This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shirah, “Shabbat of Song,” because on it we read/chant the epic poem, Shirat HaYam, “Song at the Sea,” contained in the Torah portion B’shalach.…

Our Jewish tradition speaks frequently about the gift of memory. The festival of Passover is the prime example of the importance that Judaism places on memory. Every holiday and Sabbath…

At the beginning of 2011, while protests were happening in Egypt against the regime of Hosni Mubarak, a joke did the rounds, which claimed that the Jews had warned the…

This Shabbat, we conclude the Book of Genesis with Parashat Va-y’chi.  Whenever we finish reading a book, even a book of Torah, it is important to reflect on where we have…

After last weeks parashiot focusing on Jacob/Israel and his older sons, Parashat Vayeishev (24.12.) introduces the concluding narrative of the first book of Moses with telling us the story of Joseph who is…

Our parasha reports the way Isaac was tricked into giving Jacob the blessing for the firstborn, taking advantage of his blindness. But was Isaac really blind, was he really not…

Say this when you mourn for me: There was a man- and look, he is no more. He died before his time. The music of his life suddenly stopped. A…

The story of the Akeidah, the “Binding” of Isaac, is certainly one of the most terrifying and troubling accounts in all of the Torah. The Rabbis since the dawn of…

Names carry with them all sorts of associations: memories, hopes, dreams, and possibilities.  The names we are given and those that we choose, tell the world something about ourselves: they…