Category: Torah
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שְׁמוֹת – is known by the name “exodus”, the second book of Torah. In reality, it means simply “names”, exactly how the verse starts: א וְאֵלֶּה, שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, הַבָּאִים, מִצְרָיְמָה: אֵת יַעֲקֹב, אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ בָּאוּ. 1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt with Jacob; every man came with…
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Over roughly 3000 years after מתן תורה – the revelation of the Torah, there has been written numerous commentaries on every parshah, every pasuk, and pretty much, every word of the Torah. So, most of the times I am asking myself, no doubt as many do, what can I say that is different from other sayings, especially knowing that such…
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Gd is our every thought, every step we take, every mistake and every moment of glory. לג וְעַתָּה, יֵשֶׁב-נָא עַבְדְּךָ תַּחַת הַנַּעַר–עֶבֶד, לַאדֹנִי; וְהַנַּעַר, יַעַל עִם-אֶחָיו. 33 Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. Take me as…
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Sitting in the dungeon I cryFor my familyWhy did my father abandon me? Recently, I have hosted a beit Midrash in my house with the wonderful teacher I met at Pardes, Joe Wolfson. He suggested, based on a lesson from Rabbi Yoel Bin Nun that Yosef did not know about the real feelings of his father based on…
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This week’s Parshah is full of family stories, deceit and internal Torah connections. Michael Hattin is making some great comments juxtaposing the story of Yaakov with the story of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt. Do listen to his view on these connections based on the use of verbs, mostly, in both parashot. We see Yaakov running…
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This Parshah seems to contain many inner family struggles. First, it reminds us again that each birth is a miracle. As other imahot – אִמָּהוֹת – pra-mothers, Rivka did not immediately give birth. כא וַיֶּעְתַּר יִצְחָק לַיהוָה לְנֹכַח אִשְׁתּוֹ, כִּי עֲקָרָה הִוא; וַיֵּעָתֶר לוֹ יְהוָה, וַתַּהַר רִבְקָה אִשְׁתּוֹ. 21 And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife,…
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There are not too many women whose stories are told in detail in the Torah. Sarah is one of these unique women that merits this validation from the Rabbis:”Avraham was secondary to Sarah in prophecy” (Shemot Raba 1:1). This woman was outstandingly beautiful, wise, modest and strong-willed at the same time. Yet, her death was…
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There are two very significant points for me in this week’s Parshah לֶךְ-לְךָ Lech Lecha. First comes from an amazing shiur of Rabbi Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain. He argues that if we look closer at the text of the previous Parshah: וַיִּקַּח תֶּרַח אֶת-אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ, וְאֶת-לוֹט בֶּן-הָרָן בֶּן-בְּנוֹ, וְאֵת שָׂרַי כַּלָּתוֹ, אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ;…
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וְנֹחַ, מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6:8) אֵלֶּה, תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ–נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה, בְּדֹרֹתָיו: אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים, הִתְהַלֶּךְ-נֹחַ These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9) Did you ever notice that…
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I have decided to try writing a few lines about each parsha – פָּרָשָׁה. I guess, we shall see where it takes me. Of course, I am not making any promises – so bli neder. Again, this is not poetry, just words coming out to offer my view on things. Here we are in the week of…
Noshing Across the Nation 