The Torah reading for this week is entitled Vayechi, meaning “And he lived”, referring to Joseph, and completes the book of B’reysheet. Last Shabbat we contemplated Jacob’s joyful reunion with his son Joseph, who for all those years he had thought to be dead. On account of the ongoing famine, Jacob and his entire family […]

The name of this week’s parasha is Vayigash, meaning “and he drew near”, and covers Genesis 44:18-47:27. The story of Joseph’s brothers standing before him during their second journey to Egypt is continued in this parasha, which begins with Judah’s plea – asking to take Benjamin’s place as Joseph’s slave, since he had guaranteed Benjamin’s […]

The Parasha for this week’s Sabbath is entitled Miketz which means “At the end” it covers Genesis chapters 41:1-44:17. Today we will focus on why Joseph was forgotten and how it led him from the prison to the palace as well as how God used Pharaoh to elevate him to be the prime minister of […]

This week our parasha is Va’yeishev which means “And He Settled”, and covers Genesis 37:1-40:23.  Parasha Va’yeishev covers the beginning of the life of Joseph and the reality of sins ability to appear in one generation and then the next as an unbroken destructive cycle. Chapter 37 introduces us to Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son, who […]

This week’s Torah portion is called VaYetzei, which means “and he went out.”  It covers Genesis, Chapter 28:10 – 32:3. As our parasha passage opens this week, we find Jacob departing from his home in Beersheba and heading to Haran, his ancestral homeland.  He ends up spending the night in an open area where he sees a vision of […]

Our parasha for this week is Toldot, which means “generations” and covers Genesis 25:19-28:9.  In this parasha we see the destruction playing favorites brings and the dangers of being too clever for our own good. We pick up in Genesis 25 with the birth of Jacob and Esau to Isaac and Rebekah.  Before they were […]

This week’s parasha is entitled Chayei Sarah, meaning “The Life of Sarah” and covers Genesis 23:1-25:18.  In this parasha we see God’s plan to continue His promises through Abraham’s son Isaac, and a teaching for us on what it means to be servants of the Lord. As our parasha opens, immediately we are confronted with […]

The name of this Shabbat’s parasha is Vayera, meaning “and he appeared”, and covers Genesis 18:1-22:24. Abraham saw God and two angels (in human form) near his tent and invited them in, offering them food and water. Adonai promised to return the same time the following year, and Sarah will give birth to a son! […]

The parasha for this week’s Sabbath is entitled Lech L’Cha which means “go forth yourself.”  It covers Genesis Chapters 12:1- 17:27. In the previous chapters, we were provided with events that had taken place up until the time of Abram. From Chapter 12 on, Abram and his seed are almost entirely the only subjects of […]

This week’s Parasha starts out with God saying these words: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation.  Noah walked with God and had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” This was the time before Moses had given the law, so Noah does not have the standard of what would be righteous on his […]