Vayigash — Full Circle
The wagons (agalos) that Yosef sent back with his brothers to their father (Beraishis 45:27) were intended to convince Yaakov it was indeed Yosef who was the effective ruler of Mitzrayim. They were, as...
Author: Avi Shafran
Letter to the NYT About Abortion
To the Editor: Judaism permits, even requires, abortion in limited cases, and responsible Jews cannot endorse measures that give a fetus the same protections as a born child. But, with regard to Sarah Seltzer’s...
Mikeitz – Small, Not Inconsequential
Yosef, who reaches the height of temporal power in this week’s parshah, was originally presented as unimpressive, even vain, the favorite of his father but the lesser, at least as they saw things, of...
A “Certain Sect of People”
People sometimes ask me if writing a letter to the editor of a major newspaper is worth the trouble, considering that having one’s letter chosen for publication is a long shot. I reply that...
The Myth of Mundanity: A Chanukah Thought
The thought experiment begins by asking us to ponder a world where the dead routinely rise from their graves but in which no grain or vegetation has ever grown. Long departed relatives routinely reappear...
Vayeishev – Gone, But Not Forever
When Yaakov Avinu is shown his son Yosef’s blood-soaked coat, “All his sons and daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted” (Beraishis, 37:35). Quoting the Midrash Rabbah (84:20), Rashi explains...
Vayishlach — A Poisonous Prescription
Number one on my list of brilliant people’s brilliantly wrongheaded ideas is something that the late British polymath/physician/comedian Jonathan Miller once said: “I feel that the Jew must constantly re-adventure and re-venture himself into...
Vayeitzei – Haters Gonna Hope
In a short, biting comment, the Chasam Sofer makes a trenchant observation about antisemites, whom he sees as following in the footsteps of Lavan, Yaakov Avinu’s father-in-law. When, after being tricked into working for...
Toldos – Confining Minds
A word often translated as “hunting” is used by the Torah to characterize Esav — “a man who knows hunting” (Beraishis 25:27). Likewise, earlier, to describe Nimrod — “a powerful hunter” (10:9). Rashi explains...
Parshas Chayei Sara – What to Tell the Shadchan
When parents of young people seek proper husbands or wives for their sons or daughters (or when the young people do the seeking themselves), one or more of a number of factors are usually...
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