Vayeshev

Embark on a journey of Jewish learning and discovery, exploring the depth of our Vayeshev resources, where tagged items including audio, programs, and podcast episodes await your exploration.

VaYeshev: The Successful Man

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Our Sages attach the appellation Tzadik, righteous one, to Yosef, presumably because of his ability to withstand the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife. Yet the Torah itself refers to Yosef as an Ish Matzliach[1], a successful person, no less than…
Article
Dec 20, 2019

VaYeshev: Respectfully Declined

Rabbi Jay Kelman

“And Yaakov ripped his garments and put sackcloth on his loins, and he mourned for his son many days” (Breisheet 37:34). Thinking—with good reason—that Yosef, his favourite son, was dead, Yaakov was inconsolable, and he…
Article
Nov 30, 2018

Vayeshev: Sibling Rivalry

Rabbi Jay Kelman

The Talmud records that one who has no dreams for a period of seven days is called a wicked person (Brachot 55b). Dreams represent our innermost thoughts, our concerns of the present, and our aspirations for the future. One must never cease to dream…
Article
Dec 8, 2017

VaYeshev: Time to Grow Up

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Perhaps no Biblical story fascinates us like that of Yosef and his brothers. Its twists and turns are full of drama, intrigue, tragedy, violence, sex, cunning and pathos, and features common folk and royalty alike. It even has a happy ending—…
Article
Dec 23, 2016

Vayeshev: Look Out the Window

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Why was it that Abraham and Yitzchak had only one child who would remain within the Jewish people while Yaakov merited that all his children would be part of the Abrahamic covenant?   We should not expect the Bible to answer this question. The…
Article
Dec 4, 2015

VaYeshev: The Sounds of Silence

Rabbi Jay Kelman

It takes much thought and hard work to learn when to speak up and when to remain silent. Often, we find ourselves in trouble because of a loose and fast tongue that spoke too soon. Of course, at other times, when the occasion demands that we…
Article
Dec 12, 2014

Vayeshev: The President and the Viceroy

Rabbi Jay Kelman

One of the messages I try to hammer home to my students is that everything in the Torah can be understood as editorial comments on current events. Greed, temptation, family problems, substance abuse, heroism, war, loyalty--you name it, it is right…
Article
Nov 22, 2013

Vayeshev: And Yehuda Went Down

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"And Yehuda saw her [his daughter-in-law Tamar], and he thought she was a harlot, because her face was covered" (38:15). Presumably, covering one's face was not the norm, and Tamar's doing so raised suspicion that she likely had something to hide.…
Article
Dec 9, 2012

VaYeishev: The Successful Man

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Our Sages attach the appellation Tzadik, righteous one, to Yosef, presumably because of his ability to withstand the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife. Yet the Torah itself refers to Yosef as an ish matzliach, a successful person, no less than…
Article
Dec 16, 2011

Parshat Vayeshev

Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom

Audio
Sep 17, 2011