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 […]
VaYigash – 5775
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, […]
Vayishlach
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 […]
Sermon for Nitzavim-vaYelech 5774
Shabbat 19-20 Sep. 2014 How time flies! This Shabbat is already the seventh and last of the 7 Sabbaths of Nechama- Consolation, which is also the last Shabbat before Rosh haShana –beginning of the Hebrew year. Since the common denominator of the last 7 Sabbaths of our year are Haftarot which are taken from the […]
Chayei Sarah -5775
14th November 2014/21 Cheshvan 5775 Our Torah is “TORAT CHAYIM” –a Torah of Life. It addresses the life of human beings and wastes almost no time on issues such as how angels live in heaven… One of the most basic facts of human life is that all of us are bound to die. Each and […]
WaYera – 5775
weAnochi A’far waEfer – I am (merely) dust and ashes When Abraham learns of the Divine intention to wipe out the entire wicked city of Sodom, he entreats before the Supreme Judge to save the city even for the sake of a small minority of righteous people in it. This back and forth verbal exchange […]