23 stycznia 2015/3 szwat 5775 The first Divine commandment to all humans is “Be fertile and increase” [Gen.1:28]. The first Divine commandment to the Israelites is “This month [of Springtime] is for you the first of the months, it is the beginning of the year” [Ex.12:2] i.e. Establishing a national calendar in which the first […]

30th January, 2015/10 Shvat 5775 Shirat HaYam –‘Song of the Sea’ or ‘Song on the Sea’ is one of the most beautiful and one of the most ancient pieces of Hebrew Poetry. I recall Prof. Moshe Greenberg saying that the deliverance of our ancestors from the mighty Egyptian Empire was such an incredible event, that […]

What made Judah the “Lion-King” of his brothers? 2nd January 2015/11 Tevet 5775 In the last four ‘parashot’ (pl. of parasha=portions) of Genesis, Joseph emerges as the most talented among the twelve sons of Jacob, and the one whose meteoric rise to power in Egypt eventually changes the entire history of our people. However, parallel […]

Shabbat 26-27 December, 2014 Pharoe, impressed by the old semitic shepherd standing in front of him asks: How many are the years of your life [Gen.47:8]? However, Jacob replies using a different noun: “The years of my sojourn (=meguray) are thirty and a hundred years… [ibid:9] why ‘my sojourn’ and not ‘my life’? The simplest, […]

5th December 2014/13 Kislev 5775 “When my brother Esau asks you: Unto whom do you belong? Where are you going? Unto whom these [animals, livestock] are sent ahead?” These are three questions that Jacob anticipates Esau to ask when he meets with each of the messangers that Jacob sends ahead. Do these three questions remind […]