Hidden Agenda – Vayeishev
The story of Joseph may be the most compelling story in the whole Torah. There are dreams, the conspiracy of the brothers, getting sold into slavery, Potiphar’s wife’s seduction, prison, […]
Category Archives: Genesis/Bereishis
Wrestling With God – Vayishlach — By Ben
It’s the night after Thanksgiving and I’m eating an extraordinary Shabbos meal in Dallas, Texas. I am being hosted by a family with a fantastic house, a loving and beyond […]
How Batman Helped Me Understand the Parsha (Toldos) — By Ben
In parshas Toldos Yitzchok and Rivka desperately want a child. I don’t know what it is about our fore-parents, but Hashem really gives them a hard time about having kids. […]
Givers, Takers, and Salt Shakers — Vayeira — By Ben
Parshas Vayeira has plenty to talk about. From Avraham ditching God to do hospitality, to Avraham arguing with God about destroying Sodom and Gemorroah, and ending with possibly the most troubling […]
A Good Man Goes To War — Lech Lecha — By Ben
I’ve always had a reverence for parshas Lech Lecha. We have Avram prominently featured and with him, the real the start to the Jewish people. We have the famous commandment […]
#MeToo In the Time of Noach — By Barbara Heller
Me too. Me too. Me too. With the recent outpouring and revelation of personal trauma that has taken social media by storm, it is extraordinary to see how these instances of […]
Reward for Failure – Vayeishev
This week’s Torah portion, parsha Vayeishev, begins Joseph’s story. And it’s quite a story at that. There’s betrayal, seduction, a prison set piece, some dreams sequences, and (of course) mistaken identity. But the event […]
Pulp Fiction and Vayishlach
I know what you’re thinking. I’m going to go into Jules’s use of Ezekiel 25:17 as a speech before he “takes care of” his clients. Maybe go into how he dissects it […]
Vayeitzei – 12 Rocks and 70 Faces — By Ben
“There are 70 faces to the Torah” -Midrash As the Midrash is pointing out, there’s no one way to read the Torah. There’s gematria, Aggadata, the four levels of understanding, Rashi’s […]
Toldos – Not the Way it was Suppoed to Be –By Ben
In this week’s parsha, we have the infamous deception of Yitzchak by Yaakov for the coveted brucha. It’s a particularly troubling passage as it paints (without proper interpretation) our forefather in […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 