I've Got to Hand It to You

Take a few minutes greeting everyone in the room. For the first half of the people, shake (or hold) hands while greeting them; for the second half of the people, do not shake (or hold hands), or hug them, or have other physical contact with them.

After you have greeted everyone, you can begin the rest of the lesson.

Last week we learned that—in Hebrew—love (chiba) and obligation (chova) are closely related. Remember the song of Tevye & Golde from Fiddler on the Roof? They loved each other, but their love was expressed through obligation to each other rather than passion. This word group also includes a Hebrew word for friend (chaver—remember pay attention to the consonants). A friend is someone to whom you are obligated, and in turn is obligated to you.

However, chaver is not the only Hebrew word for friend. A second word for friend is yedid. In Hebrew, a single Hebrew letter may be transliterated as “y”, “i’, or “j”—so for the purposes of this lesson, yedid might also be spelled YDYD. The Hebrew word for a single hand is yad, or YD.

What do you notice about the words for friend (YDYD) and hand (YD)?

What idioms do we have in English involving hands?

Consider Isaiah 41:8-14

Note the places where a hand is mentioned. Whose hands are involved?

Is God Israel’s friend? What reasons do you have from the text for your answer?

Are you a friend? Rabbi Daniel Lapin writes, “Having friends is a great blessing. The rabbis of old who wrote their transmissions in Ethics of the Fathers advise us to always to working at acquiring a new friend. Good advice it is, and not terribly difficult to do either. First, seek out obligations to undertake. Find new and unexpected ways to help other people, even if they did not ask for your help. Especially if they did not ask for your help! ... In this way, the seamless web of social connectivity grows and strengthens, allowing the blessing of friendship and love to bring happiness and prosperity to all. (Buried Treasure, p 28) To whom will you be a friend?