Vayetzei תשפב Yaakov was forced to leave home because his brother Esav had vowed to kill him. This week’s portion begins with Yaakov’s journey (Genesis 28:10): י) וַיֵּצֵא יַעֲקֹב מִבְּאֵר שָׁבַע וַיֵּלֶךְ חָרָנָה 10) Yaakov left Beer Sheva and travelled towards Charan.…
Toldot תשפא Parshat Toldot is the Torah’s only parsha in which all three patriarchs, viz, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, were alive at one time. Although we read of Avraham’s death at the end of last week’s portion, and this week’s portion begins…
Chayei Sarah תשפב Sarah our Matriarch has died at age 127, and the Torah describes how her husband Avraham comes to eulogize her (Genesis 23:1,2): וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָה: (ב) וַתָּמָת שָׂרָה בְּקִרְיַת…
Parshat Vayeira תשפב ספר בראשית פרק יח (א) וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו יְדֹוָד בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא וְהוּא ישֵׁב פֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל כְּחֹם הַיּוֹם: Genesis 18:1: Hashem appeared to him (Avraham) in the plains of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent…
Parshat Lech Lecha תשפ"ב This week's portion introduces us to Avraham Avinu, Avraham our forefather, who was so dedicated to Hashem that he made it his life’s mission to teach the world about Him. Hashem, in turn, loved Avraham so much that…
Parashat Noach תשפ"ב Although this coming Shabbat we will read the portion of Noach, we will here focus on Shabbat, a topic from last week’s portion, Bereshit. A Jewish wedding takes place under a chuppah חופה) , –canopy). The canopy signifies the roof of the…
Yom Kippur During the course of the year when we twice daily say the Shema, the second verse, ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד (Baruch shem ..) Blessed forever is Hashem’s Honorable Name, is said silently. On Yom Kippur, however, in the evening and…
Rosh Hashanah The Torah (Deuteronomy 29:1) calls Rosh Hashanah “יום תרועה” a day of “teruah.” The exact meaning of the word “teruah” is a mystery, and a bit of detective work was necessary to define it. The first step was…
Ki Tavo תשעט In the glorious days of the Holy Temple, every week, in cities all over the Land of Israel, one of the 24 families of Cohanim, and the Levites assigned to them, would meet to travel together to Jerusalem.…
Ki Tetzei תשפא The Torah teaches us in this week’s parsha Deuteronomy (22:6,7): (ו) כִּי יִקָּרֵא קַן צִפּוֹר לְפָנֶיךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ בְּכָל עֵץ אוֹ עַל הָאָרֶץ אֶפְרֹחִים אוֹ בֵיצִים וְהָאֵם רֹבֶצֶת עַל הָאֶפְרֹחִים אוֹ עַל הַבֵּיצִים לֹא תִקַּח הָאֵם עַל הַבָּנִים: (ז)…