This week’s parsha tells the story of Yaakov Avinu and his time spent working for Lavan, his evil father-in-law. As I explained in a previous Dvar Torah, the actions of our forefathers were very often a sign for what would happen to future generations. Chazal note that Yaakov, throughout his time with Lavan, was giving… Continue reading Taking the high road
Author: Liron Kopinsky
Liron is a happily married software engineer living in Israel with his lovely wife Adina and 4 beautiful sons.
The Little Things In Life
This week’s Parsha starts with the story of the birth of Yaakov and Esav. Yaakov is born grasping onto Esav’s heel, seemingly trying to prevent his older brother from being born first. וְאַחֲרֵי-כֵן יָצָא אָחִיו, וְיָדוֹ אֹחֶזֶת בַּעֲקֵב עֵשָׂו, וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ, יַעֲקֹב. And after that came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on… Continue reading The Little Things In Life
Anger Management
This week’s parsha has the interesting story of Avraham sending his servant Eliezer to find a wife for Yitzchak. At the beginning of the story, Avraham makes Eliezer swear that he will not take a wife for Yitzchak from the Canaanim, but rather that he will go find Yitzchak a wife from Avraham’s birth place… Continue reading Anger Management
Effective Prayer
One theme that seems to crop up in basically every area of this week’s parsha is the importance of prayer. I would like to analyze each of these different instances of prayer to see what we can learn from them about our own prayers. Prayer For The Sick Parshat Vaeira starts with HaShem visiting Avraham… Continue reading Effective Prayer
Planning Ahead
The Trip Down to Egypt This week’s parsha tells the story of our first forefather, Avraham. Among many other stories, we learn how Hashem commanded him to leave his home, travel to Israel and how a famine forces Avraham and Sarah to leave Israel for Egypt. A quick summary of the trip to Egypt is… Continue reading Planning Ahead
Who are the people in your neighborhood?
This week’s parsha starts with the famous description of Noah (Bereishit 6:9): אֵלֶּה, תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ–נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה, בְּדֹרֹתָיו: אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים, הִתְהַלֶּךְ-נֹחַ These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with God. Rashi notes that the word בְּדֹרֹתָיו (“in his generation”) at the end of… Continue reading Who are the people in your neighborhood?
Man vs. Animal
In its opening chapter, the Torah discusses the creation of the heavens, earth, animals, Man and finally Shabbat. In Chapter 2, the Torah takes a step back to describe the creation of man in more detail. In Bereishit 2:7 it says: וַיִּיצֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם, עָפָר מִן-הָאֲדָמָה, וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו, נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים; וַיְהִי הָאָדָם, לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה… Continue reading Man vs. Animal