Jewish Learning for Every Journey
Jewish Learning for Every Journey
Articles on the weekly parasha
As often happens, our Torah Parasha this week closely relates to current world events. Moses carrying Joseph’s bones out of Egypt and Israel bringing home the body of the last […]
The Torah’s weaving of command and story around chametz in Parashat Bo suggests a powerful message: when people are slow to change, providence sometimes rearranges reality so that we […]
In the story of the plagues, there is a key turning point that is easy to miss. In the first three plagues, Israel and Egypt face the same outcomes. […]
Exodus starts with a disturbingly familiar story. Before any plagues or miracles happen, and before Moshe even appears, the Torah depicts a powerful society that turns on a small […]
Jacob’s final words to his sons in Parashat Vayechi are called “blessings,” yet many of them sound painfully like rebuke, even curse. This tension encourages a deeper examination of […]
In this week’s Parasha, Vayigash, we learn about Jacob’s final journey: to Egypt. This journey doesn’t start in Egypt but in the dark, sacred pause just before it. In Genesis […]
Parashat Miketz almost always coincides with Hanukkah, and that “almost always” is itself a kind of commentary. It prompts the question: what happens when the Torah’s story of Yosef […]
I have always been puzzled by a story in this week’s Parasha, Vayishlach. In the Parasha, , we learn of the death of Rachel (Genesis 35:15-19). The text tells […]
Genesis 28:16 may be one of the most mysterious verses in the Torah, because in a single startled sentence, Jacob discovers that his ordinary, anonymous campsite has in fact […]
Jacob’s story can be read as one of deep spiritual purpose, not of jealousy—as someone who stays true to his calling without wishing for Esau’s life or possessions. In […]