Parshat Shemot תשעט This coming Shabbat we begin reading the second book of the Torah, Sefer Shemot. The רמב"ן, (Ramban) Nachmanides, calls this second book of the Torah ספר הגאולה - “The Book of Redemption.” It seems easy to understand…
It all started with some bad rubber. On July 23rd, a couple was towing their Grey Wolf Select RV trailer down California’s Route 299 when one of the tires blew out. There was nowhere for them to pull off; the…
Parshat Vayechi תשעט This week’s portion is the portion of blessings. In it, our forefather Yaakov bestows blessings on Yosef’s two sons, Ephriam and Menashe, and on all of his own sons, the 12 Tribes of Israel. As we look…
Becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest-level Boy Scout, is much like stamp collecting, except that you have to do particular tasks to collect those stamps, or merit badges as they are called in Eagle-speak. There are over a hundred different…
Parshat Vayigash תשע"ט After Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, they hurried home to tell Yaakov that Yosef was still alive and that he was the ruler of Egypt, second in command only to Pharaoh. Yaakov’s response was to…
It doesn’t look like we’ll be having snow angels this Chanukah in our area, but instead we got a different kind of angel, the layaway angel. Like so many good things, layaway angels got their start in the great state…
Chanukah תשע"ט Have you ever wondered where the nameחנוכה - Chanukah comes from and what it means? The Sages who instituted Chanukah as a holiday created the name and it is a combination of two words: חנו כ"ה , which…
lonely adjective lone·ly | \ˈlōn-lē \ Definition of lonely 1a: being without company 1b: cut off from others 2: not frequented by human beings 3: sad from being alone 4: producing a feeling of bleakness or desolation From the Merriam-Webster…
Vayeshev תשעט This week’s 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 a foreign…
Vayishlach תשע"ט Yaakov lived in his Uncle Lavan’s house for 20 years. Yaakov had come alone, penniless, and completely righteous. Now, after living with the scoundrel Lavan for two decades, Yaakov remained a perfect tzaddik. He had passed his first…