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One of the names of the Passover eve is called in the Bible: “The Night of The Watch” (ליל שימורים). The Hebrew/Israelite children about 3,500 years ago could not sleep on the night of exodus. They heard the commandment of their leader Moses: “Prepare for the exodus”, but they were restless. The children were afraid and thinking: “Mom, Dad, how will we walk so far, what will be with food and water, who will provide for us, who will protect us from the evil and cruel Egyptians, how will we manage, what will become of us…and the mothers came in, pat the children warmly on their foreheads and said: “Don’t worry. Tonight is The Night of The Watch. Everything will be all right.”
It was 586 BCE, the nation of Israel went through so many trials and tribulation sand now there was a siege on the city of Jerusalem. The little children were crawling in the freezing cold worrying about the future saying: “Mom, Dad what is going to happen? And the mothers came in, pat the children warmly on their foreheads and said: “Don’t worry. Tonight is The Night of The Watch. Everything will be all right.” Hundreds of years past and in 1492 The Night of The Watch came while the Jews were being very badly persecuted. Marko, a little child who was hiding in the floor against the Holy Order of the inquisition said to his parents: “Mom, Dad what is going to happen? And the mother pat her child warmly on her forehead and said: “Don’t worry. Tonight is The Night of The Watch. Everything will be all right.”
About another 150 years past and in 1648 the Jews of Poland were brutally massacred in the Cossack Riots/pogroms led by Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Rochale and Yankel, the children of one prominent village hiding in the farm, with big fearful eyes, weeping tears, trembling asked their parents: “Mom, Dad what is going to happen? And the mothers came in, pat the children softly on their foreheads and said: “Don’t worry. Sitzein Gitt. Tonight is The Night of The Watch. Everything will be all right.”
Years passed by and it is now 1944. There is a long line of people, men, women and children being ordered to get on a train in a small town in Hungary. They were told they are going to travel to the East for work and can take very little belongings with them. They are hastily pushed onto the animal freight train cars. Conditions are not humane: filthy, overcrowded, no windows, scarce food, no water, no lavatories. Some people do not make it and just lay on the car floor. The children cling to their parents, remembering how once they used to be a large family sitting together, saying the Haggadah with the sense of real freedom, chanting the beautiful songs of hope, now with blackened fearful faces, despair in their eyes with a broken voice asked their parents: “Mom, Dad what is going to happen? And the mothers lovingly turned to them, pat the children softly on their foreheads and said: “Don’t worry. Tonight is The Night of The Watch. Everything will be all right.”
We are now in the twenty first century. Sirens are going off frequently warning people to run for a hiding place before the missiles attack Israel. These missiles cause severe damage if they make a ‘direct hit’ and are deadly. Many people have been suffering from these horrifying attacks aimed at civilians, at all hours of day and night. For weeks schools, businesses, shopping centers, etc. have been closed and tens of thousands of people have been living in fear, in protective shelters under a siege. On one Saturday night in an old communal shelter in a larger city, the neighborhood children tired and frightened asked their parents: “Ima, Aba what is going to happen? And the mothers looked at them with kind eyes, pat the children softly on their foreheads and said: “Don’t worry. Yihiye Tov. Tonight is The Night of The Watch. Everything will be all right.”
April 2020. A horrific pandemic is raging in the world. Everyone is isolated, locked in their homes, apart from their families and friends. Again, all the schools are closed and there is great trepidation in the air as the numbers of lost lives increase rapidly and in vast quantities. There seems to be no way to combat this new invisible enemy that goes and comes as it pleases. Communication is only by technology. Kevin, who just turned 10 several weeks ago, and his six year old sister, Judy, are restless, turning from side to side, finally running to their parent’s room and ask them: “Mom, Dad what is going to happen? And the mother looks at them with calming eyes, pats the children softly on their foreheads and says: “Don’t worry. Tonight is The Night of The Watch. Everything will be all right.”
March 2021. The world is still in a state of uncertainty. Shelly, Ian, Victoria and Jacob after experiencing quarantine for a long time, while their parents are waiting for the second vaccine shot, ask them:”Mom, Dad what is going to happen? And their mothers look at them with calming eyes, pat them softly on their foreheads and say: “Don’t worry. Tonight is The Night of The Watch. Everything will be all right.”
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Born in Sde Ya’akov, Israel, Rabbi Moshe Pinchas Weisblum, PhD is a 14th generation rabbi in his family's dynasty of rabbinical leaders. His great grandfather was the famous Tzadik Rabbi Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk, Poland, one of the great founding Rebbes of the Chasidic movement and author of the brilliant book of commentary on the Torah: Noam Elimelech. His grandfather (from his father's side) was the well known Zidichov Rebbe - Rabbi Ya’akov Yitzchak Weisblum. He is the son of renowned scholar, former Rosh Yeshiva of Sde Ya’akov and the Rabbi of Neve Sha'anan neighborhood in Haifa for over 50 years - Rabbi Chaim Naftali Weisblum, and the grandson (from his mother's side) of the famous Kabbalistic master and author, Rabbi Yehuda Zvi Brandwein.
Rabbi Moshe P. Weisblum studied at Yeshivat Torat Emet, Haifa, from 1968 to 1976, at Yeshivat Itri from 1976 to 1978, and was a student at Yeshivat Ohr Etzion from 1978 to 1980.
In early 1981, he volunteered for the elite paratrooper unit in the Israeli Defense Forces. He completed extensive courses and received a medal and commendation at the end of the Israeli-Lebanese War. He finished his military career as a commissioned officer in the army with the rank of Major.
Rabbi Weisblum earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey, and earned a PhD in Philosophy from Baltimore Hebrew University. He also had an aptitude for computer skills, in networking, earning an A+ certification. Further, he was awarded the Sidney Breitbart Prize in Jewish philosophy from Baltimore Hebrew University in 2005.
Rabbi Weisblum was also a consultant to the media, since 1991.He was on a TV interview, channel 12-talk show, cable TV channel 54 –commentator on social and political issues. He was interviewed on the radio many times, regarding political and religious analysis and consulted on Middle Eastern affairs to Washington D.C.
He is a member of the New York Board of Rabbis, New Jersey Board of Rabbis, Union of Traditional Judaism, and Morasha Rabbinic fellowship.
Rabbi Weisblum has published a number of books including "Table Talk Biblical Questions and Answers" and "Ruth Talk", which is loaded with questions and answers on the Book of Ruth. In 2007, his book "The Hermeneutics of Medieval Jewish Thoughts Understanding the Linguistic Codes of Rashi and Nachmanides" was published by the Edwin Mellen Press. A review of this book can be found on the Mellen Press Web site.
Rabbi Weisblum is an accomplished musician as well. His album Heartfelt Melodies is available on Amazon and his popular YouTube channel features close to 3000 videos including Daf Yomi, Torah and Haftarah cantillation, lectures, music videos, and more.
Rabbi Weisblum is blessed with five children and eleven grandchildren and serves as a spiritual leader, lecturer and University Professor.