Bereshit
Parashat Vayera
By Jaron Matlow In this week’s parashah, we find myriad fascinating events which are very difficult to understand. One example is the story of Sarah, Abraham, Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac (21:9-13). The peak of this event (21:10) is that Sarah … Continue reading »
Parashat Lekh L’kha
By Eleanor B. Pearlman What motivates a person to go on a journey? I think of the push/pull theory of immigration: one leaves to escape intolerable discomfort and anticipates a better life somewhere else. Such departures involve pain in the … Continue reading »
Parashat Noah
By Enid C. Lader This past September marked the fifth year of remembering the tragic events of 9/11 and the thousands who lost their lives. As the television cameras panned the site of the World Trade Center and politicians pledged … Continue reading »
Parashat B’reishit
By Linda Shriner-Cahn The holidays have come and gone, and we begin anew, back at the beginning, with an opportunity to come to the Torah with fresh eyes, ready to wrestle new meaning and deeper understandings from the text. Rabbi … Continue reading »
Parashat Miketz
By Yechiel Buchband I have long loved the saga of Yosef in Sefer B’reshit. For me, the most beloved person in the story is Yehuda. I love his story of personal development, growth and redemption, which serves as a beautiful … Continue reading »
VaY’hi
By Michael Kohn Vayehi is the final parashah of Sefer Bereshit and brings to a close not only the lives of Jacob and Joseph but the narrative of the Patriarchs as well. It is a major transition point in the … Continue reading »
Chayyei Sarah
What Was Missing in This Family Parshat HaShavua, 22nd Heshvan 5765 By Dorit Edut When someone in our family or circle of friends dies, we are often left feeling that there is a huge gap in our lives that can … Continue reading »
Bereshit
On Endings, Beginnings and Tikkun ha-Olam: A-HA Experience at AJR By Peg Kershenbaum Vayar Elohim et-kol-asher asah v’hinei-tov m’od; vay’hi-erev vay’hi-voqer yom hashishi And God saw all that He had made. And behold: it was very good! And there was … Continue reading »
Vayehi
By Michael Kohn Vayehi is the final parashah of Sefer Bereshit and brings to a close not only the lives of Jacob and Joseph but the narrative of the Patriarchs as well. It is a major transition point in the … Continue reading »
Vayigash
Toward Reconciliation By Harvey Israelton At the end of last week’s parashah, Miketz, Joseph’s brothers had returned to Egypt to appear once again before Joseph, and they had brought with them Joseph’s only full brother, Benjamin (Joseph and Benjamin were … Continue reading »