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.
How should siblings treat each other? In this week’s parsha, Esau demands a portion of soup from his brother Jacob while the family is mourning the death of their grandfather, Abraham. By requiring this instant gratification, Esau put himself before his family, disrupting the solemn mood and eventually forsaking his status as the first-born son.
There are two main stories that are recounted to us by the Torah this week. Sarah dies, and Abraham purchases land in Hebron. He then buries her in a cave on that property. Later, Abraham sends his servant Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac, and with intricate detail we hear about Eliezer’s quest, eventually
In this week’s parsha, Abraham is seeking to make a shidduch, a match, for his son Isaac. But Abraham is not just the father of Isaac, but of monotheism as well. So he’s stuck in a bind: how does he bring a daughter-in-law into the family and make sure that his children and grandchildren join him
In this week’s reading we undergo an emotional rollercoaster. The continuity of the Jewish people is being toyed with. Abraham is promised several times that his progeny will be many: they are set to be “a great nation,” “the dust of the Earth,” and “the stars of the sky.” However, Abraham and Sarah are unable
In the first verses of parshat Vayeira, it seems as though it is though Abraham is the central actor, but the Torah does not specify him by name until later. Why does the Torah leave this vague? Marc Fein, regional director of Upstate NY NCSY, presents an interpretation from Rav Jonathan Rabinowitz of Netiv Aryeh.
Could Abraham leave temporarily to escape the famine in Egypt and still have faith in the bigger picture and in God? Towards the end of this week’s Torah portion we come across a very peculiar story.
During the events of Parshat Lech Lecha, our patriarch, Abraham, the father of monotheism, is given wine and bread after a military victory by a righteous leader from Jerusalem. What is the point of this simple feast? Rabbi Ari Segal, head of school at Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles and a former advisor for
The story of Noah is famous: G-d sends a flood to wipe out the world for being wicked, except for one man, Noach, and his family, who are tasked with building an ark so that life may prevail. But what did humanity do that was so bad? Rashi blames the little stuff. Corrine Malachi, an
Like any good story, the Torah begins with the origin of EVERYTHING: Bereishit. Just as with Spiderman, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’, but when the people in this first chapter of the Torah are given the chance to take responsibility, they do not. They fail. In this season following Yom Kippur, Sam Zitin, associate