Vayechi – Missing Letter, Vital Message
All the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are found in the bracha that Yehudah is given by his father Yaakov – with one exception: the zayin. That fact is pointed out by Rabbeinu Bachya,...
Author: Avi Shafran
Vayigash — Bad is Good
The books considered holy by other religions present their heroes as flawless. One of the indications that the Torah, by contrast, is divine in nature is its recording of flaws of action or attitude...
Mikeitz – Some Bad in our Bloodline
Many years ago, a wise rebbe of mine, addressing instances of financial finagling by some members of the tribe, explained that the forefathers of us Jews whom we revere are Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov,...
Vayeishev – What’s Wrong?
When we read the account of Yosef’s unfair imprisonment – and his eventual release after the Egyptian ruler is informed by the sar hamashkim, the butler, of Yosef’s G-d-given ability to interpret dreams...
Vayishlach – Much Vs. All
One might not expect the key to happiness to be hidden in the meeting of Yaakov and Esav recounted in the parsha. But it’s there. When Yaakov explains the lavish gifts he had sent...
Vayeitzei – Stairway to Peoplehood
Sometimes an idea can only be possible after a certain point in history. One example might have to do with the imagery of Yaakov’s dream at the start of the parsha. The message delivered...
Toldos – Knowing That One Doesn’t
As the tale goes, a learned non-Jewish cleric challenges the town’s Jewish populace to have its greatest scholar meet him on a bridge over a raging river, each a heavy weight tied to his...
Chayei Sara – Death and Marriage
That a man’s gifting of something of worth to a woman can effect a marriage if both parties agree is derived through exegesis from, of all places, Avraham’s purchase of a burial site for...
Vayeira – More Intimate Than Prophecy
Avraham experiences a communication from Hashem at the start of the parsha (Beraishis 18:1, 18:13). And it culminates with Hashem’s informing our forebear of the impending destruction of S’dom (18:20-21). Then, the Torah tells...
Lech Lecha – Jewish Influence
Stars aren’t visible during the day. Yosef Chaim Cara, a 17th century Polish rabbi, points out in his sefer Kol Omer Kra that after Hashem tells Avram, concerning his future progeny, to “Look heavenward...
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