Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Shemot WHEN HE WENT OUT THE NEXT DAY, HE SAW TWO HEBREWS FIGHTING: SO HE SAID TO THE OFFENDER, "WHY DO YOU STRIKE YOUR FELLOW?" HE RETORTED, "WHO MADE YOU CHIEF AND RULER OVER US? DO YOU MEAN TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN? MOSES WAS FRIGHTENED AND THOUGHT: THEN THE MATTER IS KNOWN! (Shemot 2:13-14) The Oppressed Must be Saved from his Oppressor without Regard for Nationality Two Hebrews – They...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayechi AND WHEN THE TIME APPROACHED FOR JACOB TO DIE, HE SUMMONED HIS SON JOSEPH AND SAID TO HIM, "PLEASE, IF I HAVE FOUND FAVOR IN YOUR EYES, PLACE YOUR HAND UNDER MY THIGH AND TREAT ME WITH KINDNESS AND LOYALTY: PLEASE DO NOT BURY ME IN EGYPT. WHEN I LIE DOWN WITH MY FATHERS, TAKE ME UP FROM EGYPT AND BURY ME IN THEIR BURIAL-PLACE." HE REPLIED, "I WILL DO AS YOU HAVE SPOKEN."...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayigash JOSEPH ORDERED HIS CHARIOT AND WENT TO GOSHEN TO MEET HIS FATHER ISRAEL; HE PRESENTED HIMSELF TO HIM AND, EMBRACING HIM AROUND THE NECK, HE WEPT ON HIS NECK A GOOD WHILE. THEN ISRAEL SAID TO JOSEPH, "NOW I CAN DIE, HAVING SEEN FOR MYSELF THAT YOU ARE STILL ALIVE." (Bereishit 46:29-30) Joseph wept, Jacob did not weep. Joseph could still weep, Jacob was finished with weeping, he had wept enough in...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Miketz SO PHARAOH SAID TO JOSEPH, "SINCE GOD HAS MADE ALL THIS KNOWN TO YOU, THERE IS NONE SO DISCERNING AND WISE AS YOU. YOU SHALL BE IN CHARGE OF MY COURT, AND ALL MY PEOPLE SHALL KISS YOUR MOUTH, ONLY WITH RESPECT TO THE THRONE SHALL I BE SUPERIOR TO YOU. PHARAOH FURTHER SAID TO JOSEPH, "SEE, I PUT YOU IN CHARGE OF ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT.". (Bereishit 41:39-41) Rabbi Shimon ben...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayeshev NOW ISRAEL LOVED JOSEPH BEST OF ALL HIS SONS, FOR HE WAS THE CHILD OF HIS OLD AGE; AND HE MADE HIM A COAT OF MANY COLORS. (Bereishit 37:3) Discrimination Brings Jealousy, Hatred, and Violence And he made him a coat of many colors – Resh Lakish said in the name of R. Elazar ben Azaryah: A person should not discriminate between his children, since the coat of many colors which our...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayishlah NOW DINAH, THE DAUGHTER OF LEAH, WHOM SHE HAD BORNE TO JACOB, WENT OUT TO VISIT THE DAUGHTERS OF THE LAND. (Bereishit 34:1) Who is Responsible: Dinah, Leah, Jacob or Shekhem son of Hamor? Now Dinah, the daughter of Leah, went out – Read this in the light of what Scripture says: All treasures of the king's daughter's are kept within. (Tehillim 45:14). Rabbi Tossi said: When the woman conceals herself in the...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze This edition is dedicated to the memory of Avraham Nuriel, z"l JACOB KEPT LABAN THE ARAMEAN IN THE DARK, NOT TELLING HIM THAT HE WAS FLEEING, AND FLED WITH ALL THAT HE HAD. SOON HE WAS ACROSS THE EUPHRATES AND HEADING TOWARD THE HILL COUNTRY OF GILEAD. (Bereishit 31:20-1) From What or Whom is it Possible or Desirable to Flee, and to Where? And fled – Throughout the Torah, the word...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Toldot SO JACOB DREW CLOSE TO HIS FATHER ISAAC, WHO FELT HIM AND WONDERED. "THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, YET THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. (Bereishit 27:22) The voice is the voice of Jacob – No prayer is ever effective without the participation of Jacob's offspring. Yet the hands are the hands of Esau – No war is ever won without the participation of Esau's offspring in it. Caution...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Chaye Sara "HERE I STAND BY THE SPRING AS THE DAUGHTERS OF THE TOWNSMEN COME OUT TO DRAW WATER; LET THE MAIDEN TO WHOM I SAY, 'PLEASE, LOWER YOUR JAR THAT I MAY DRINK,' AND WHO REPLIES, 'DRINK, AND I WILL ALSO WATER YOUR CAMELS'- LET HER BE THE ONE WHOM YOU HAVE DECREED FOR YOUR SERVANT ISAAC. THEREBY SHALL I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE DEALT GRACIOUSLY WITH MY MASTER."… THE SERVANT RAN TOWARD HER...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaera HE ANNIHILATED THOSE CITIES AND THE ENTIRE PLAIN, AND ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE CITIES AND THE VEGETATION OF THE GROUND. LOT'S WIFE LOOKED BACK, AND SHE THEREUPON TURNED INTO A PILLAR OF SALT. NEXT MORNING, ABRAHAM HURRIED TO THE PLACE WHERE HE HAD STOOD BEFORE THE LORD, AND HE LOOKED DOWN TOWARD SODOM AND GOMORRAH AND ALL THE LAND OF THE PLAIN, AND HE SAW THE SMOKE OF THE LAND RISING LIKE THE...