A Tidbit of Torah – Parshat Vayishlach 5784 Jacob arrived safe (literally, “whole”) in the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan — having come thus from Paddan-aram — and he encamped before the city. B’reysheet / Genesis 33:18 Our teacher, the S’fat Emet1, focuses on the more literal meaning of the Continue Reading »
(10) Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran. (11) He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night… and lay down in that place. (12) He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and Continue Reading »
Tidbit of Torah – Parshat Toldot 5784 Reflections on the March for Israel Chazak, Chazak, V’nitchazek. Many will recognize this formula which is recited both by the congregation and the Torah reader upon the completion of reading a book of the Torah. It was also the impetus for the answer I gave when someone on Continue Reading »
A Tidbit of Torah – Parshat Chaye Sarah 5784 Jewish Book Month Celebrating Jewish Book Month Given the current situation in Israel and the challenges facing Jews around the world I share with you several titles which I hope you will find edifying and even inspiring. Each of them has been featured as a Jewish Continue Reading »
A Tidbit of Torah – Parshat Vayera 5784 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. (B’reysheet / Genesis 21:19) Rabbi Binyamin stated, “All have an aspect of blindness about them until the Holy One enlightens one’s eyes.” (Breysheet Rabbah 53) Building upon this statement The Chiddushei HaRim (1) taught, “Everything Continue Reading »
A Tidbit of Torah Parshat Lech L’cha 5784 At God’s behest, Avram, along with Sarai his wife, and his nephew Lot, leave their native home and all its familiarity. Avram is told to step out of his comfort zone and to meet the challenges of encountering new peoples and difficult situations. The Torah will record Continue Reading »
God further said, “This is the sign that I set for the covenant between Me and you, and every living creature with you, for all ages to come. I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Continue Reading »
he Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. Breysheet/Genesis 2:7 The verb used in our verse, “va-yitser” – “formed” is routinely used in the Bible regarding the work of a potter. God shapes and then animates the Continue Reading »
The festival of Shmini Atseret which begins this evening is described only briefly in the Torah in the context of the Israelite sacred calendar. In the Book of Vayikra/Leviticus we read: The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Say to the Israelite people: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there shall be the Feast Continue Reading »
You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God — your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer — to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which the Lord Continue Reading »
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