Biblical Women

The sun had already begun to set when Yehudit wound her way toward the enemy's camp. "I have an important message for your commander," she said to the sentry. "Take me to him at once!"

We read the story of Chana and Penina on Rosh Hashanah, when we pray for a good, sweet year. We pray for abundant blessings. Yet I believe there is a lesson in their story, cautioning us that with blessings come responsibility...

The story of Hannah, the Haftorah of Rosh Hashanah, is a tale richly woven of many strands. It is a story of devotion and of love, of service and of sacrifice.

Chana, the prophetess, revealed many of the basic laws of prayer and the inner dimension of prayer. She also taught us how to relate to our Creator from an entirely feminine perspective. To view G‑d not only as our King and Sovereign. But also as a Parent...

Could we be pregnant with our barrenness? What brings us to gestate barrenness? Does barrenness give birth to something, does it abort? What part of us is it really, and how do we nurture it and why?

The issue is even more baffling than you think. Most of the guidelines for prayer, we learned from a lady named Chana who lived about 3000 years ago. Yet all the dominant roles in communal prayer are given to men!

The story of Ruth unfolds against the background of the barley harvest in ancient Judea...

The modern day concept is “if you got it, flaunt it.” Show the world what you have to offer, be out there, be public, the more the better. It just isn’t so exciting to be the heroine behind the scenes . . .

Wasted time counts for far more than the present moment, or even our own lifetime. This was Rabbi Akiva's message. A minute could mean a street. Think of Fifth Avenue and the loss becomes tangible...

Esther’s evolution seems to be one of a different nature. Her second name does not, on the surface, bring her closer to G‑d or to her people. It puts her into hiding . . .

When I was sixteen, I went to Israel for two months and gained about twenty pounds. I had been thin, even skinny, my whole life and never gave my weight a second thought...

He was Israel’s mightiest warrior, revered by friend and foe; yet for the first 28 years of his life he was a lowly outcast . . . The secret story behind the mysterious circumstances of King David’s birth.

Through Sara, Rebecca and Miriam we learn of feminine courage, perception and the indomitable faith needed to meet the many challenges of today's modern woman

I am sitting cross-legged on a make shift throw at my childhood synagogue's Purim carnival. It must have been then that I decided I wanted to be Queen Esther when I grew up. I took the matter seriously, perfecting the costume over the years...

It's not that I support this sneaker-clad, pink-sweatshirt-sporting, exuberant young girl in a despotic vision of absolute control. And it's not only that I am thinking: yes, reach for the stars, dream big. It's just that her claim is simply true...

After all others failed, Rachel successfully persuaded G-d to eventually bring her children back from their exiled lands. What merit did she have which swayed G-d?

We all hope and pray for a biological mother (in addition to Rachel) who will protect and nurture us. Everyone deserves as much. But even when blessed with a healthy mother, we must always remember that all of us live in a form of “spiritual exile,” in need of our mother Rachel. And even when we are deprived of a nurturing mother, we are never deprived of Rachel, who always stands vigil, adoring us unconditionally, then and now—to this very day . . .

On's wife did what any devoted better-half would do—she reassured him that she would take care of the situation. She then neutralized her husband (thank G‑d for the bottle!) as zero-hour approached...

Chassidut teaches us that inherent within the chaos is a grain of rectification from which spontaneous order can sprout. In a most wondrous, counterintuitive way, that grain of order is concealed within time itself. This was Meheitavel’s secret, and the secret of every woman: the ability to infuse order into a world of total chaos . . .

We are looking back at our history through the story of a young woman who obviously went through unspeakable horrors. In desperation, she gave up, she felt she couldn’t fight; she was angry and then rebellious...