One of the well known statements of Midrash about the Exodus of Israel from Egyptian bondage is that the Jewish people, our ancestors, were redeemed from Egypt in the merit of the righteous Jewish women of the time. We tend to judge Jewish righteousness purely in terms of tradition, ritual and observance and though that is certainly true it is not the entire truth. Jewish women, then and...
People who are released from bondage or any other type of incarceration usually find their adjustment to freedom difficult if not even very problematic. More often than not the look on their newly freed faces is one of bewilderment – of being in a dazed condition – rather than one of pure joy. Past unpleasant and painful experiences are not easily forgotten, or sublimated and...
The sections of the Torah that we are reading these weeks concern themselves with the well known but ever insightful story of the enslavement and subsequent exodus of the Jewish people in long ago Egypt. Jewish tradition has taught us that the narratives that appear in the Torah are not to be viewed as merely a recital of past events. Rather they stand as indicators and guideposts for the...
Moshe faces a crisis of faith at the onset of this week’s parsha. He apparently has made no headway with and little impression on the Pharaoh of Egypt. The situation of the Jewish slaves has worsened considerably and the leaders of the people place blame upon Moshe for that situation. So, Moshe is apparently unsuccessful with the Pharaoh and unsuccessful with the Jewish people all at...
יש ביהדות ובהלכה היהודית ערך שדורש מכל יהודי להפגין רגישות כלפי רגשות הזולת. הערך הזה לא מוגדר במונחים הלכתיים כמו אתרוג, למשל, או סוכה. הוא קיים בצורה הרבה יותר אמורפית, בתחום שנועד להיות תרבותי, כמעט, מובן מאליו....
There is a value in Jewish life and law that encompasses the necessity of exhibiting sensitivity towards the feelings of others. This value is not rigidly defined in halachic terms as let us say an etrog or a succah is. It exists in a far more amorphous realm, one that is almost meant to be cultural and self understood. Because it is not rigorously defined there are really no textbooks...
ביסודו של דבר, התורה לא מכינה אותנו לתיאור האירועים שמסופרים לנו בפרשת השבוע. כשעזבנו את משפחת יעקב בסוף פרשת השבוע שעבר, ויחי, בני ישראל התיישבו בארץ גושן וחיו בה מוגנים, בנוחות ובשפע. התורה לא מתארת לנו את התהליך שבו...
The Torah leaves us basically unprepared for its description of the events that are recorded for us in this week’s parsha. When we last left the family of Israel at the conclusion of last week’s parsha of Vayechi, the Jews found themselves comfortable, affluent, protected and settled well in the land of Goshen. The Torah does not describe to us the process by which this situation so...
בשבת הזאת מסיים העם היהודי את קריאת ספר בראשית. בספרות הרבנית הספר הזה מכונה "ספר האבות", ספרם של מייסדי עמנו ואמונתנו. זאת היתה תקופה של גדולת היחיד, של עם בודד בתוך עולם עוין, עם שרדיפתו אחר האמת והנאמנות לבורא השפיעה...
This Shabat the Jewish people complete the reading of the book of Bereshith. In rabbinic literature this book is known as the book of the Avot – the book of our forefathers and mothers, the founders of our people and our faith. It was an era of individual greatness, of lone people in a hostile world whose pursuit of truth and loyalty to their Creator influenced their world and all of...
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