Parshat Vayeishev 5785
The story of Yosef and his brothers is one of the Torah’s most difficult stories to understand. How could the brothers’ jealousy towards Yosef have been so great that they wanted to kill him because of it? And, after they…
My Computer Lives for Me<br>Parshas Vayishlach
April 17, 2005 John Brisbane came home from work exhausted. A full day of meeting with clients and cajoling them into taking out mortgages far larger than they could afford was more tiring than most people could ever imagine. As…
Parshat Vayishlach 5785
This week’s Parsha details the encounter between the world’s two opposing forces: good and evil, as manifest in Yaakov and his brother Esav. These two players are still center stage in today’s world in the form of the Jewish people…
How do you like your Chocolate Chip Cookies? <br> Parshas Vayetzei 5785
There are two types of people in the world, those who like their chocolate chip cookies crispy, and those who like them chewy. There are rumors that there exists a third type of human, the one who likes chocolate chip…
Parshat Vayetzei 5785
Esav has vowed to kill Yaakov for stealing his blessing from Yitzchak, so Rivka and Yitzchak decided to send Yaakov to Rivka’s brother, Lavan. This would both protect Yaakov from his brother’s wrath and find him a wife. On Yaakov’s…
Can I stop driving please!<br> Parshas Toldos 5785
I can’t wait for the self-driving car. I can’t wait to get into my car, which will know where I’m going because it’s connected to my calendar, and take out a book and start reading, or take out my laptop…
Parshat Toldot 5785
Nachmanides (49:23) calls Genesis “The Book of Creation”. השלים הכתוב ספר בראשית שהוא ספר היצירה בחדוש העולם ויצירת כל נוצר, ובמקרי האבות כולם שהם כעין יצירה לזרעם, מפני שכל מקריהם ציורי דברים לרמוז להודיע כל העתיד לבא להם The book…
Parshas Chayei Sarah 5785
This week’s portion begins with Sarah’s passing at age 127. The Torah reports that her years were all equally righteous and that Sarah lived a perfect life. Now it became Avraham’s responsibility to bury her in an appropriate place. It…
Here are my pet peeves, what are yours?<br>Parshas Vayera 5785
Pet peeves. We all have them, and we can’t really explain why we have them. They are the little things that could go unnoticed by most people, but seem to be particularly outsized grievances to us. People who walk slowly…
Parshat Vayara 5785
This week’s Parsha ends with Avraham’s last and most difficult test: the binding of Yitzchak, the Akeida. Hashem told Avraham (Genesis 22:2): ב) וַיֹּאמֶר קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ אֶת יִצְחָק וְלֶךְ לְךָ אֶל אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה וְהַעֲלֵהוּ…