Bereshit (Genesis)
The Torah says that Yitzhak loved Esav ki tzayid befiv, “because” of the hunting that Esav used to bring him to eat, while Rivka loved Yaakov. There is no reason attached to Rivka’s love; she simply loved him. The rabbis cite this love as an example of ahavah she’einah teluya badavar, a love that, unlike Yitzhak’s, is
SHORT ESSAY: Rivka’s Love (Parashat Toldot) Read More »
One kind act can shift the course of history. In this week’s parsha, Yaakov hears that Esav is approaching with 400 men. Was Esav planning an aggressive attack? The Torah doesn’t tell us but Yaakov certainly thinks so. The possible destruction of the future Jewish people is headed off by what? By Yaakov’s overflowing generous
SHORT ESSAY: One Kind Act (Parashat Vayishlach) Read More »
God takes different forms on this earth. When Avraham interacts with God’s messengers in the world, they are visitors, wandering strangers who are in need of hospitality. The face of God in the world for Avraham is the face of hospitality, of hesed, of people in need of help. For Yaakov, on the other hand, God’s
SHORT ESSAY: Our Enemies Are Our Angels (Parashat Vayishlach) Read More »
I noticed the other day, as I was making a personal petition to God, that what I was praying for was that God should help me accomplish my goals. Suddenly such prayer seemed very wrong, almost idolatrous, as if instead of worshipping God, I was worshipping my own ambitions/desires, and subordinating God, too, to this
SHORT ESSAY: Aligning with the Divine (Parashat Vayishlach) Read More »
The two parshiyyot in the book of Breishit whose topic is death are both called by names that indicate life: Hayei Sarah, in which Sarah, Avraham and Ishmael die, and this week’s parsha, Vayehi, in which Yaakov dies. At the very moment that we acknowledge that these ancestors died, we also proclaim something about their lives, something
SHORT ESSAY: Gifts From Our Parents (Parashat Vayechi) Read More »
Et Ahai Anokhi Mevakesh. “It is my brothers that I am seeking,” says Yosef to the mysterious “man” who helps him along his way when he is sent out by his father to check on his brothers. This statement seems a deep truth about the Yosef story as a whole. The seeking of brotherhood drives
SHORT ESSAY: On Seeking Brotherhood (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
The kind of unity they were engaged in was a unity of sameness. The kind that we strive for is a unity built out of love. (Click image to read more)
SHORT ESSAY: On Unity and Love (Parashat Noah) Read More »
Holding one of my children and stroking her hair, listening to her breathing, I feel a wave of gratitude wash over me. We are both awake and very still. I feel full, fuller than I thought possible. There is nothing more I could want in this world than this child. Thank you, God, for this
SHORT ESSAY: Glimpses of fullness (Parashat Vayetze) Read More »
How quickly and how far does the family of Yaakov descend in this parsha! Hatred festers unchecked among the brothers, and turns to violence against Yosef who is thrown down into a pit and sold “down” to Egypt as a slave. The Torah draws a parallel between this descent of Yosef’s (hurad) and that of
SHORT ESSAY: Hope at the Bottom of the Pit (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
This week’s parsha is framed by angels. At its start, as Yaakov leaves home, running away from his angry brother, he lies down and dreams of angels going up and down a ladder. The story then unfolds about his adventures away from home, in Haran — his years of work for Lavan, his marriages and
SHORT ESSAY: On the Accompaniment of Angels (Parashat Vayetze) Read More »