We would like to return to the subject of personal growth after focusing on achdus over the last few weeks. In light of current events, let’s focus on the subject of suffering. Though we hope and pray for the best, suffering is a part of life, and is difficult to handle. In addition to dealing […]
After decades of struggles and challenges, in Parashat Vayeishev, Yaakov Avinu aims to settle down and live peacefully. Instead, the conflict between Yosef and his brothers rips Yaakov’s family apart. Triggered by their father’s favoritism of Yosef, as well as Yosef’s dreams, the brothers plot to murder Yosef in cold blood. Eventually, they relent and […]
This week’s parashah describes Yaakov arriving at Shechem “shalem whole.” Rabbi Y.Y. Jacobson askes, “What a gift it is to be whole and complete. To be wholesome, unified, integrated, and holistic. How many of us can claim to be whole?” Nowhere does the Bible describe a human being in such a way that he or she was […]
When Yaakov lays down to sleep on Har haMoriah, he places multiple rocks around his head. When he awakens, the Torah tells us that he uses the one rock that he had placed by his head to build a matzeivah (monument). First, we read of “stones” in plural and then of one singular stone. Which […]