Vayishlach
#ShareTheLights
It’s been a rough few months for the Jewish people. Eleven congregants in Pittsburgh murdered by a virulent anti-Semite as they began Shabbat morning services. Jewish communities in Israel enduring a barrage of rockets from Gaza. Jews in Europe still facing spiking anti-Semitic attacks. Jewish students attacked on the streets of Toronto. It’s tempting to cower at home, waiting, praying, and hoping for things to turn out OK.
Or we can take a proactive approach. In 50 states and more than 100 countries, Jewish communities will be gathering for public menorah lightings, often in central locations. Find the menorah lighting near you, and attend with your family and friends.
What better answer can there be to those who want us to disappear? Taking a cue from the Maccabees, we will stand together, our proud presence declaring that with G‑d’s help, the Jewish nation is here today, tomorrow, and forever.
Deborah was there because Rebecca was fulfilling a promise she made to Jacob 36 years earlier.
Whatever the nature of a conflict, it is not the objective facts that drive it, but our thoughts that create the story around it.
Just as a person may become farblunget during the course of a trip, a soul may blondje in its life journey on earth.
At the start of the chuppah marriage ceremony, it is customary for the bride to circle the groom counterclockwise (three or) seven times.
Time and time again, it appeared as if the plucky nation of monotheists would be swallowed up by the religion du jour
Yelling causes damage, irreparable damage, to the environment, to our relationships, to our psyches and nervous systems, and to our mental and physical health.
The very term Jew (Yehudi) is directly linked to the Hebrew word hoda’ah, which means “thanks.”
Her left hand, abnormal in its growth of three fingers due to ABS (amniotic band syndrome), has come up in conversation now and then in the last two years.
Baila, an orphan adopted by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and his wife, was marrying an exceptional young man who was also parentless.
When G-d and the Jewish People were "married" at Mount Sinai, there were two "marriage ushers": Moses and Aaron. In commemoration of this, at a Jewish wedding two ushers escort bride and groom to one another. But there is a surprising regulation that demands explanation: a pregnant woman may not serve as marriage usher.
Our world is a world where a rainbow could be.
At first, there was a world that only received and returned no dividends. Its inhabitants took no ownership. They lived with their Creator’s benevolence, they did what they did with no need for excuses, and eventually died as they died. And that was it.
With the Flood, this...
