The Jewish Way in Responsible Adulthood

The Jewish Way in Responsible Adulthood

  Shimon and Levi are each referred to in this verse as איש, a man. The Midrash calculates that this story took place barely thirteen years after the birth of Levi, the younger of the two brothers, and yet Levi is called a man, indicating that at the age of thirteen he had the emotional maturity of a grown man. […]

December 12, 2019 at 2:30 AM 0 comments

You Should Really Get Out a Bit

You Should Really Get Out a Bit

Dinah’s socialness was inherited from her mother, explains Rashi. The Torah’s association of these two women who “went out” suggests that their presence in the public arena was considered excessive by the Torah’s standards of modest conduct. Despite the value of a lesson in feminine dignity, this interpretation seems contrary to the Torah’s trademark sensitivity. Would the Torah make a […]

December 10, 2019 at 3:08 AM 0 comments

Parashat Vayishlach – Low is really high… soft is really strong

Parashat Vayishlach – Low is really high… soft is really strong

  Duration of class: 1:06:27              

November 20, 2018 at 7:27 AM 0 comments

Don’t Make Yourself at Home

Don’t Make Yourself at Home

The literal translation of the word גַּרְתִּי is “I sojourned”, meaning, “I lived there as a foreigner” (from the root-word גֵר.) Yaakov emphasized that he was always a stranger in the house of Lavan, and never became a permanent resident. The word גַּרְתִּי according to its literal explanation, “I sojourned,” is truly the secret behind this word’s other interpretation – based on its numerical […]

November 19, 2018 at 3:16 AM 0 comments

It’s Not Petty When It’s Your Child

It’s Not Petty When It’s Your Child

It is remarkable that such a crucial aspect of Jewish faith, our eternal hope of survival, is commemorated with a law so narrow in scope. The prohibition of eating the sciatic nerve seems to be a mere technicality in the laws of Kosher, applicable only to the precise nerve that the angel wounded in Yaakov, which is in and of […]

November 19, 2018 at 2:28 AM 0 comments

Parashat Vayishlach – What the role of our Matriarchs?

Parashat Vayishlach – What the role of our Matriarchs?

In this Parasha two out of four Matriarchs die. How come the Torah does not tell us more about our Matriarchs? and we only hear about our forefathers? also, what was their role and what is the role of women in Judaism? This and much more Duration of class:1:00:50              

November 27, 2017 at 9:48 AM 0 comments

Parashat Vayishlach – It’s all about peace

Parashat Vayishlach – It’s all about peace

How did the wicked Eisav forgive Yackov so fast after wanting to kill him for so many years? How can I make someone forgive me even though i did not do anything wrong? – find out in this class about the Parasha Duration of class: 54:55              

December 12, 2016 at 6:05 PM 0 comments

The Unsettled Jew – Parashat Vayishlach

The Unsettled Jew – Parashat Vayishlach

Eisav’s move was motivated by very practical considerations. He knew that the Land of Canaan had been promised to the descendants of Avraham, but it came with a price tag. Whoever would inherit the Promised Land would first pay off the “family debt”: G-d’s decree that Avraham’s descendants would be “strangers in a land that is not theirs” (Beraishis 15:13). In […]

November 27, 2015 at 2:03 AM 0 comments

Eisav’s Yom Kippur – Parashat Vayishlach

Eisav’s Yom Kippur – Parashat Vayishlach

By marrying a woman from the family of Avraham, Eisav sought to convince his parents that he was pursuing a more righteous life. Rashi (28:9) sums up Eisav’s hypocrisy, saying, “he added wickedness upon his wickedness, for he did not divorce his other wives.” Yet, in reference to this marriage of convenience, or even worse, this marriage of deceit, the […]

November 26, 2015 at 2:14 AM 0 comments