Shemot תש"פ This week we begin the second book of the Torah, Shemot - Exodus. The book of Shemot begins with the Jewish people’s slavery and redemption from Egypt, concluding with the completion of the Tabernacle. Despite Moshe and Aharon…
Parshat Vayechi תש"פ When thumbing through the pages of the Chumash, have you ever wondered what the פפפ or ססס at the end of almost every Parshah in the Torah mean? The פ stands for פתוחה,an open paragraph, and the…
Parshat Vayigash 5780 By way of background, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had two consecutive baffling dreams, which even his wise men could not satisfactorily interpret. Pharaoh’s butler then recalled having two years earlier been in prison with Yosef, who…
Chanukah תש"פ We celebrate the eight-day Chanukah holiday by lighting an eight-branch Menorah, each branch representing one night of the holiday. By daily adding another candle each night, we acknowledge the miracle of the Temple Menorah’s lights that burned continuously…
Parshat Vayeshev 5780 This week’s Torah portion relates the events leading up to Yosef becoming the Viceroy of Egypt. HaShem told Avraham Avinu in the "ברית בין הבתרים", The Covenant Between The Parts, that his children would be slaves in…
Parshat Vayishlach Our world has come to realize that we most successfully educate our children by example, not speeches. We can instruct our children from morning till night not to gamble, but if we ourselves gamble, it will be futile.…
Vayetzei תש"פ In every Amidah (also called the ‘Shemoneh Esrei’, the extended silent devotion that constitutes the core of our daily prayers), we address HaShem as the “G-d and the G-d of our fathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov.” How are…
Parshat Toldot תש"פ Yitzchak and Rivkah had been married for over twenty years and had not been blessed with children. They prayed fervently for children, Yitzchak in one corner and Rivkah in the other. HaShem listened to Yitzchak’s prayers,…
Chayei Sarah This week’s Torah portion, named Chayei Sarah, “Sarah’s Life,” begins as follows: (א) וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָה (ב) וַתָּמָת שָׂרָה בְּקִרְיַת אַרְבַּע הִוא חֶבְרוֹן בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וַיָּבֹא אַבְרָהָם לִסְפֹּד…
Vayeira תש"פ In this week’s portion, Vayera, we learn about how HaShem destroyed the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorah. The Torah reports (Genesis 19:24,25): "וַה' הִמְטִיר עַל סְדֹם וְעַל עֲמֹרָה גָּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ מֵאֵת יְדֹוָד מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם. וַיַּהֲפֹךְ אֶת הֶעָרִים…