Both of Yosef’s dreams foretold that one day his family would bow before him, but the imagery in the two dreams was not identical. The subjects of his first dream were from the plant kingdom: eleven sheaves of wheat bowed to his sheave. In the second dream, his family was represented by the solar system: the sun, the moon […]

“…And behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field – bereishis 37:7 וְהִנֵּה אֲנַחְנוּ מְאַלְּמִים אֲלֻמִּים בְּתוֹךְ הַשָּׂדֶה – בראשית לז, ז Yosef and Pharaoh both had dreams involving grain. A noticeable difference between these two dreams, however, reflects the fundamental disparity between what each of them represents. Yosef’s dream opened with a scene of toil. In his […]

  Our Sages teach that water is a metaphor for Torah (Bava Kama 17a). In view of that, we can understand why the presence of snakes and scorpions (in the pit where Yosef was thrown) is hinted in the Torah with the superfluous phrase “there was no water in it,” instead of the verse stating explicitly that the pit was […]

Rashi’s parable of a person searching for a pearl lost in the sand also alludes to the Jewish people’s task in the lands to where we have been exiled: to sift through “the settlements of Eisav.” The search for the pearl symbolizes our mission to find the holiness—the G-dly meaning and potential—hidden within the mundane world with which we are […]

….And it was told to Tamar, saying, “Behold, your father in law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep…” – Bereishit 38:13 ״…ויוגד לתמר לאמר הנה חמיך עלה תמנתה לגז צאנו….״ – בראשית לח, יג Based on the Talmud (Sotah 10a), Rashi tells us that Timnah was situated on the slope of a mountain. We thus find that […]

Why did Yosef Hatzadik was punished for asking the minister of beverages to tell pharaoh to get him out of jail?and what does that teaches me? – find out in this class about the Parasha Duration of class: 52:12              

The image of Yaakov’s face appeared to Yosef just moments before he succumbed to his master’s wife’s advances, says the Talmud, and ultimately saved him from sinning. The Talmud implies that this was more than just a reminder to Yosef of the ethical standards with which he was raised; rather, it was the appearance of Yaakov’s face that gave Yosef the courage […]

“….And behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field….” – Bereishit 37:7 ״…והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלומים בתוך השדה…״ – בראשית לז, ז Yosef and Pharaoh both had dreams involving grain, but the contexts in which they each saw the grain could not be more dissimilar. In Yosef’s dream, he saw himself and his brothers binding sheaves of […]