Have you ever found yourself caught between a rock and a hard place? Well, that’s exactly the dilemma that the fleeing Jews of Egypt found as they made their way toward the promised land. The full might of Egypt was behind them. The sea was in front of them. What to do? 

We are called up […]

Summer of 1940. Winston Churchill (paraphrasing):

 “What General Weygand has called the Battle of France is over … (France was lost to the Germans) the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of our civilization. Upon it depends our British life, and the long continuity of our institutions . . […]

In this week’s parshah, God tells Moses that he wants him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, from slavery to freedom. Moses answered God’s call.  But whether out of apprehension or humility, he quickly added several excuses for not immediately doing what God asked. First, he says: “I am not good enough.”  He points […]

Tis the season. Since it is Shabbat, I hope everyone planned ahead to fulfill the mitzvah of Chinese food and a movie on Christmas. Your festive meal may just have to wait until Motzi Shabbat this year. There is no escaping the music of the season. Hanukkah has long since passed and with-it Dreidel, Dreidel, […]

Today’s Parasha is supposedly the least dramatic and emotional of many Torah stories.  Personally I kinda think that Bamidbar (you know the one where the tribes are counted) is not so exciting either.  So rather than look for drama in this parasha over the deaths of Jacob and Joseph, or Jacob’s blessing of Ephriam & […]

“Change isn’t made by asking permission. Change is made by asking forgiveness, later”   Seth Godin

As in past years, this week’s Parsha for me is all about forgiveness and loving ones-self. It starts with Judah, with all of his brothers present, who pleads with the viceroy of Egypt, that his brother Benjamin be set free after […]

How do we know the validity of our dreams and how to interpret them:   Are they guideposts for life, signs from Hashem, or are they Freudian activities for working out the incongruities of our personality and exorcising our demons?  How do we know when they are one or the other?

For Joseph, dreams were the stuff […]

In today’s parashah, we read about 3 figures who go through great struggle, and who may well have succumbed to despair. They could have lost  hope.  They could have lost the will to make things better— but they didn’t.

First, Jacob is told about the apparent death of his son Joseph, but we read that Jacob […]

The story of Jacob and Esau represents an important lesson about reconciliation. As you will recall, their animosity for each other began because Jacob stole Esau’s birthright and his father’s blessing.  After this, Jacob ends up running away from home so that Esau would not kill him. Twenty years later, God tells Jacob to return […]

Parshat Vayetze is dedicated to the early years of Jacob. It encompasses his decision to leave home and pursue a life away from his family and the trials and tribulations of so doing. We read about his dream of a ladder connecting Heaven and earth. We meet the deceptive Laban and follow Jacob’s twenty years […]