In this week’s Torah portion, Vayetzei, Jacob marries two sisters, Leah and Rachel. Leah has children but Rachel, his favorite, is barren: “When Rachel saw that she had borne Jacob no children, she became envious of her sister; and Rachel said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I shall die.’ Jacob became angry at Rachel…

This week is Thanksgiving and while it is not a Jewish holiday, it is the expression of an important Jewish idea.   Every day, giving thanks is important, but having a day devoted to thanks is a way of ensuring that we keep it on our minds on all the other days as well. Of…

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayetzey, Jacob runs away from his brother Esav who wants to kill him for taking the blessing.   He goes toward Charan, the home of his uncle Lavan.  Then, “Vayifga b’makom,”- Jacob “bumped into the place.”  The Rabbis comment that this was indeed “the place” -Mount Moriyah- the place Abraham…

The Torah is multifaceted.  There are narratives and sub narratives, seeming non-sequiturs, repetitions, and juxtapositions, all of which from a traditional point of view, we believe are significant and rich grist for the interpretive mill.  In the story of Abraham’s family, I detect an interesting, seemingly subversive, sub-narrative. In Parshat Lech Licha, Yitzchak is clearly…

In this week’s parsha God tells Yitzchak He will bless him, “because Avrohom listened to My voice, and guarded my commandments and my Torah.”   According to Rash”i this verse tells us that Avrohom actually kept the entire Torah even though it was not yet commanded.   The Kabbalah says that this was possible since…

The Talmud writes that we learn to pray three times a day from both the sacrifices in the Temple and from our Avot, Avrohom, Yitzchak and Yaakov.  Avrohom stood before god just after the destruction of Sodom, and the Talmud says “standing” means prayer.  Reguarding Yitzchak the Torah tells us, “And Yitzchak went out to…