This week’s parasha is entitled B’Shalach which means “In His Sending” it covers Exodus 13:17-17:16. Broken by the last and most terrible plague, Pharaoh finally submitted to the will of the Almighty, and let the Jewish people leave Egypt. Israel departed Egypt in an orderly way, and Moses took the bones of Joseph with […]

This week’s Parasha is titled Bo, which means “Go”.  It starts in Exodus 10 where the Lord tells Moses that He has further hardened Pharaoh’s already hard heart.  I believe this is the first time in this series of plagues that Adonai will make sure Pharaoh’s heart is hardened through plagues eight, nine, and ten. […]

What happens when we try to match wills with the Lord?  In this week’s parasha we see the great Pharaoh attempt to ignore and stop God’s Will and the total disaster that it brings.  Parasha Va’era translates to “And I Appeared” and covers Exodus 6:2 – 9:35. Parasha Va’era teaches us that no matter how […]

This week our parasha is Shemot meaning “names” and begins the book of Exodus.  Shemot is also the Hebrew title for the book.  It begins with the birth of Moses and takes us through chapter 6:1 where he has his first confrontation with Pharaoh.  In this parasha we will see the great commission the Lord gave to Moses […]

This week’s parasha is entitled Vayechi, meaning “And he lived.” It covers Genesis 47:28-50:26 and completes the first of the five books of Moses. Israel and his sons were now comfortably in Egypt, though due to the ongoing famine the Egyptians were impoverished in their own land. It is interesting to note that Joseph spent […]

This week’s parasha is Vayigash, which means “and he drew near” and covers Genesis 44:18-47:27.  Last week’s parasha told us of Joseph’s imprisonment, his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, his rise to second-in-command over Egypt, and the seven years of famine to come.  Joseph’s brothers had come to Egypt, searching for food to buy, and did […]

This week’s parasha is entitled, Miketz, which means, “at the end of.”  It covers Genesis 41:1-44:17. If you remember Rabbi Glenn’s commentary last week, we heard about Joseph and the life he lived as the favorite son of Jacob.  Joseph boasted about his special status by telling his family, including his 10 brothers, about dreams […]

This Shabbat’s parasha, Vayeshev, means, ‘and he dwelt’. Jacob is again living in Canaan. Our attention turns to Joseph, Rachel’s first-born, who is now 17 years-old. Rachel had been Jacob’s favored wife. Now that she was gone, it’s no surprise that Jacob lavishes his affections and attention on Joseph, their son together. But this favoritism […]

Wrestling Things Through The parasha for this Shabbat is entitled Vayishlach, which means “and he sent”. Jacob is returning from Aram (Syria) to the land of Canaan, and there is this little unresolved matter – something about his brother Esau wanting to kill him. They say ‘time heals all wounds’, but Jacob wasn’t about to take […]

The name of this week’s Parasha is Vayetzei, which means “and he went out” and covers Genesis 28:10-32:3.  During Jacob’s journey, he had a dream one night of seeing a ladder from Earth to Heaven and God’s angels going up and down the ladder, with God Himself above the ladder.  God reaffirmed to Jacob the […]