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Jan 17, 2025, 1:30 AM

Shemot: Presence in Absentia

Photo by Diego PH via Unsplash

We are greeted by familiar faces in the opening verses of Shemot – Ya’akov is mentioned, as are his sons; we are told that Yosef has died, and that a new Pharaoh has arisen, one who does not know...

Jan 16, 2025, 11:11 PM

Who Am I? (Shemot, Covenant & Conversation)

Moses’ second question to God at the Burning Bush was, 'Who are You?'. He asks God in the following way: “So I will go to the Israelites and say, ‘Your fathers’ God sent me to you.’ They will immediately ask...

Jan 15, 2025, 9:23 PM

What Rabbi Sacks might have said about the prospective Gaza deal

The Torah is "our life and the length of our days" (Deut 30:20). Therefore, we repeatedly find that the weekly Torah reading guides us on topical issues of the moment. This week's prospective Gaza deal - to secure release of...

Jan 10, 2025, 12:35 AM

The Last Tears (Vayechi, Covenant & Conversation)

At almost every stage of fraught encounter between Joseph and his family in Egypt, Joseph weeps. There are seven scenes of tears: 1. When the brothers came before him in Egypt for the first time, they said to one another: “Surely...

Jan 3, 2025, 5:00 PM

Vayigash: The Clarity of Vulnerability

Joseph se fait reconnaître par ses frères by Joseph-Fortuné-Séraphin Layraud (1863)

Vayigash is filled with emotion from the outset. Yehudah pleads with the disguised Yosef out of fear for his brother and his father. Ya’akov’s heart grows numb in disbelief when he learns that Rachel’s eldest son is alive. Yosef...

Jan 3, 2025, 12:56 PM

Three Steps for Mankind (Vayigash, Covenant & Conversation)

In his introduction to the Rabbinical Council of America’s version of the ArtScroll Siddur, Rabbi Saul Berman has a lovely essay on the opening word of today’s Parsha, vayigash, “And he drew close.” Because the work is not widely available...

Jan 1, 2025, 6:26 AM

When Sirens Wail: A Journey of Faith, Resilience, and Leadership

Jerusalem, It’s 2:13 a.m. on Shabbat morning. The wail of a siren shatters the tranquillity of the night—a warning of a potential rocket attack from Yemen, fired by the Houthis. I sit up; I need to make a wee...

Dec 29, 2024, 12:24 PM

The Author of Our Lives (Mikketz, Covenant & Conversation)

It was Joseph’s first real attempt to take his fate into his own hands, and it failed. Or so it seemed. Consider the story so far, as set out in last week’s Parsha. Almost everything that happens in Joseph’s life...

Dec 20, 2024, 5:48 PM

What is the theme of the stories of Genesis? (Vayeshev)

One of the most fundamental questions about the Torah turns out to be one of the hardest to answer. What, from God’s calling to Abraham in Genesis 12 to the death of Joseph in Genesis 50, is the basic religious principle being...

Dec 12, 2024, 9:42 PM

The Jewish Journey (Vayishlach, Covenant & Conversation)

Why is Jacob the father of our people, the hero of our faith? We are “the congregation of Jacob”, “the children of Israel.” Yet it was Abraham who began the Jewish journey, Isaac who was willing to be sacrificed,...

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