Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

When I was in elementary school, my teachers graded the students on a scale of zero to four. Roughly translated, these number grades corresponded to the standard letter grades: zero was an F, one was equivalent to a D, two was C, and a grade of three was the same as a B. However, a four did not necessarily imply the same grade, as did an A in other settings. At my elementary school, I only earned a four on an assessment if I demonstrated the capacity to apply the newly learned knowledge or skill beyond the initial setting of the lesson. Read more...

Among the several themes that wend their ways through the book of Genesis, one of the most obvious is infertility. Each of the matriarchs – yes, including Leah (Gen. 30:9) – experiences being unable to become pregnant for much of, or at least at some point during her life. In the ancient world, the inability to bear children was a terrible stigma for a woman; down to this day, the experience of infertility for those who wish to bear children and raise a family can be a source of great pain and even sometimes feelings of shame and failure.  Read more...

After the binding of Isaac, and throughout the events surrounding the death and burial of Sarah, his mother, Isaac disappears from the narrative. It is not clear if he came home with Abraham, and he is nowhere to be found in Abraham’s process of mourning and burying Sarah. Though we see Abraham sending his servant, Eliezer, back to Haran to find Isaac a wife from his own kin, we do not see any direct action from Isaac himself; Isaac seems to be absent, or at least silent. Read more...

Before God leveled the twin-sin-cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, God revealed the divine judgment to Abraham. Perhaps surprisingly for God, Abraham does not respond by meekly accept the decree. Quite the opposite, he instead initiates a lengthy debate on behalf of the doomed cities. Over and over he demands that God be absolutely sure that the innocent not be wiped out together with the guilty. In one of the most eloquent protests in history, Abraham cries out: “Will not the Judge of all the Earth act with Justice?!” (Gen. 18:25). Read more...

In one verse, this week’s Torah portion reminds us of the great significance the Jewish tradition places on names: “And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham for I make you the father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:5) Read more...