Vayishlach (5771) – Collective Responsibility
By any standards it was a shocking episode. Jacob had settled on the outskirts of the town of Shekhem, ruled … Read more
Tag: bereishit
Vayetse (5771) – The Character of Jacob
What kind of man was Jacob? This is the question that cries out to us in episode after episode of his … Read more
Toldot (5771) – Why did Isaac love Esau?
Even before they were born, Jacob and Esau struggled in the womb. They were destined, it seems, to be eternal … Read more
Lech Lecha (5771) – On Being A Jewish Parent
The most influential man who ever lived, does not appear on any list I have seen of the hundred most … Read more
Noach (5771) – A Tale of Four Cities
Between the Flood and the call to Abraham, between the universal covenant with Noah and the particular covenant with one … Read more
Bereishit (5771) – The G-d of Creation and the Land of Israel
There are times when an ancient text seems to speak more directly to where we are now than to the … Read more
Vayechi (5770) – Jewish Time
Different cultures tell different stories. The great novelists of the nineteenth century wrote fiction that is essentially ethical. Jane Austen … Read more
Vayigash (5770) – The Force of Forgiveness
Judah has passed the test so elaborately contrived by Joseph. Twenty-two years earlier, it was Judah who had proposed selling … Read more
Vayeshev (5770) – On Not Humiliating
In Genesis 38, temporarily interrupting the story of Joseph, we read the fascinating story of Tamar, one of the more … Read more
Vayishlach (5770) – Moral Dilemmas
Jacob, on his way home after an absence of 22 years, hears that Esau is coming to meet him with … Read more
