This week we see a very significant transition in the focus of the literature of the Torah. Up until this week the Torah has consisted purely of narrative, describing the creation, the first few generations, the lives of the forefathers, and the enslavement and freedom of the Jewish people from Egypt. This week the Torah turns
In the last few chapters of Genesis there is a very striking recurrence of the dream as a tool to predict the future. In few other places in Biblical literature is there equal recognition of the importance of dreams, and in those few stories in which dreams are recounted, there is never tantamount emphasis on
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
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
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.”
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 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
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.
There is one verse written in the first Torah portion, Parsha Va’Yelech, that lends itself to a fascinating topic: “The hidden are for the Lord our God, but the revealed are for us and our children until forever.” The simple meaning of the verse is that hidden sins are the province of God alone; for these sins, God holds no one responsible but the sinner himself. However, the community at large is responsible and therefore culpable for openly committed sins.