Va'eira

As the second half of my enchanted year of studies began, my handwriting suddenly became totally illegible for no reason that I could ascertain. My voice inexplicably became monotonic, also apparently without reason.

“Why are you wearing winter clothes?” asked the 10-year-old camper, rather incredulous. She was bouncing a ball, sweating, as she stared at me and my getup. It was 90 degrees and I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt under a short-sleeved camp shirt, as well as a long skirt and socks.

Isn’t it a little unfair that all my life I was more Jewish than my friends, was even subjected to anti-Semitism, and after all that I’m told I need to convert?

Like many Jewish publishers, we are particular to not spell out the name of our Creator, even in English. Here’s why.

Learn the meaning and significance of this famous Jewish surname.

The thump of the bandit falling to the ground aroused the captive from his reverie. With the small amount of water he had, he managed to revive him from his faint.

In the meantime, it’s dark, confusing, and difficult. That’s only because the process of getting to a deeper place can give space for negative consequences. But just around the bend is a time, a space that is even deeper and greater, that it will make this period worthwhile.

It can be a great accomplishment for a person to admit, “I have sinned this time.” But there is a higher level, where a person’s soul searching moves him to such a degree that he declares, “G-d is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.”