Beraishis 5772

  • The House! It’s Gone!

    (Torah Portion Noach) The House! It’s Gone! I was in Brooklyn a while ago, and found myself driving down the street that I had lived until I was nine years old. I anticipated seeing 1154 – 46th Street, the familiar address attached to the stucco gray three family house where we had occupied the third …

  • He Said and She Did What?

    (Torah Portion Lech Lecha) He Said and She Did What? Our forefather Avraham’s devotion and enthusiasm to perform G-d’s command to circumcise himself and his family members is eternally implanted within the DNA of his descendants. No matter how distant one may be from his heritage, there is an inborn sense of responsibility and consciousness …

  • Transparent Vision

    (Torah Portion Vayairah) Transparent Vision G-d instructed our forefather Avraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. He traveled with his two sons, Yitzchok and Yishmael, and his servant Eliezer. After a three day journey, Avraham caught a glimpse of the intended place for the sacrifice. He turned to those accompanying him, asking them, what …

  • Respect, Beloved and a Reflection

    (Torah Portion Chayai Sarah) Respect, Beloved and a Reflection The Torah relates that when our forefather Avraham sought to purchase a burial plot for his wife Sarah, he called a town meeting with the Hittite inhabitants of the City of Chevron. The people were deeply respectful to Avraham when they addressed and spoke to him. …

  • Thanksgiving

    (Torah Portion Toldos) Thanksgiving! When our forefather Yitzchok wished to impart the patriarchal blessing on his son Aisav, his wife Rivka, aware that Aisav was unworthy, instructed her son Yaacov to present himself before Yitzchok disguised as Aisav. Yaacov voiced his concern to his mother “What if my father realizes that I am Yaacov? He …

  • Sincere Intentions

    (Torah Portion Vayaitzai) Sincere Intentions There are two incidents recorded in the Torah involving children proactively stopping their fathers from worshiping idols. The first is only alluded to in the Torah where our forefather Avraham completely destroyed his father Terach’s idol inventory. The second is mentioned in our Torah portion where Rachel, the wife of …

  • Brilliant Stars

    (Torah Portion Vayishlach) Brilliant Stars! G-d communicated with our forefathers – Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaacov – likening their future descendants to various things. They were compared to the stars in heaven, to the sand by the seashore and to the dust of the earth. Commentators explain that these three comparisons refer to specific eras and …

  • Homecoming

    (Torah Portion Vayaishev) Homecoming! The Torah relates an unsettling story. Yosef’s brothers sold him as a slave to a caravan of passing merchants. To conceal Yosef’s whereabouts from their father Yaacov, the brothers dipped his special cloak in goat’s blood and presented it to him when they returned home. Yaacov deduced that Yosef was devoured …

  • Staying Power

    (Torah Portion Miketz) Staying Power Queen Esther risked her life to save the Jews from Haman’s decree of genocide by entering to plead before King Achashvairosh without being summoned. Before entering, she and the Jewish people fasted and prayed for three days to evoke G-d’s mercy. As Esther made her way towards the king, she …

  • Reunion

    (Torah Portion Vayigash) Reunion! Our forefather Yaacov continually mourned over the loss of his beloved son Yosef for twenty-two years. He suddenly received the surprising and wonderful news that Yosef was alive and was the Viceroy of Egypt. Yaacov, at the age of one hundred and thirty years, journeyed with his entire family from Israel …

  • A Powerful Mitzvah

    (Torah Portion Vayechi) A Powerful Mitzvah! Our forefather Yaacov became ill, and sensing his death drawing near, called for his son Yosef, the Viceroy of Egypt, and asked him to swear and guarantee to him that he would be buried in the Cave of Machpaila in Israel. Yosef swore, assuring his father that the matter …