Rivkah found out that Esav was planning to kill Yaakov, so she sent him away. What did she hear and how? And what lesson does that contain for us?

Gen. 27:41-42 with commentators, Guide 1:65, Pesachim 54b.

This week, I will share a wonderful surprise with you. That is, according to the Rambam, Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, made a mistake. He was right that God runs the world. But he misunderstood how we, as God’s independent creations, need to act in that world. In fact, Eliezer was like a gambler, who flips a coin and wins big. The outcome doesn’t prove his method was wise, only that he was lucky.

And that contains a central lesson for us, for how we think of Jewish faith in God, and for how we make our decisions.

Avimelech says he's righteous, Avraham says he's not. God seems to agree with both of them (this is Judaism, after all). So which is it and what should we learn from this moral conundrum?

Pictured: Jan de Herdt, 'Abraham and Abimelech'.

“I will bless those who bless you.” What does that really mean — and why did Avraham need to hear it? Find out in this week’s episode of Unperplexed.

Pictured: Yoram Raanan: Lech Lecha - Biblical print

When God decided to destroy the generation of the flood, He did not warn them; He kept it to Himself, so to speak. But the Torah teaches us of His silence and we learn an essential lesson for our own lives from it.

The very first in the Torah is a real doozy and the Sages seem to almost willfully misread it. Yet, we can defend their interpretation. In fact, we will learn an important lesson from it.

Introducing 'Unperplexed: Parsha Lessons from Maimonides's Guide of the Perplexed.'

Unperplexed explores the weekly Torah portion through the lens of Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed — one of the most challenging and profound works in Jewish thought.

Each week, Rabbi Sprung uncovers how the Rambam’s deepest philosophical ideas illuminate the Torah’s timeless moral and spiritual questions, revealing wisdom for how we think, act, and live every single day.

Join us as we bring reason and revelation together, one Parsha at a time.

First we listen, then we speak. After special days of reflection and repentance, we are ready to offer more refined and defined prayers.

And all the nations will say, Why did God act this way to this land? Why is this great anger so strong? Unkelos's translation and explanation of the verses that follow give us a powerful insight into the connection between fantasy and suffering.

In this parsha we consider a great blessing and question. How do we leave the world as purely as we entered it?