Moral Ambiguity: The Parable Of The Tribes
Who was in the right and who in the wrong are left conspicuously undecided in the text.
Vihi Noam: Blessings That Flow After Shabbat
Vihi noam and v’atah kadosh should be recited slowly and prolonged somewhat. This is because punishment in Gehenom is suspended from the beginning of Shabbat until the end of Ma’ariv after Shabbat.
TORAH SHORTS: Parshat Vayishlach: Your Money or Your Soul
Life is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becoming. -Matthew Arnold
Remember The Sons Of Edom
Esav is the last of all the nations to come into the world. He is a pretender. He uses his strength and deception to humiliate and to conquer others, but in the end he is just a bully.
Jealousy Rots – Envy Can Redeem
She said, were she not more righteous than me, she wouldn’t be privileged to have so many children.
Parshas Vayishlach: The Principle that Saved Yaakov’s Life
Every physical action affects the spiritual realm, creating cosmic ripple effects; The same is true of the physical world. Every action creates a corresponding reaction in the spiritual world. In essence, our physical world is like an upside-down puppet show
Family Matters
Like the bayit, she’er also refers specifically to one’s spouse. This may be because of the sacred bond of flesh that exists between man and wife.
Is It Proper To Have Drinks In A Bar?
Bars, by definition, are places where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages … a classic place for idle chatter, gossip, and excessive frivolity.
A Woman Of Valor Who Can Find
She was ahead of her time and was a woman of great value and strength. She spoke up for her family, her friends, and the land of Israel she loved so much.
Closing The Circle
I didn’t realize it at the time, but living next door to your family turned out to be immensely significant to me.
Public Auction
The whole idea of an auction is to see what price I can get for the item. You chose, of your own volition, to pay $10 and outbid the previous bidder!
Daf Yomi
Pidyon Haben In The Afternoon?
‘…The First Reads Aloud The Hallel’
(Rosh Hashana 32b)
The Unbeaten Path
If we try to force our children (and adults) to follow a narrow and rigid one-size-fits-all derech, then we are guilty of creating a metaphorical Sodom bed.
Q & A: Netilat Yadayim (Part III)
Question: Does one wash one’s hands in the bathroom with soap and water, or is it required to pour [fresh] water from a vessel with handles three times on each hand alternatingly? I have heard it said that a vessel is used only in the morning.
A Reader
New York, NY
The Cosmic Battle Between Yaakov And Esav
And this was the very battle between the perception of Yaakov and Esav. They both wanted both the spiritual and the physical.
It’s Never Too Late To Find Out Who You Are
After 80 years, I finally know who I am and who my family members are, he said yesterday when he met his cousin in the city of Modi'in.
The Life Of Shluchim
They live all alone, far from any other religious Jews, and distant from the rest of their family and relatives. The kids only see their grandparents on video calls.
Vayetzei: Yaakov’s Struggle To Become Israel
Before becoming Israel, Yaakov had to first spend several years in exile learning to be more like Esav.
The Tapestry Of History
It was the enmity of the brothers to Yosef and their selling him as a slave, that was the primary cause for their descent to Egypt and being forced into slavery by the cruel Pharaoh.
The Many Gates Of Tears
Such is the power of tears that it has the ability to transform worlds and to create a new essence of blessing and abundance, no matter who is crying.
TORAH SHORTS: Powerful Vows: Parshat Vayetze
A vow is fixed and unalterable determination to do a thing, when such a determination is related to something noble which can only uplift the man who makes the resolve. -Mahatma Gandhi
Time For Love, Time For Justice
Albert Einstein said it was the ‘almost fanatical love of justice’ that made him thank his lucky stars that he was born a Jew.
Are You an ‘EARTH ANGEL’?
When we come through for others, when we ask how we can help, when we make the difference for them, we bring a piece of heaven down here to earth. Through our actions we build an actual stairway to heaven.
Shemoneh Esrei: No Mention Of The Matriarchs
It is noted that according to gematria the phrase "Elokei Avraham, Elokei Yitzchak, V'elokei Yaakov," has the same numerical value as the names of the Matriarchs.
Relativity And The Gnat
The funny thing is that just as we look at gnats in this world, so too are our lives regarded in the supernal worlds.
To Serve And To Protect
Just as Yaakov tended the sheep of Lavan, guiding and guarding them so he could win the hand of Rachel, so Hashem protects his offspring until the end of time.
Almonds, Almond Trees And A City Or Two
Alternatively, shaked may refer to the almond fruit/nut itself, and to the almond tree only in a borrowed sense – while luz refers directly to the almond tree. It seems that Avraham Even-Shoshan’s dictionary follows this approach.
Yaakov and Esav: The Relationship that Could Have Been: Parshat Vayeitzei
The partnership that could have-should have-been