by Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
These days, the expression “Barukh Hashem” is considered the colloquial property of the frum community. But that wasn’t always so. In fact, the Torah identifies its provenance outside the Jewish community altogether.
Ten generations before Avraham ever fathered our nation, Noach was the first to use the phrase. Grateful in particular for one son’s act of filial piety, he declared, “Barukh Hashem – Praised is the Lord – the God of Shem!” (Genesis 9:26).
The next to utter the expression, according to the biblical record, was Avraham’s servant – commonly known as Eliezer. Convinced that, in keeping with the patriarch’s instructions, Providence had led him to Rivkah, he prostrated himself and exclaimed, “Barukh Hashem – Praised is the Lord – God of my master Avraham!” (Genesis 24:27).
The third appearance of the phrase occurs in this week’s Torah portion. Upon hearing of God’s marvelous intervention on behalf of the Israelites from his son-in-law, Moshe, Yitro shouted, “Barukh Hashem – Praised is the Lord – Who has rescued you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh!” (Exodus 18:10).
The Talmudic Sages were so impressed with this last affirmation of God’s greatness that they praised the Midianite priest at the expense of the Hebrew prophet and his massive Israelite following. In Tractate Sanhedrin 94a, they assert: “It is a disgrace that Moshe and his sixty myriads never said ‘Barukh’ until Yitro came along and declared ‘Barukh Hashem.’”
Briefly attempting to defend Jewish honor, Rabbi Shlomo of Radomsk reminds his readers that before Yitro had offered his praise, Moshe and the Children of Israel had burst into an even more effusive song of Divine homage at the Sea of Reeds. But ultimately the Chassidic Master concedes that the gentile outdid the Jews in one important spiritual respect. Grasping the intent of his Talmudic forebears, he notes that while the freed slaves had extended their thanks to God for the good He had done for them, Yitro had magnanimously offered his encomium to the Almighty for having shown grace to others.
Sadly, in our own time, Pharaoh and his anti-Semitic hordes have plenty of like-minded progeny. But that shouldn’t blind us to the fact that Yitro has also been granted posterity. At long last, there are contemporary non-Jews who have overcome millennia of prejudice, reached beyond themselves and extended a hand to us. Motivated by respect not ulterior motives, they have replaced missionary zeal with reverence for God’s unique relationship with the Jewish people. They pray not just for their own well-being but for the strength and security of Israel; provide moral and material support not for their brethren alone but for ours as well; and rejoice not only in their own collective accomplishments but in the many examples of Jewish good fortune. Slowly and cautiously, some of our understandable skepticism has been giving way to greater trust and appreciation. Let us recognize this long overdue, still-evolving reality and gratefully declare in the words of the gentiles of old: “Barukh Hashem!”
Shabbat Shalom!
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Bruce Ginsburg is the Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Sons of Israel in Woodmere, NY. A product of Boston University, New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary, and Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, he holds a doctorate in Hebrew literature. Known for his decades-old activism on behalf of Israel, Soviet Jewry, and intra/interfaith cooperation, he has served both as president of the Long Island Board of Rabbis and as president of the Union for Traditional Judaism. His essays have appeared in Newsday, the Christian Science Monitor, the Jerusalem Report, and other publications. He and his wife, Rachel, moved to Israel in the summer of 2022.