…but he refused to be comforted. He said, “I will go down to the grave mourning for my son.” (Bereishit 37:34-35) There are laws in Judaism about the limits of grief – shiva, sheloshim, a year. There is no such thing as a bereavement for which grief is endless. The Talmud says that God rebukes one who weeps beyond the…
…eleven stars were bowing down to me.” When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” (Bereishit 37: 9-11). Immediately afterwards, we read of Yaakov sending Yosef, alone, to…
…(Bereishit 50:19-20) The conclusion to this story is the original source for understanding the concept of teshuva (repentance). Another important source for understanding teshuva is one of the most colourful characters of the Talmud – the third-century sage known as Reish Lakish. Reish Lakish was originally a highway robber and gladiator who later in life repented and became a great…
…of “the sea went back to its full flow” – [read not le-eitano but letenao], “the condition” that God had earlier stipulated. Bereishit Rabbah 5:5.[6] The implication is that the division of the sea was, as it were, programmed into Creation from the outset.[7] It was less a suspension of nature than an event written into nature from the beginning,…
…their people.” (Vayikra 7:26–27) This is not just one prohibition among others. The ban on eating blood is fundamental to the Torah. For example, it occupies a central place in the covenant God makes with Noah – and through him, all humanity – after the Flood: “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it” (Bereishit…
…in the biblical narrative. The name given to the first child born – Cain (from the Hebrew meaning “ownership”) – saying, “I have acquired a child through God” (Bereishit 4:1), implies that if you treat your child as a possession, then you may turn him into a murderer. The story of the binding of Isaac teaches that parents do not…
…even for domestic animals. One day in seven, no one is a slave. Of course, both are true, and we integrate both accounts into the text of the Kiddush we make on Friday night. We call Shabbat a remembrance of creation (zikaron lemaaseh bereishit) as well as a reminder of the Exodus (zekher liyetziat Mitzrayim). However, once we set the…
…ecologically vulnerable, because its water resources are dependent on rain, which in that part of the world is never predictable (hence the frequent famines mentioned in Bereishit). Its existence could never, therefore, be taken for granted. Time and again its people, surviving challenges, would experience this as a miracle. Small geographically and demographically, it would depend on outstanding achievement –…
…some modern day applications of the mitzvah of bal taschit? What is the message behind the terms “to serve it [le’ovdah] and guard it [leshomrah]” used in Bereishit 2? Apart from the bal taschit, what other mitzvot contain the value of environmental responsibility? How will you take on board the message contained in this Covenant & Conversation this coming week?…
…were guilty.” He said, (in words we’re going to say at Selichos soon), “Ma-nidaber uma-nitz’tadak” – “What more can we say to justify ourselves?”. He said, “haelokim matza et-ha’avon avadecha”, “God has discovered, uncovered our guilt.” [Bereishit 44:16] What’s more, he changed: From the person who sold his brother as a slave, he became the person who was willing to…