Torah speaks to our character, our behaviors, our knowledge, to the things that lift us up and make us up. It comes to harmonize society and make our lives and minds pure and good. It is anything but impersonal, anything but abstract, anything but distant.

We actively care for our parents, much as they once cared for us when we were small.

But how do we know that all of that is necessary? Maybe we just need to be nice to our parents and we can leave it there. Or at least, that’s what the Sages thought.

Somehow, like the new parent who gets annoyed when their new baby cries for too long, we forget that we are experiencing a miracle, we forget the true and deeper nature of things, the truth that should be more obvious. So who won the battle against Amalek?

Listen to the Parsha Pick-Me-Up to learn more.

How did the Israelites win over their former masters? Is such a thing even possible? It seems so. Take five minutes to study a fabulous answer to this question proffered by Rabbi Sacks in his commentary to the Chumash.

Why in the world did Hashem promise the forefathers the land of Israel if He had no intention of eventually giving it to them?

Well, it’s something we live with every day.

Take five minutes to listen to the Parsha Pick-Me-Up to learn more.

Here is a simple question: how long did the conversation between God and Moshe take? Was it an hour? Two?

Somehow, we seem to miss the real number. And, along with it, one of the central lessons of the episode.

There’s a lot to learn from how people phrase things. Sometimes, they don’t want to talk about themselves directly. What are they avoiding? What are they trying to say?

In our case, Yaakov Avinu uses circumventive phrasing to teach an essential lesson.

Some things are worth dying for. Knowing what they are can define us.

You need to have the right dirt.

As is well known, Joseph advised Pharoah to take food from the seven years of plenty and store it away for the years of famine. Pharaoh, in turn, appointed Joseph to oversee this process. As we shall see, in order to do this, Joseph determined that you need the right dirt. And so do we.

Where did Yaakov live? Well, in the land of Canaan of course. But listen to the verse, because there is a phrase in it that does not belong. Of course, it contains a beautiful lesson for us about how to live.