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Vayeira: Our Salvation Is Born from the Impossible
Sara, the wife of Avraham, is known to us as ‘Sara Imeinu,’ Sara, our mother. Sara’s primary identity is not only as the mother of Yitzchak, but the mother of the whole Jewish nation. Interestingly, Sara only became a mother at the age of 90 and she passed away at 127. For most of her…
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Lech Lecha: The Significance of a Name Change
In lashon hakodesh, a name is not merely a label, but a reflection of one’s inner essence. Indeed, Rav Paysach Krohn points out that embedded in the word neshama is shem, meaning name. A name is truly the soul of a matter. In Parshat Lech Lecha, Hashem changes the names of Sarai and Avram to…
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Who was Naama, the wife of Noach?
There is a Midrash1 which takes each line of Eishet Chayil – King Solomon’s beautiful alphabetical poem about the Jewish woman – and aligns it with different righteous women throughout Tanach. This includes the Imahot, Yocheved, mother of Moshe and Chana, mother of Shmuel. Contained inside this Midrash is the name of Noach’s wife: Na’ama.…
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Bereshit: Chava, Uncovering Women’s True Essence
Bereishit is all about beginnings, foundations, conception. The first day on earth, the first person, the first relationship – it all starts here. Certainly in this parsha too we can find the blueprint of who we are. Chava’s soul is the root of ours, her feminine energy is the source of ours and her nature…
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Vayechi: Knowing the Strengths of Our Children
Yaakov Avinu, the esteemed father of the Shivtei Kah, gives each of his twelve sons final words of blessing and guidance in this week’s parsha. It is powerful to learn through the pesukim and view Yaakov’s vision of the potential of each of his children. Yaakov did not merely bless them as a group, as…
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Vayigash: A Tzaddik’s Approach to Expressing Emotions
One of the most poignant scenes in Tanach is described in this week’s parsha. The two sons of the adored Rachel, close brothers separated for 22 years, reunite and cry on each other’s shoulders. On the surface, this is a beautiful expression of long pent-up emotion, the relief to see each other, the pain over…
