“Go out and learn what Lavan the Aramean sought to do to Yaakov, our father; Pharaoh only decreed [death] on the males but Lavan sought to uproot…
Vayetze: The Place of Prayer
“And Yaakov left Be'er Sheva and headed towards Charan (Breisheet 28:10).” Yaakov is sixty-three, has not married and is literally running for his…
Vayetze: The Complexity of Chesed
The Torah is a most complex work, and nowhere more so than in sefer Breisheet. Story after story lends itself to multiple and contradictory…
Vayezei: Making One Pray
"And G-d saw that Leah was hated, and He opened her womb" (Breisheet 29:31). Apparently, Leah—as was the case with Sarah, Rivka, and…
VaYetze: From Yaakov to Yisrael
“And Yaakov was a pure man, dwelling in the tents” (Breisheet 25:27). Like his father before him, Yaakov had little interest in the wider…
VaYetze: G-d is Against Me
The experiences of history have made our people a nervous lot. Whatever nervousness is warranted as members of the human race is significantly…
VaYetze: Listen to Your Mother
The Torah tells us nothing about the upbringing of Abraham; we do not even know the name of his mother. All we know about him is that he was the…
VaYetze: Sisters In Love
One could hardly find fault with the claim that sibling rivalry is the major theme of Sefer Breisheet. Beginning with the first set of brothers, Cain…
Vayetze: Searching for G-d
Yaakov is fleeing his home, afraid that his brother will try to kill him. Night is coming, and presumably he has been running all day. He is tired…
VaYetze: Ignoring G-d's Promise
Yaakov Avinu was on the run. Forced to leave home after "stealing" the birthright from his brother, he was attempting to stay one step ahead of Eisav…
VaYetze: Why Leave Home?
It is quite evident that Yitzchak and Rivka had differences of opinion regarding the difficult task of raising their twin boys. Their contradictory…