Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyishlaḥ, November 28, 2015
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, November 21, 2015
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 the …
Weekly Torah Reading Toledot November 14, 2015
A Common Message The three encounters between Jacob and Esau in this week’s reading seem to contain a common message. The first time the twins “meet” is in their mother’s womb. They pressed hard against each other, so hard …
Weekly Torah Reading, Ḥayyei Sarah, November 7, 2015
A Materialistic Uncle 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: Rebekah—who, as Isaac’s wife, …
Weekly Torah Reading Vayyera’ October 31, 2015
“Now I know” and Divine Omniscience When his wife Sarah at last gave birth to a son, Abraham was overjoyed. He cherished the boy above all things and marked the day of Isaac’s weaning with a special celebration. No …
Weekly Torah Reading, Lekh-Lekha, October 24, 2015
The Amazing Melchizedek When Abraham (technically, still “Abram”) learned that his nephew Lot had been taken prisoner by an army invading Canaan, he did not hesitate to act. “He led forth his trained men, 318 of them, born in …
Weekly Torah Reading Noaḥ October 17, 2015
Mysteries of Babel This week’s Torah reading ends with the brief story of the Tower of Babel, one of the most puzzling stories in the book of Genesis. According to the text, the ragtag band of humanity (apparently all …
Weekly Torah Reading Bereshit October 10, 2015
Childbirth and the Creation of Eve; also, Eve Was No “Helpmate” According to Leviticus chapter 12, if a woman gives birth to a male baby, she remains in a state of ritual impurity (tum’ah) for seven days. But if …