The central theme of Sefer Shemot is the formation of the Jewish people as a nation. The group of 70 individuals who descended to Egypt…
Terumah - Soaring to the Heavens
Symbols play an important part in helping to define who we are. Our clothing, for example, is often symbolic of the social milieu with which we…
Mishpatim: The Thief and the Robber
"Rabban Yocḥanan ben Zakkai’s students asked him: ‘For what reason was the Torah stricter with a ganav, thief than with a gazlan, robber…
Yitro: Who was at Sinai
What kind of book is the Torah and who is it meant for? Rashi begins his commentary to the Torah with the supposition that the Torah is primarily a…
Beshalach: Great Expectations
Throughout the Exodus story, the Jewish people are silent. We do not know what they were thinking or doing during the plagues. We hear them rejoicing…
Vaeira: Yes Thank You
That man sins is part and parcel of being human. It is the basis of the most special day of the year, that of Yom Kippur. Proper preparation for, and…
Shemot: No Thank You
“And Moshe was frightened and he said, behold the incident is known. And Pharaoh heard about the affair and he sought to kill Moshe…
Vayechi: Joining the Covenant
The opening 11 chapters of Sefer Breisheet can be read as explaining why there was a need for a Jewish people. G-d created man in His image…
Vayigash: A Test of Leadership
It is clear already from the sale of Yosef, that Yehuda had leadership potential. It was he who convinced the brothers not to murder Yosef, something…
Mikketz: Royal Politics
Yosef was a most charismatic person. He was young, attractive and as the Torah tells us on three occasions, he was an ish mazleach, a successful…
Vayeishev: Yosef and Greece
The annual Torah reading cycle has us reading the story of Yosef during Chanukah[1]. While in most years it is Parshat Mikketz we read on Shabbat…
Vayishlach: He Was Afraid
“And Jacob was very frightened and distressed” (Breisheet 32:8). After some 22 years Yaakov Avinu is returning home. Afraid that Eisav –…
VaYetze: Worse than Pharoah?
“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…
Toldot: Out in the Field
Our Sages were no respecters of persons. When they felt a wrong was committed, they called it out – be that person Noach, Avraham, Moshe or anyone…
Chayei Sarah: A Blessed Life
Yitzchak brought [Rivka] into mother Sarah's tent and he married Rivka. She became his wife, and he loved her. Yitzchak was consoled for the loss of…
Vayera: Avraham's Torah
Rabbinic tradition maintains that the Torah existed even before the creation of the world, in essence serving as the architectural blueprint of…
Lech Lecha: A Faithful Journey
The Torah provides very little biographical information. Rather, it highlights significant events in their lives from which we can deduce and debate…
Noach: Unity and Uniformity
“And the entire land were of one language, and the same things” (Breisheet 11:1). What a beautiful description of a world at peace! A world in which…