Weekly Torah Reading, Va’era, January 17, 2026
“Alas for Those Who Have Passed Away” The first two verses of this week’s reading have long posed a problem for interpreters. God says to Moses, “I am the Lord.” (Here the Torah uses God’s holiest name, the one …
Weekly Torah Reading, Shemot, January 10, 2026
Moses It must have seemed the oddest sort of question. Thinking back to all he’d left behind— Nurses, scurrying handmaids, daily rounds of private lessons, even his fumbling wish to “meet my people” had been spoken in …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayḥi, January 3, 2026
The Future Scepter At the end of his life, Jacob gathered his sons together in order to give each of them his fatherly blessing. But in fact, his three oldest sons didn’t end up being blessed at all; what …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyiggash, December 27, 2025
Convincing Proof When Jacob’s sons returned to Canaan to tell their father the good news—that his long-lost son Joseph was still alive—at first he didn’t believe them. Why should he? If what they were saying now was true, then …
Weekly Torah Reading, Mikketz, December 20, 2025
To Fear God—or the Lord? Joseph’s abilities as a dream interpreter eventually landed him a job as a high Egyptian official in charge of grain supplies. Meanwhile his family in Canaan had begun to feel the effects of the …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyeshev, December 13, 2025
His Father’s Face In this week’s reading, it is said that Jacob “loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was the son of his old age” (Gen 37:3). This sounds like a mistake: if the phrase …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyishlaḥ, December 6, 2025
Ten Percent On the eve of his return to the land of Canaan, Jacob learned that his brother Esau, who had previously vowed to kill him, was now on his way to meet him—accompanied by 400 men! Naturally, …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyetze, November 29, 2025
Tough Times in Zion Jacob left Beer-sheba bound for Haran. Stopping for the night at a certain place, he fell asleep and had a strange dream. “And behold, a ladder was set in the ground, and its top …