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Helena: Queen, Convert and Pioneer
We’ve all been there. We’ve all dreamed of pink sashaying gowns, dazzling tiaras, and glistening jewelry. We’ve all closed our eyes at one point in our lives and imagined hordes of servants at our beck and call. Of lavish banquets and imposing stairwells. Thrones and treasure rooms and fragrant flower gardens with glistening fountains. Maybe…
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Leah: The True Value of Gratitude
Every Jewish schoolchild knows that the very first word out of our mouths each morning is “Modeh ani.” Rav Shimshon Pincus z”l once opened a class on tefillah with the question: Why is it that we say “Modeh ani” (Grateful am I) and not “Ani modeh” (I am grateful)? And he answered: Because first, we…
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Vayeitzei: Why Is Rachel’s Silence Praised?
In Parshat Vayetzei, we are about to witness the marriage of Yaakov, the ish tam to his bashert Rachel, the righteous younger daughter of Lavan. We see up close Lavan’s manipulative behavior and trickery, Yaakov and Rachel’s attempt to thwart it and ultimately, Rachel’s eternal sacrifice for her sister as she gives up being the…
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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…
