Weekly Torah Reading, Va’era, January 28, 2017
“Can I Get that in Writing?” 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 text uses God’s special name, written with …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayḥi, January 14, 2017
His Father’s Countenance In this week’s reading, Jacob, near death, assembles his sons to give them his final words. These are commonly known as “Jacob’s blessings,” but in fact Jacob has some harsh things to say to some of …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyiggash, January 7, 2017
The Wagons Tell the Tale 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 …
Weekly Torah Reading, Shabbat Hanukkah/Mikketz, December 31, 2016
Down with Repetition! Sometimes the Bible doesn’t seem to like exact repetition. In this week’s reading, for example, the Torah starts by relating Pharaoh’s dream: Seven cows, “well favored in appearance and plump-skinned,” come up from the Nile to …
Weekly Torah Reading: Vayyeshev, December 24, 2016
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 handsome …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyishlaḥ, December 17, 2016
Dinah’s Story The story of Dinah (Genesis chapter 34) starts badly enough: Jacob’s only daughter is seized and raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor. (Hamor is the ruler of a city that, perhaps not coincidentally, bears the same …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyetze, December 10, 2016
Interpreting a Dream 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 December 3, 2016
That Damned Oath! The Torah was originally transmitted without the little dots and dashes that now accompany the printed text. Those dots and dashes were created by the Masoretes, a group of medieval text scholars renowned for their attention …