The Parasha with Rabbi Dweck

Pharaoh admits he is wrong. He admits he has sinned.
And yet—nothing changes.

Why?
Because when truth threatens the structure of your life, people rarely surrender. They bargain.
They accept reality on their terms, in pieces, with conditions.

This parashah exposes a pattern that lives in all of us:
the moment when truth becomes too expensive—and we try to negotiate with it.

Pharaoh is God's focus here. Moses is reminded of why he has been asked to do this entire campaign in the first place, and is consistently told by God to "Go to Pharaoh". Pharaoh is put on trial by an onslaught of plagues. And by the 7th he reaches a pivotal change....

Moses is born and sent by God to liberate the Children of Israel from Egypt. But he pushes back, resists, and feels that his mission is a failure by the end of the parasha. What do we learn from this early episode of Moses' epic leadership about freedom, hope and the Jewish people?

At the close of Genesis, Jacob blesses his children. Two blessings that stand out in their positive predictions are those of Judah and Joseph. 

In this episode we examine the developed aspects of these progenitors amongst the Jewish people, and how they have faired and are fairing in the world. We look at the core of Jewish identity and what aspects are essential to it. 

What place do they hold within you?

Judah shines in this parasha. He has gone through a great deal of strife and suffering in his life thus far, but he has had a reckoning with himself and has made a huge change in his life. He has found his full identity and owned it. Allowing him to courageously protect his youngest brother, his father, all of his other siblings and prepare a foundation and scaffolding for the development of the Children of Israel into the future.

In this episode we examine these events, their ramifications and implications on our own lives.

Joseph becomes viceroy of Egypt and puts his brothers through a harrowing ordeal. He insists that they bring Benjamin down to Egypt which causes their father great strife. But Judah is going through his own strife, growth and change. He steps up to guarantee that he will bring Benjamin back to Jacob and that he will be personally responsible for him. By the end of the parasha, he is challenged to do exactly that.

In this episode we focus on Judah, his growth, and what we might learn from him in terms of our own growth and healing.

What happens when a family breaks? Where does the jealousy, animosity and hatred come from? We examine the dynamics and find that there is one issue underlying it all.

In this video we look at the Children of Israel - the origins of the Jewish people and the dysfunction of their family. It is filled with jealousy, hatred and violence - all amongst kin. What is happening here and why? We consider what it means for us as human beings and as Jews.

Jacob finds himself alone and in a precarious position while he anticipates meeting his twin brother after 20 years. Esav is on his way towards him with 400 men and there is no indication that it is friendly. Jacob prepares through prayer and pragmatism, but must experience a powerful struggle which will determine how the fateful meeting will unfold. In this episode we examine the struggle and what we can draw from it about being Jewish in the world.

Laban is the maternal grandfather of the Jewish people. And yet, he is one of the more unsavoury characters in the Torah. Who was he? What did he care about? How did he influence the Jewish family and what might it mean for us today?

Esav and Yaakob are twins who, with all of their differences have striking similarities. The differences between them can be subtle. But they are significant because they define us as a nation. In this episode we discuss the relationship Yaakob and Esav have with time. And how that has direct implications on how we as Jews, see the world and live every day.

Link to Podcast mentioned in this episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6eVvopDpwg42TxiUMXKPVi?si=rM6ZcVZyQcC260Awdmwsrw