Precious Letters
(Torah Portion Beraishis) Precious Letters! This Shabbos we begin reading Beraishis, the first portion of the Torah and starting a year of weekly public readings of the Torah which we will finish next Simchas Torah. The Torah makes every one of us responsible to become proficient in the Torah through its study. One popular regimented …
Hope
(Torah Portion Noach) Hope! G-d brought a great flood upon the world during Noach’s era, (1656 years after creation). The Torah refers to this flood as the Mabul. However, the Hebrew word Mabul doesn’t actually mean flood waters, rather, it means confusion or chaos, for the entire world became mixed up by the massive flood. …
Brave
(Torah Portion Lech Lecha ) Brave! Our forefather Avraham earned the title of “The forbearer of the Jewish people” because of his complete belief in the Almighty and his tireless efforts of spreading monotheism and kindness throughout civilization. Avraham wasn’t born into a family of believers in G-d. On the contrary; they were so committed …
Hundreds of Guests
(Torah Portion Vayaira ) Hundreds of Guests! During the year that our daughter Gitty spent in Israel while attending seminary, she called us after one Shabbat and described her Shabbat experience. Friday evening she along with a few friends went to the Kotel to pray. They were supposed to meet someone who would accompany them …
Bumper Sticker
(Torah Portion Chayai Sara) Bumper Sticker! Although bumper stickers are not as popular as they once were, every so often we still spot one on the road. The other day while driving on the highway a red sticker caught my eye, it read, “Marx – co-pilot” and next to it was an outline of the …
Impressions
(Torah Portion Vayaitzai) Impressions! The Parsha discusses the journey our forefather Yaacov took to Charan, the homeland of his mother Rivkah, to look for a wife. Yaacov arrived and after meeting his cousin Rachel they decided to get married. When Lavan, Rachel’s father, insisted that Yaacov work for him before he got married, Yaacov offered …
Name Change
(Torah Portion Vayishlach) Name Change! Two of our three patriarchs had their names changed by G-d. Avraham’s original name was Avram, which means the father of Aram – the district in which Avram lived. After Avraham was circumcised, G-d added a letter Hey to his name and his name became Avraham – which means – …
No Welcome or Goodbye
(Torah Portion Vayigash) No Welcome or Goodbye! Last week, I woke up to a flashing message on my phone, which had been left at 2 o’clock in the morning. It was from a nurse at one of the local hospitals with a request from a patient that a rabbi visit her before she goes into …
Switched
(Torah Portion Vayechi) Switched! Our forefather Yaacov blessed his 12 sons and two of his grandchildren, Efraim and Menashe, before his passing. Although Yosef’s children, Efraim and Menashe were born and raised with all the palatial privileges of decadent Egypt they remained pure and righteous and Yaacov considered both of them worthy of leading tribes …
