Weekly Torah Reading, Vayḥi, December 22, 1918
The Once and 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 …
Weekly Torah Reading,Va-yiggash December 15, 2018
After They’ve Seen Paree After Joseph revealed his true identity to him brothers, he sent them back to Canaan to tell their father Jacob the good news: his long-lost son Joseph was still alive and was, in fact, the …
Weekly Torah Reading, Mikketz, December 8, 2018
The Fear of God 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 predicted …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyeshev, December 1, 2018
The Assembly of Ladies A strange story circulated about one part of this week’s parashah, the story of Joseph’s encounter with Potiphar’s wife. According to the Torah, the wife of Potiphar (otherwise nameless), is obsessed with Joseph, the …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyishlaḥ, November 24, 2018
Ten Percent On the eve of his return to the land of Canaan, Jacob learned that his brother Esau, who had previously sworn to kill him, was now on his way to meet him—accompanied by 400 men! Naturally, Jacob was …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyetze, November 17, 2018
Keep on Climbing 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 reached to …
Weekly Torah Reading, Toledot, November 10, 2018
What a Difference an Aleph Makes! In this week’s Torah reading, Isaac is now dwelling in Beer Sheba, and the Philistine king, Abimelech, comes with his aides to meet him. Isaac and Abimelech have had rather frosty relations, so …
Weekly Torah Reading, Ḥayyei Sarah, November 3, 2018
Like Uncle, Like Nephew (Sort of) In this week’s portion, Abraham sends his (unnamed) servant to the city of Nahor to find a bride for his son Isaac. When the servant arrives, we are introduced to two important figures: …