Breishit

Yehuda = Honesty, Nobility and Responsibility The inner strength of Yehuda during stressful times got him very far. Many of us know that the HolyTemplein Jerusalemwas situated in the portions of Yehuda and Binyamin. The reason for the Templebeing located in Binyamin’s lot was for something he did not do. All the tribes, excluding Binyamin,…

KEEP DREAMING One of the greatest gifts G-d bestowed on mankind is the ability to dream and imagine. Imagination is a tool that – when properly utilized – can transform the present into the future, helping us move from pain to pleasure, from confinement to liberty.  It can trigger in us both the ambition and…

   UNDERSTANDING DESTINY AND FREE WILL The well-known mishnah in Pirkei Avot tells us that “everything is foretold” (3:19).  In a similar vein, the equally well-known piyut, Yigdal, reminds us that G-d “sees to the end of an action from its outset.” Furthermore, we know that the events of the present are pre-ordained on Rosh…

PROBLEMATIC PERSUASION After Shechem raped Yaakov’s daughter, Dina, something very strange happened. He spoke to the heart of the girl (Bereishit 34:3). Rashi informs us that he persuaded her by saying: See how your father spent an enormous sum of money for a small plot of land. I will marry you, and you will own…

              TRUE LOVE We find a perplexing passuk with regard to Yaakov’s love for Rachel. In describing the seven years Yaakov was forced to wait before he could marry Rachel, the Torah tells us: He felt that they were like just a few days due to his love for…