Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

You can tell that Joseph loves every minute of it. He does not simply identify himself to his brothers. He drags out the process, first making them go back to get Benjamin, then treating them to a feast and free rations to take home, only to plant his silver goblet in Benjamin's bag so as to make them think that he had caught him stealing. He instructs his servant to overtake them, find the goblet, and then storm: "Why did you repay good with evil?...It was a wicked thing for you to do!" (Genesis 44:4-5). Read more...

Hannukah, unlike many other Jewish holidays, is pretty much a one-pony show. There is no Seder, no required festive meal, and no forbidden activities (melakhot). Along with a handful of liturgical additions - the primary ritual of Hannukah is lighting the candles. Read more...

Prof. Nechama Leibovitz's voice roared across the room and I shrank into my seat. It was a study seminar that Gesher (an Israeli organization that focused on bridging and binding together Jews of all lifestyles in Israel) was holding in Tzfat in the late Seventies. I was one of a dozen and a half Israeli teens that were blessed to learn Nechama's method of biblical commentary with Nechama herself. Yes, everyone called her "Nechama", even when speaking directly to her! Read more...

Angels, it seems, are everywhere. From contemporary popular culture (TV's Saving Grace with its beer chugging angel Earl) to the classic Christmas movie Its a Wonderful Life with its slightly shlemiel-like angel Clarence. In the literary world Anne Rice's new series of books is called Songs of the Seraphim and Tony Kushner's Angels in America was played out on both stage and screen. Read more...

My son Sammy is in second grade. For the last few weeks, Sammy has come home from school on Friday with a detailed description of how certain sensory organs work, mechanically. Our Shabbat table now includes a review of body parts and then a wonder-filled conversation about the amazing human body. Is it not miraculous, even with a scientific understanding that our ears transform sound waves into neurological stimuli with which we are then able to act or react to what is sensed externally? Read more...