Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyetze, November 25, 2017

Interpreting the Angels   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 …

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Weekly Torah Reading Toledot November 18, 2017

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 …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Ḥayyei Sarah, November 11, 2017

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: …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyera’, November 4, 2017

“Now I know”—“What? Didn’t You Know Before?”     Nowadays, this week’s Torah reading justly troubles a great many readers. It contains the famous account of God’s command to Abraham to kill his own son, sacrificing him like some animal …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Lekh-Lekha, October 28, 2017

Abraham’s Request   This week’s reading contains one particularly puzzling episode. After Abraham has arrived in Canaan, a famine strikes the land, and he and his wife Sarah are forced to travel down to Egypt in search of food. (Egypt, …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Noaḥ, October 21, 2017

The Drunken Tzaddik     Humanity, according to the Torah, got off to a bad start. First, Adam and Eve violated the one commandment that God gave them and were subsequently kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Then their …

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Weekly Torah Reading Bereshit October 14, 2017

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 …

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Weekly Torah Reading, October 7, 2017

The Shabbat of “Booths”   Sukkot is a somewhat puzzling festival. To start with, it’s not clear what the role of the sukkah was in the biblical celebration. True, the Torah does say (Lev 23:43) that the Israelites dwelled in …

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