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.

A Tumultuous Pregnancy

Why would Yaakov want to leave the environment of the womb, a place where a celestial angel teaches the fetus all of the Torah?

Toldot: The Prophetic Destiny Of Rivka’s Twins

How do the character traits of Esav and Yaakov find expression in the rival civilizations they produced?

Torah Shorts: Cruel Cynics: Parshat Toldot

The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. -Henry Ward Beecher

How Do We Know That He Loves Us?

Abarbanel describes some of the spiritual depths to which the inhabitants of Yerushalayim had sunk at this twilight of prophecy. Those who should have been the leaders, the best among us, had become the worst.

Wait Just A Minute

The young man said, ‘I don’t want to listen to any mussar; it doesn’t interest me. Just leave me alone!’

Parshas Toldos: The Cosmic Battle Between Yaakov and Esav 

The physical is not an end in itself- it is meant to serve as a vehicle for transcendent, spiritual, conscious living. This is the battle we face on a daily basis, a battle of perception.

As Modest As She Was Wise

Of Sarah we know that her beauty, as legendary as it was, was only one small fragment of her greatness.

The Question Rabbi Sacks Was Asked The Most

Rabbi Sacks once said that he lectured hundreds of times a year, met thousands of people every month, and spoke constantly with people of every type throughout the world. Which question, do you suppose, was he asked most often?

How Did Sarah Leave This World?

Perhaps even more perplexing is the fact that we are taught that the only way to earn entry into the rarified grave of the Meoras HaMachpelah is to be one of the elite few who died by misa b’nashika, through the kiss of Hashem.

Shabbat Chayei Sarah and Jewish memory

Long before Jerusalem was mentioned in the biblical text, Hebron was embedded as a site of pilgrimage for sacred memory.

Unconditional Chesed

Only a woman whose being was suffused with the characteristic of chesed would be a suitable wife for Yitzchak, and that was not a quality that could be discerned with a miracle.

The Mysterious Tenth Test

Avraham was burying his wife, facing the death of his life’s partner, there was a deeper layer here. He was also planting the seeds for their eternal connection.

Chayei Sara: Perfection of the Living Sacrifice

Following her death, Sarah's powerful legacy continued to influence Avraham and play a major role in their family's development into a nation.

The Message Of Tefillin – For Old And Young

When a Jew of any age or condition begins his day with tefillin, he takes the two most important forces in life and points them in the right direction.

Avraham and Sarah’s ‘Debate’

If we are expected to pray for someone and we neglect to do so, we are robbing them of something that is rightfully theirs.

Creating Profiles

When judging others, Avraham Avinu did not compare the status of the tzaddik to himself. Rather, he expanded the definition of a tzaddik.

Torah Shorts: Parshat Vayera: Naturally Beyond Nature

The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding. -Francis Bacon

Transcending the Stars

How often do we create mental cages of our own? How often do we allow other people's opinions of us to become our reality?

A Message to the Doubters

Obviously, we need to understand what drove the mistakes we made and feel remorseful for them, but we cannot and must not ruminate on them.

How Terrible To Overturn The Laws Of Nature

A story is told in the Gemara (Shabbat 53b) of a man whose wife died, leaving him an infant son. The man was too poor to afford a wet nurse to feed his baby, so he miraculously grew breasts and nursed the baby himself.

Hineini: Abraham’s Test And Our Future

Abraham was shown that his test was not only about his own faith…. By this test, G-d created the means for Abraham’s descendants to survive all adversity.

Vayeira: Sarah’s Role In The Hebrew Mission

What can the dynamics between Yitzḥak and Yishmael in Parshat Vayeira teach us about Israel’s ideal relationship with the Muslim world?

Redeeming Relevance: A People Chosen for Opposition

While there is plenty of room for cooperation and interaction with other larger cultures, it is important for the Jewish people to remember that a key role God wants it to play is to often stand on the other side and follow our own path.

What Real Education Is All About

We are accustomed to talk about our difficulties and hardships, but not to share our deliverance from them.

Unknown Destination

When a person knows his destination, then as he comes closer the journey becomes easier…But when has no idea when his journey will end, it is more difficult, and he therefore merits reward for every step that he takes on this journey.

The Judge Of The Whole World

Yeshayahu is anticipating the future destruction and exile and is trying fruitlessly to inspire the people of his generation to return to Hashem before it’s too late.

Just One More Shabbos: Holding Onto The Power Of Spiritual Growth All Year

If these past 18 months taught us anything it is that no one knows what the day holds. We are not in control.

Might Does Not Make Right

It would seem that the crimes of idolatry and immorality are more heinous than theft, yet the generation would have escaped destruction if their sins had only been between man and G-d.

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