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What Is the Purpose of the Oral Torah?
If one asked how many torot there are you would expect the answer to be one. However, we are taught by Chazal that Moshe Rabbeinu received both the written and the oral law, torah she’bichtav and torah she’be’al peh respectively, at Har Sinai beginning in Parashat Yitro. Often when we say “torah” our immediate thought…
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The Multifaceted Personality of Rivka Imeinu
Rivka Imeinu, the second of our four matriarchs could be described as the ‘sandwich matriarch’. Unlike Sarah who together with Avraham sets the foundation for the birth of the Jewish people, and Rachel with her and Yaakov’s love story and the legacy of being the mother in whose zchut the geula will come, Rivka’s life…
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Toldot: Delving into Yitzchak’s and Rivka’s Marriage
Through the pesukim of the parsha, an image of Yitzchak and Rivka’s marriage emerges. An image which differs greatly from the marriages of the other Avot. Their opposite natures and that of their children presents itself as two different stories for Yitzchak and Rivka. Here, we will explore their marriage and the traits it was…
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Fulfillment vs Motherhood: Should Women Pursue Any Kind of Career?
Sometimes, we are tempted to enter a field because it is just the typical, easy route to go, even if the work is not meaningful to us. I looked around at my friends and family, so many talented young women who pursued jobs meaningful to them. Here are three working women who each chose a…
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Gluckel of Hamelin: Writing as a Form of Prayer
If you were to step into your local Jewish bookstore on any given day, you’d be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of published memoirs on the shelves. But a few hundred years ago, that was unheard of. And a published memoir of a woman no less? A true rarity. Gluckel bat Leyb, born in Hamburg,…
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Chayei Sarah: Understanding the Essence of Mearat HaMachpela
I have special memories of davening in Kever Machpela, the holy burial site of our Avot and Imahot during my seminary year. I remember beginning my shemonei esrei and the words “elokei Avraham, elokei Yitzchak v’elokei Yaakov” had never felt more real to me. As we read in the parsha about Sarah’s passing and Avraham’s…
