Weekly Torah Reading, Va’era, January 9, 2016
“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 the …
Weekly Torah Reading Shemot January 2, 2016
A Firstborn Son God first appeared to Moses at the burning bush on Mount Horeb, in Midian, where Moses had been shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks. God instructed Moses to go back to Egypt and demand that Pharaoh free the enslaved …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayḥi, December 26, 2015
Jacob Blesses/Curses His Sons Toward the end of his life, Jacob assembled his sons and gave each his paternal blessing. But the first three of his sons seem to have gotten more of a curse than a blessing: Jacob …
Weekly Torah Reading Vayyiggash January 19, 2015
The Wagons Tell All 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 …
Weekly Torah Reading, Mi-ketz, December 12, 2015
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 5, 2015
The Other Story This week’s reading is largely taken up with the early life of Joseph—an inspiring story of hope’s triumph over repeated hardships, as Joseph is despised by his older brothers, sold as a slave down to Egypt, …
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 …