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Vayigash: What You Didn’t Know About Serach, Daughter of Asher
Aside from the foremothers, one of the most talked-about women in Sefer Bereishit is Serach Bat Asher. Even preschool students know her name and her story. But is there more to her than what first meets the eye? Serach’s most famous story, taking place during the events of this week’s parsha, is not mentioned directly…
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Emor: The Strength in Soft Speech
This week’s parsha is called Emor, from the early words of the portion ‘Emor el hakohanim,’ ‘Say to the priests.’ The parsha begins with an instruction to the priests of the nation. There is something very special about ‘amira,’ about ‘saying,’ that may have skipped our notice. If we think about it, how many times…
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Acharei-Mot: Counting Our Spiritual Growth
We are now in the time of Sefirat HaOmer, the 49-day count which takes us, step-by-step, from the physical liberty of Egypt to the spiritual freedom of Sinai. Rav Kurland brings down from the ‘Neot Hadesheh’ a great question. Ordinarily, we have a concept in Jewish law that we fulfil mitzvot through a condition called…
