Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Vayeshev THEY SAW HIM FROM AFAR, AND BEFORE HE HAD GOTTEN TO THEM, THEY PLOTTED CUNNINGLY AGAINST HIM TO CAUSE HIS DEATH. THEY SAID EACH MAN TO HIS BROTHER: HERE COMES THE MASTER DREAMER! SO NOW, COME, LET US KILL HIM AND THROW HIM INTO ONE OF THESE PITS AND SAY: AN ILL-TEMPERED BEAST HAS DEVOURED HIM! THEN WE WILL SEE WHAT BECOMES OF HIS DREAMS! WHEN RE'UVEN HEARD IT HE TRIED TO RESCUE HIM FROM THEIR HAND, HE SAID: LET US NOT TAKE HIS LIFE!...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Vayeshev  “In my dream, similarly, there were three openwork baskets on my head. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of food for Pharaoh that a baker prepares; and the birds were eating it out of the basket above my head.” Yosef answered, “This is its interpretation: The three baskets are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale you upon a pole; and the birds will pick off your flesh.”            (Bereishit 40:16-18)   The Dream, the Dreamer, and the Interpreter...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parshat Vayeshev Birthday and Independence Day as Rebirth "And thus it was, on the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a great drinking-feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker amidst his servants." (Bereishit 40;20) "Let this New-Moon shall be for you the beginning of New-Moons." – By way of example: A son was born to a king, and the king made a celebration. The son was taken into captivity for many...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat Vayeshev (link to original page) Parshat Vayeshev Israel and the Nations: Inside and/or Out? Together and/or Separate? Yosef Haim Banjo In Vayeshev, as well as in the portions of Miketz and Vayigash, the Torah deals with the figure of Joseph. It should be noted that the reading of these portions always falls on Hanukkah, as if the Sages wanted to emphasize the connection between Joseph and Hanukkah. Indeed, the story of Joseph, who, as a Jew, enters the history of Egypt and influences it, is reminiscent of the meeting of Judaism...