Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Vayechi SO JOSEPH WENT UP TO BURY HIS FATHER; AND WITH HIM WENT UP ALL THE OFFICIALS OF PHARAOH, THE SENIOR MEMBERS OF HIS COURT AND ALL OF EGYPT'S DIGNITARIES (Bereishit 50: 7) And with him went up – in his honor, so that he would not go by himself – This comes to teach us that although Pharaoh's officials did not intend to honor the dead, it is accounted to their merit as...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Vayigash AND THEY TOOK ALONG THEIR LIVESTOCK AND THE WEALTH THAT THEY HAD AMASSED IN THE LAND OF CANAAN. THUS JACOB AND ALL HIS OFFSPRING WITH HIM CAME TO EGYPT (Bereishit 46: 6) That They Had Amassed in the Land of Canaan – but everything they had amassed in Padan Aram was given to Esau in exchange for his share of the Me'arat Ha'Machpeila. I am the One who told your father Do not...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Miketz AND JOSEPH SAID TO PHARAOH: "PHARAOH'S DREAMS ARE ONE AND THE SAME: GOD HAS TOLD PHARAOH WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO DO. THE SEVEN HEALTHY COWS ARE SEVEN YEARS, AND THE SEVEN HEALTHY EARS ARE SEVEN YEARS; IT IS THE SAME DREAM." (Bereishit 41: 25-6) A Bountiful Economy Makes Possible Social Justice, Equality, and Peace When out of the Nile: In good years, people become brothers to each other. And they grazed...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayeshev THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH, AND HE WAS A SUCCESSFUL MAN. HE REMAINED IN THE HOUSE OF HIS EGYPTIAN MASTER; AND WHEN HIS MASTER SAW THAT THE LORD WAS WITH HIM AND THAT THE LORD LENT SUCCESS TO EVERYTHING HE UNDERTOOK… AND FROM THE TIME THAT THE EGYPTIAN PUT HIM IN CHARGE OF HIS HOUSEHOLD AND OF ALL THAT HE OWNED, THE LORD BLESSED HIS HOUSE FOR JACOB'S SAKE, SO THAT THE BLESSING OF THE LORD...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Vayishlah THE MESSENGERS RETURNED TO JACOB, SAYING, "WE CAME TO YOUR BROTHER ESAU; HE HIMSELF IS COMING TO YOU, AND THERE ARE FOUR HUNDRED MEN WITH HIM." (Bereishit 32: 7) Your Brother or Esau? – How Does One Interpret the Other's Intentions in Unclear Circumstances? We came to your brother Esau – of whom you would say, "He is my brother", but he treats you as the evil Esau, still harboring his hate. (Rashi...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Vayetze THERE BEFORE HIS EYES WAS A WELL IN THE OPEN. THREE FLOCKS OF SHEEP WERE LYING THERE BESIDE IT, FOR THE FLOCKS WERE WATERED FROM THAT WELL. THE STONE ON THE MOUTH OF THE WELL WAS LARGE… AND WHEN JACOB SAW RACHEL, THE DAUGHTER OF LABAN HIS MOTHER'S BROTHER, JACOB WENT UP AND ROLLED THE STONE OFF THE MOUTH OF THE WELL, AND WATERED THE FLOCK OF LABAN, HIS MOTHER'S BROTHER. THEN JACOB KISSED...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Toldot WHEN THE BOYS GREW UP, ESAU BECAME A SKILLFUL HUNTER, A MAN OF THE OUTDOORS; BUT JACOB WAS A MILD MAN, WHO STAYED IN CAMP. I SAAC FAVORED ESAU BECAUSE HE HAD A TASTE FOR GAME; REBEKAH LOVED JACOB. (Bereishit 25) When love is conditional upon a cause, when that cause ends, so does the love. Unconditional love is everlasting. (Pirkei Avot 5: 16) "Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Chaye Sara AND THE SERVANT SAID TO HIM, "WHAT IF THE WOMAN DOES NOT CONSENT TO FOLLOW ME TO THIS LAND, SHALL I THEN TAKE YOUR SON BACK TO THE LAND FROM WHICH YOU CAME?" ABRAHAM ANSWERED HIM, "ON NO ACCOUNT MUST YOU TAKE MY SON BACK THERE!" (Bereishit 24:5,6) Why Did Abraham Object So Strongly to the Canaanite Women? "From the Daughters of the Canaanites" – Lest they say I entered the land...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Vayera NOW GOD APPEARED TO HIM BY THE OAKS OF MAMRE AS HE WAS SITTING AT THE ENTRANCE TO HIS TENT AT THE HEAT OF THE DAY. "Appeared to him" – to visit the sick. Said R' Chamma bar Chaninah: It was the third day since his circumcision, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, came to inquire as to his welfare. (Rashi Bereishit 18:1) You Shall Walk in His Ways Said R' Chamma...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Lech-Lecha THE LORD SAID TO AVRAM: GO YOU FORTH FROM YOUR LAND FROM YOUR KINDRED FROM YOUR FATHER'S HOME TO THE LAND THAT I WILL LET YOU SEE (Bereishit 12:1) "Go You Forth" – For Your Own Sake … At Judaism's inception, it is written, "Lech lecha", go for your own sake. This is an even greater merit. No man has the right to say: I am righteous and honest in keeping with...