Reading through the parsha this week, it stood out to me that the angels who visit Avraham and Sarah are never actually called angels. They are explicitly called Men both before they arrive and after they depart. This made me realize that it’s very possible that Sarah never knew that they were angels at all.… Continue reading What Sarah didn’t appreciate
Category: Sefer Bereishit
What if Adam and Chava ate from the Tree of Life first?
In this past week’s parsha, Bereishit, we read about Adam and Chava’s sin in eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. After listing the punishments of Adam, Chava and the snake, the Torah portion describes their expulsion from the Garden of Eden: וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים, הֵן הָאָדָם הָיָה כְּאַחַד מִמֶּנּוּ, לָדַעַת, טוֹב… Continue reading What if Adam and Chava ate from the Tree of Life first?
VaYeshev- Cooler Heads Prevail
“And they saw him from afar, and when he had not yet drawn near to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. So they said one to the other, “Behold, that dreamer is coming. So now, let us kill him, and we will cast him into one of the pits, and we… Continue reading VaYeshev- Cooler Heads Prevail
Vayeitze- Brotherly Love
1 Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. 2 There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large. 3 When all… Continue reading Vayeitze- Brotherly Love
Lech Lecha- Showing Off or Showing Up?
“This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.” (17:10) We are taught that Avraham kept every mitzva in the Torah before he (or anyone else for that matter) was even commended to, with one exception: the commandment to become… Continue reading Lech Lecha- Showing Off or Showing Up?
Noach- Speak Softly
“Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean (Anenu tahora) animal, a male and its mate”. (7:2) Why did the Torah use the language of Anenu Tahora when the simpler “Tameh” could have been used*? [The Torah usually prefers terse language.]… Continue reading Noach- Speak Softly
Legacy
I’m going to do something out-of-the-box here. I know it’s Parashat Toldot, and we want to know as much as we can about Yaakov and Esav, about the birthright, the brachot, deception, drama, and revenge. But I want to know about what goes on in the middle part. Yitzhak’s _whole_ life story happens in chapter… Continue reading Legacy
Life Lessons
Parashat Hayye Sarah is, at large, a chronicle of Avraham Avinu’s last living actions. Beginning with the death of Sarah Imeinu and ending with the death of Avraham himself (with an aside tracking the generations of Yishmael and his death), we are invited to see how the forefather of the Jewish people chose to spend… Continue reading Life Lessons
With Much Alacrity
One part of learning the parasha that is both fascinating and instructive is learning more about the characters and their qualities because, as we know, our forefathers aren’t merely our progenitors, but also our role models. The things they did and how they did them can illuminate and impact how we live our own lives.… Continue reading With Much Alacrity
Calling out in the Name of God
Our parasha traces the very beginning of a new epoch in human history – the beginning of Avraham Avinu’s relationship with Hashem, his role in the world, and a brit binding Hashem and all of Avraham’s descendents. Our parsha sweeps us across many lands and through many of the situations Avraham faced, but one motif… Continue reading Calling out in the Name of God