Vayeshev, וַיֵּשֶׁב
And He Settled
37:1-40:23
Coats can be taken away from you. But this other thing we are talking about, that can never be taken away. It is the core of who you are.
ESSAY: Shedding Coats Like Yosef (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
Who are you without that external coat of specialness and superiority? Underneath, what Yosef found, was God and his own divine core.
MEDITATION: Shedding Coats Like Yosef (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
Yosef is given a special coat by his father, a kutonet pasim, a fine striped tunic, as a symbol of his status as his father’s favorite, most beloved child (Genesis 37:3). Growing up with his father treating him this way, it is no surprise that Yosef’s dreams betray this sense of superiority, with visions of
ESSAY: It Is My Brothers That I Seek (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
In this meditation, we look at issues of superiority and inferiority in the Yosef story and our own tendencies to live through the lens of constant comparison to others. And then we touch into our deepest desire, which, like Yosef, is ultimately to seek “our brothers” and our sisters, to seek fellowship and peer connection,
MEDITATION: It Is My Brothers That I Seek (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
Yosef has a difficult life, but he doesn’t seem to suffer through it like his father Yaakov. He seems to ride the ups and downs with equanimity, grace and success. How We Navigate the Pits Consider the image of the pit. Yosef is thrown into the pit first by his brothers and later by Potiphar,
ESSAY: Learning To Surf Like Yosef (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
Yosef has a difficult life, but he doesn’t seem to suffer through it like his father Yaakov. He seems to ride the up and down waves with equanimity, balance and steadiness. In this meditation, we explore this capacity of Yosef’s and try it on for ourselves, looking at Yosef’s trust and sense of perpetual connection
MEDITATION: Learning To Surf Like Yosef (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
Dedicated to the memory of Gavriella Bader, z”l, a caring friend to my children and a beautiful human being. May her memory be a blessing, as her life was a blessing. Yaakov is inconsolable at what he thinks is his son Yosef’s death. His children come to comfort him and vayema’en lehitnahem, “he refuses to
ESSAY: Crying with the Inconsolable (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
This meditation is dedicated to the memory of Gavriella Bader, z”l, a caring friend to my children and a beautiful human being. May her memory be a blessing, as her life was a blessing, and may the family be comforted by God among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. In this meditation we consider Yaakov’s
MEDITATION: Crying with the Inconsolable (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
(Originally published in December 2020) The Chanukah menorah is a kli, a vessel, to hold the oil or the candles that bring light into the world. Light needs a container. In order for blessing to enter this world, it needs a container. In the book of Kings (II Kings 4), when a destitute woman
SHORT ESSAY: Becoming a Vessel (Chanukah and Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
ויהי ה’ את יוסף, “And God was with Yosef” (Click image to read more)
WOW (Word of the Week): את (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »