Eden Golan in April, 2025

Eurovision 2023: Noa Kirel – “Unicorn”

Final Result: 3rd place

You can watch Noa Kirel’s song here.

• Have you ever had a philosophical difference with a friend or family?
• Have you looked after your brothers despite experiencing a divide?

Recently, I was banned from a group which I had previously considered my friends. Since October 7th, 2023, we have seen an explosion of antisemitism and philosophical differences across society; even within the Jewish community.

My college class has a Facebook Group where we shared fun personal stories and class events. Since October 7th, a group of classmates have hijacked the platform, turning it into an active forum to attack Jews and Israel.  Other Jewish classmates and myself tried our best to express a sincere and simple belief that Jews should be able to study freely and without harassment or assault on our alma-mater’s campus.  Nevertheless, many classmates actively attacked us and ultimately our voices were silenced. I was banned, and then later I, along with other Jewish classmates, resigned from the group. They can try to silence our voices, but they cannot subdue our spirits.

Given this painful experience, I looked to the Torah for learning and healing.

In Genesis 4:8, Kane killed his brother Abel. The story of Kane and Abel is a sibling rivalry resulting in a senseless killing. However, a deeper reading can reveal a number of other significant themes to explore: good vs. evil, being  a brother’s keeper, looking after your flock, and philosophical differences of how to connect land and community.

Kane and Abel is the first example of sibling rivalry in the book of Genesis. It is followed by Isaac and Ishmael, then Jacob and Esau, and finally Joseph and his brothers. Genesis is concluded with the unity among Joseph and his brothers. Joseph is later buried in Israel by Moses.

Exodus teaches us the true power of faith in G-d/Hashem and unity of community. Moses, Miriam, and Aaron are the first truly unified siblings (from their life beginning). Ultimately, they delivered the Children of Israel to the Promised Land with their faith in G-d/Hashem.

Kane and Abel both showed their respect to G-d/Hashem by making a sacrifice. However, they gave their offerings in  very different manners.  Abel, a shepherd, gave G-d/Hashem his “choicest and finest” by offering the “fattest and firstling of the flock”; carefully chosen and intentionally offered.

Kane, a farmer by contrast, simply picked some fruits and vegetables from among the harvest and gave a paucity of produce to G-d/Hashem.

When G-d/Hashem noticed Kane’s shame, G-d/Hashem spoke to Kane for the first time. Kane felt shame because he recognized that his sacrificial offering was not sincere in comparison to Abel’s. Kane’s feeling of shame is in contrast to Adam and Eve were naked and felt “no shame” while in the Garden of Eden.

G-d/Hashem offered Kane the first example of choosing between good and evil.

Kane chose evil and killed Abel. Kane’s detachment from his violent actions was evident when G-d/Hashem asked about Abel and Kane replied, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Kane’s detached and dismissive statement is a stark contrast from Genesis 37 when Jacob (Israel) sends Joseph to check on the “shalom” welfare of his brothers. and Joseph tells a stranger “I am looking for my brothers”.

Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob/Israel. Joseph’s brothers came to have tremendous envy and hatred for him. In Genesis 37:14, Jacob (Israel) sends Joseph to check on the “shalom” welfare of his brothers.

For context, Shalom (Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם‎ shalom) is a Hebrew word meaning peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility and can be used to mean both hello and goodbye. (Shalem) שָׁלֵם means whole, complete, and intact.

On the way, Joseph got lost in Shechem. There he happened to run into a stranger. This stranger asked Joseph, “What are you looking for?” Joseph answered, “I am looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?” The stranger replied “they have gone from here, for I heard them say “let us go to Dothan” so Joseph followed his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Joseph unlocked his heart by sharing that he was “looking for my brothers”.  In spite of the fact his brothers “hated him so that they could not speak a friendly word to him”, Joseph was still open and vulnerable to seeking their “Shalom”.

I have been truly blessed with the love and support of my brothers when we dealt with the loss of our mom and other difficult life circumstances.  The lesson of sibling strength in the Exodus story of Miriam, Moses, and Aaron working together to deliver the children of Israel is the final bookend on Kane’s “Am I my brother’s Keeper?” and seeking their “Shalom”.

This concept of Joseph “looking for his brothers”, seeking “Shalom”, and Shalem peace and wholeness is in contrast to the philosophical differences of Kane and Abel. Kane was a farmer, with a fixed mindset and fixed attachment to a specific piece of land. Abel was a shepherd, compassionate towards his flock, with flexible mindset to find “new and welcoming” pastures.

The Shepherd’s flexible mindset to seek new and welcoming pastures is also evident in the stories of Avram, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses seeking spiritual connections in new beginnings for their flock and community.

In shul we recently read Deuteronomy 22:11:

“You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.”
(Hebrew: לֹא תִלְבַּשׁ שַׁעַטְנֵז צֶמֶר וּפִשְׁתִּים יַחְדָּו)

Why is this combination of garments prohibited?

Wool is made from sheep and linen is made from plants.

The torah clearly displays the favoring of the biblical leaders being shepherds of the flock as the preferred life instead of farmers of the land.

There are modern examples of Jews being restricted from farming and land ownership. In medieval Europe (12^th and 13^th Century), Jews were restricted from owning land but allowed to lend money.  This example of Jews lending money was central in the Shakesperean merchant of Venice which focused on Shylock who was the Jewish moneylender.  In Nazi Germany (1933–1945),  under the Nuremberg Laws and other legislation, Jews were gradually stripped of property rights, including the right to own businesses and land.

Given this dichotomy, how do we reconcile the attachment of the Children of Israel to the Land of Israel? How can we combine the philosophies of shepherds of the flock and farmers of the land? I believe that that the answer is Faith in G-d/Hashem.

Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden and lost their connection with the land. After the killing of Abel, Adam and Eve had another son, Seth.  Seth’s descendants later begat Noah. In Genesis 6:9 “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with G-d/Hashem.” Noah is the first and only person before Abraham to receive this explicit title of “tzadik” (צַדִּיק).

In Genesis 9, the story of Noah’s Ark unfolds. G-d/Hashem instructs Noah to build an Ark (Teva) in order to save his family and a pair of all animal species, because G-d/Hashem was going to flood the earth and destroy all its remaining inhabitants. G-d/Hashem wanted a reset and Noah to begin the world anew. After the flood, G-d/Hashem presented a rainbow to Noah in the sky, signifying his promise to never destroy all life on earth again.

By building the Ark and loading it with his floating flock, Noah became the first ship shepherd and delivered humanity to a new beginning , which Hashem poetically framed with a rainbow in the sky. In Genesis, Hashem promised Abraham that the Children of Israel will be like the stars in the sky and sand in the desert (Genesis 22:17). In Exodus, Moses was also delivered in a Teva (Basket) from the water and delivered the Children of Israel (his flock) across the Sea of Reeds to a new beginning.   Hashem promised Moses and the Children of Israel to enter the Land of Israel which would be filled with Milk and Honey (Exodus 3:8).

It is noteworthy that G-d/Hashem helped the Children of Israel evolve from a vision in the sky (rainbow and stars), to delivering them via the water (Noah and Moses), to finally connecting them to the place and Land of Israel (flowing with milk and honey).

Accordingly, the Land of Israel became both a space for living in and a spirit to  live by. It is notable that modern day Israel became of thriving agricultural economy based on the establishment of Kibbutzim.  Kibbutzim are communities – gathering of flocks of families and friends.   These Kibbutzim created a thriving agricultural economy, culture, and community.

The Land of Israel finally became filled with love and labor. Communities connected by faith in Hashem created the fullness of a reconciliation between Kane and Abel. It was a joining of the best of both philosophies (shepherds and farmers).

I want to return to Jacob asking Joseph to look for the “Shalom” of his brothers. This concept of “being your brothers’ keeper” can bring peace and harmony to the world. Let’s explore the words “hole” and “whole” in the context of “Shalom” and “Shalem.” When you add a “w” to “hole” it becomes whole. The “w” represents “We” which is community. Thus adding “We” creates wholeness and enables a community to create peace.

I hope that we can all invite and encourage the collective “we” to join together in seeking both shalom and shalem. The peace and wholeness of our brothers and flocks, despite philosophical differences, to make this a harmonious and compassionate world.

Further Reading:

The Children of Israel’s connection to the Land of Israel: The land of milk and honey.  Am Yisrael Chai.

Kibbutzim were foundational in the development of Modern Israel (1920s-1960s) and played an outsized role in agriculture, defense, and politics.

Despite the small population share, kibbutzim contributed heavily to:

• Agricultural output (over 40% of Israel’s farm produce in some decades).

Agricultural Productivity Metrics

• Milk Production: Israeli cows produce approximately 13,000 liters per cow per year, the highest in the world, surpassing North America’s 10,000 liters and Europe’s 6,000 liters.
• Citrus Yield: Israel achieves 261 tons per hectare of citrus fruits, outpacing North America’s 243 tons and Europe’s 211 tons.
• Tomato Yield: Israeli farms produce 300 tons per hectare, significantly higher than the global average of 50 tons.
• Post-Harvest Grain Loss: Israel maintains a remarkably low grain storage loss rate of 0.05%, compared to the global average of 20%.

Global Leadership Areas

• Drip Irrigation: Pioneered by Israeli company Netafim, drip irrigation revolutionized water-efficient agriculture and is now widely adopted worldwide.
• Water Recycling: Israel recycles approximately 86% of its wastewater, leading the world in water reuse, with 80% of its sewage treated and repurposed for agriculture.
• Agricultural Technology (AgTech): Home to over 750 AgTech startups, Israel invests significantly in agricultural innovation, attracting 7% of global AgTech investments.
• Desert Agriculture: Utilizing advanced irrigation and soil management techniques, Israel cultivates over 40% of its crops in desert regions, including melons and jojoba, with the Jordan Valley desert producing nearly half of the world’s jojoba

Japanese Agricultural Growth – Catalyzed by Rice

Japan is another example of how the love of the land can yield outsized agricultural output. In this case, the Japanese love rice. It is a stable of their economy and diet.

Agriculture in the Empire of Japan was an important component of the pre-war Japanese economy. Although Japan had only 16% of its land area under cultivation before the Pacific War, over 45% of households made a living from farming. Japanese cultivated land was mostly dedicated to rice, which accounted for 15% of world rice production in 1937.

Rice was a core component of the food diet. Rice was also the foundation of Sake (a type of alcohol). In the Shogun period, Daimyo paid their taxes with rice. On the eve of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the nearly 300 semi-autonomous domains across Japan had widely varying tax rates. Some handed over 70 percent of their rice yield to the samurai ruler of the domain.

Harvard Facebook Recap

In the beginning, our Harvard Facebook page was fun and lighthearted. We shared family stories, classmate reunions, and personal advice.

For some reason, after October 7, 2023, our page was hijacked by politics and nearly always negative about Israel and Jews. The moderators never took notice to protect the boundaries. It was a constant stream of negative and provocative posts, largely criticizing Israel and justifying pro-Hamas protestors on campus. Whenever, the very few Jewish members countered by explaining the harassment against Jewish students, the preponderance of the group overwhelmed us.

In 2025 the Trump administration began to investigate the funding of the schools based on the antisemitism on campus. Last week, Harvard released a scathing self-confession of 311 pages of documented antisemitism.

Harvard’s history of antisemitism was first documented in 1719 when the first Jewish Professor Judah Minas was forced to publicly convert to Christianity in Harvard Yard. In the 1922, President Lowell forced the Admissions Office to place a maximum Jewish percentage of the student population at 15%.

Here is an article about how Harvard rewarded pro-Palestinian terror supporters for assaulting a Jewish student on the campus of Harvard Business School.

Rabbi David Volpe, visiting scholar and member of the Harvard antisemitism panel shared his perspectives in this article.

The attacks on Jews on our Facebook page reached a crescendo.  Then when the tension heated, a few Jews voiced their support for Jews on Campus. The number of anti-jew speakers grew. The number of posts and replies with personal attacks and antisemitic attacks intensified.

Ultimately, the Jews were overwhelmed and the moderators banned us and we resigned from the group.

What is the lesson?

We were playing chess without seeing the  pieces.  While is it distressing to have the antisemitism be fully revealed, it is fortunate that we can now see the entire board. Blissful ignorance is not a blessing but a danger. We need to be aware of the possibility of quicksand in order to avoid stepping in it.

I have a deep devotion to Harvard and my Professor and mentor Henry Rosovsky who was the first Jewish member of the Harvard Corporation and first Jewish President of Harvard.

I am hopeful that Harvard President Alan Garber will follow the Jewish ideals of truth and peace in order to radically change Harvard to eliminate antisemitism and to discipline those who perpetrate antisemitic acts in the classroom and on campus.

I look forward to the day when a moral compass returns to the Harvard Campus. I believe that that day will be celebrated by G-d/Hashem by a rainbow over Harvard Yard.

What is the better way to have Harmony of Opposition

I looked to Greek Mythology for another perspective. Harmonia is the Greek deity of harmony. Harmonia is the daughter of Ares (the Greek deity of war) and Aphrodite (the Greek deity of Love). Harmony is truly the connection of the opposites of love and war.

You can read more about the harmony of opposition here.

President Ronald Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil

President Ronald Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill were ideological enemies, but they learned how to disagree without being disagreeable. This video from March,1986 is a persuasive and poignant example of being friends as people, in spite of being philosophical foes.

Please watch this inspiring and profoundly educational video about how to find harmony in opposition and disagree without being disagreeable.

Here is a report about the “Traumatic invalidation in the Jewish community after October 7”

Enjoy a haiku inspired by this blog:

Brothers turn away,
Silence echoes ancient pain
Be your brother’s guard

• Do you have a family tradition that was taught to you by your parents or grandparents?
• Have you incorporated this tradition in your life and shared it with your children?

My love for gnomes began with my mom, who filled my imagination with their magic. After I became a father, my mom gave me my first set. Their tiny red hats peeking out from a box she’d wrapped with care. She whispered to me: “They’ll watch over your dreams.”

My mom encouraged me to plant a garden. She loved the saying “Sleep, Creep, Walk, Leap” to describe how flowers grow over the seasons.  She also said that gnomes are caretaker of gardens. (Just imagine if the Garden of Eden had a Gnome?)  My mom’s stories turned our garden into a place of wonder, where I imagined gnomes tending to the flowers with care. Now, her gnomes stand in our garden, a quiet reminder of her love. I’ve shared that same magic with my children, Lucy and Caroline.

Lucy inspired me to grow our gnome collection when she led us on treasure hunts looking for smurfs hidden throughout  the forest trails we called the “Enchanted Forest.” She’d announce the rules: “Youngest to oldest, take your turn, no running ahead, no trading of smurfs until the end,” as the children searched for smurfs which I told them were planted by the gnomes.(I am grateful Caroline’s maturity to allow Lucy to take the lead on our treasure hunts.)

The Talmud teaches us that “every blade of grass has an angel standing over it saying Grow, Grow, Grow.” I imagined gnomes as partners to these angels, nurturing both our garden and the traditions that grow across generations in our family.

Tradition, much like a gnome’s quiet work in the woods, often goes unnoticed until we pause to see its beauty. In Jewish life, traditions of lighting Shabbat candles, chanting the Kiddush, and singing the Four Questions at the Passover Seder, contribute to the ritual rhythm of meaning. These individual acts bridge across generations, and  us to our remind us of who we are. The Torah tells us, “You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:7), speaking of the commandments and values we pass down. This verse captures the heart of tradition: a sacred duty to share our stories and lessons. The Talmud’s image of angels cheering for each blade of grass mirrors the way our traditions encourage growth, helping us flourish through the generations. Just as my mom shared her love for gnomes with me, and I with my children.

I felt this deeply during Lucy’s Bat Mitzvah, when I shared the story of those treasure hunts. As I watched her read from the Torah, speaking about Avram’s transformation into Abraham, I saw how those playful moments in Lenox had planted seeds of growth. Lucy had grown through our family’s traditions, bringing humor, happiness, and hope which connected with the “H” in Abraham’s name bringing new meaning. The treasure hunts, which left her with a special and sweet smurf collection proudly displayed in her room, were a tradition of their own, teaching her to lead with fairness and joy.

Gnomes, in their whimsical way, teach us how to honor tradition with a light heart. There’s a legend that gnomes live by five simple rules: be kind, tell the truth, be generous, keep things tidy, and celebrate every day. These rules feel like they could have been written by our sages! Take our tradition of chesed, acts of loving-kindness. It echoes the gnome’s call to “always” be kind. When we invite guests to our Sukkah, give for Tzedakah, or share matza at the Seder; we are acting with the same generosity that gnomes encourage. Celebrating every day? That’s the spirit of Shabbat, a weekly pause to find beauty and gratitude in the ordinary.

Traditions come alive when we make them engaging for everyone, especially the youngest among us. At our Passover Seder this year, the younger children brought the Haggadah’s words to life by performing a play about the Ten Plagues. As they acted out each plague, I thought of the Torah’s account in Exodus 7–12, where God sends the plagues to free the Israelites from Egypt. Their playful performance, filled with laughter, turned the story into an adventure they could truly understand, making them active participants in the Seder rather than just sitting quietly at the table..

I would like to explore the concept of magic in the Torah.  Many people are familiar with the Magician’s incantation: “Abaracadabara” before performing a magic trick.  Let’s explore the biblical origin.

Bara is the second word in the Torah. It means “to create” in Hebrew בָּרָ֣א. (Genesis 1). It is part of the root of Abaracadabara.  Dabar in hebrew דָּבָר means to speak. Abaracadabra literally means “I will create as I speak

So how can we bring the gnomes’ magic and the angels’ encouragement into our traditions? Here are a few ideas, inspired by this legacy and my own journey:

Infuse Kindness: As you prepare for your next holiday, do one small act of chesed. Maybe invite a new neighbor to your Shabbat table or share a smile with a stranger.

Celebrate with Play: At your next Seder, make the reading of the Ten Plagues fun for kids, perhaps using finger puppets or a play like ours, turning the afikomen hunt into a magical adventure that grows their love for tradition.

Pause for Gratitude: Like the gnome’s call to celebrate every day, take a moment during your traditions to feel gratitude. As you light the menorah, braid challah, or chant the Shehechayanu to celebrate special happy occasions, these rituals mark the moment and provide an opportunity to gratitude for friends and family.

Keep the Story Alive: Traditions are stories we tell through actions. Share a family memory using family heirlooms for shabbat candles, kiddush cups, seder plates can help keep the family stories and traditions alive.  It is also an opportunity for children to create new ritual objects to start new story chapters.

This season, as we gather for our holidays, let’s channel the spirit of the gnomes and the angels. Let’s approach our traditions with wonder, kindness, and a playful heart. Just as my mom did with me, and as I’ve shared with Lucy and Caroline. Let’s make every moment a remembrance of the past, celebration of the present, and spark inspiration for the future.

Please share the story of your tradition with someone you love or with our Breaking Matzo community. Together, we can make every tradition magical, meaningful, and memorable.

Appendix

You can learn how to make your own fun Passover gnome garden to decorate your Passover table here.

Enjoy a haiku inspired by this blog:

Gnomes guard tradition,
Magic weaves through time’s embrace,
Legacy lives on.