While he's locked up in Pharaoh's prison in Parshat Mikeitz, Joseph begins interpreting dreams, and eventually the rumors of his talents reach Pharaoh himself. Rabbi Moshe Zucker, the veteran director of the Brooklyn NCSY chapter, questions how Pharaoh knew he could trust a lowly prisoner like Joseph with the secrets of his dreams and eventually come to ask Joseph to become his closest advisor.
This week’s Torah portion marks a huge turning point in Jewish history: the start of the Hebraic dynasty’s descent to Egypt. Joseph is the cause of much animosity among his brothers and theyplot to kill him. They eventually conspire to sell him to a group of merchants who, in turn, sell him to an Egyptian
There’s a huge difference between feeling like you’re always on the move versus feeling cozy and at home. The first verse of this week’s parsha draws that distinction, saying that Jacob ‘dwelt’ in the land that his father had travelled in. Rabbi Akiva Naiman, the chapter director of NCSY Oakland and director of NCSY Summer
In a dramatic moment, feuding brothers Esau and Jacob reunite and greet each-other with an embrace and a kiss. In the Torah, the word 'and kissed' וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ is marked with dots above it, noting that we should pay special attention to the word.
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Jacob has now left his father-in-law’s house and is on his way to Beersheba to the house of his father. He sends a delegation to his brother, Esau, seemingly trying to appease him, with the Esau’s promise to commit fratricide still echoing in the back of Jacob’s head. Jacob’s act of appeasement and his gesture
Jacob heeds his mother’s warning and runs away from home. In his travels eastward he journeys through what will later be Jerusalem, and camps out on the site at which the Templewould eventually be built. In his dream he is promised by God that he will be next chain in the Jewish dynasty and that
Parshat Vayetizei contains a powerful image – on a hilltop which will become the site of The Temple in Jerusalem, Yaakov, the patriarch Jacob, dreams of a ladder reaching to heaven. Up and down the ladder climb scores of angels, but what does this mystical vision mean? Rabbi Aharon Chaim Larson, an alumnus of Denver NCSY
The story of the twins – Jacob and Esau – has been deemed by many the literary prototype describing the struggle between good and evil. Jacob represents the “good”; Esau represents the “evil.” The Sages hinted to this in several places: The verse describes Rebecca’s pains during pregnancy: “And the children struggled in her womb.”
Rabbi Joe Werfel, formerly the Long Island NCSY Assistant Regional Director (1980's), was a member of the minyan during the Har Nof attack, Cheshvan 5775. At Yeshiva Tifereth Jerusalem, Rabbi Werfel shares his face to face encounter with the two Arab terrorists during tefila services.