Category: Parsha
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Two “New Pharaohs” There are two “new Pharaohs” in Parshat Shemot. The first is obvious: a new king rises who “doesn’t know Yosef,” and the darkness begins. But the second is quieter: Pharaoh dies… and the slavery still doesn’t loosen its grip. Bnei Yisrael cry out again, and this time Hashem “hears,” “remembers,” and redemption…
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Parshat Vayechi opens with Yaakov Avinu doing something deeply personal. Before he dies, he gathers his sons and gives each one a different bracha. Not because he loved some more than others, but because he knew each one. He saw their nature, their struggles, and what each one would need to fulfill his unique mission.…
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When I was growing up, my family and my out-of-town cousins would always spend Pesach and the Seder at my grandparents’ home. It was tradition, but it was more than that. One house. One table. One shared world of jokes and songs that belonged to all of us. We looked forward to it all year.…
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Yaakov hears the impossible: Yosef is alive. Not only alive, but ruler of Mitzrayim. If we were there, we’d ask one question immediately: How? Who did this? What happened to my son? But the Rashbam points out something shocking: the brothers never told Yaakov how Yosef ended up in Mitzrayim, and Yaakov doesn’t force it…
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Why Geulah Is Hard to Believe — Until It Isn’t At every moment of redemption in Jewish history, the pattern is strikingly consistent: first disbelief, and only afterward recognition. Not because the facts are unclear, but because the heart cannot absorb hope so quickly. When Yosef’s brothers returned and told Yaakov the impossible — that…
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In Parshat Miketz, Yosef tests his brothers one final time. He sends them home with food and secretly places his silver goblet in Binyamin’s bag. When the goblet is discovered, everything collapses. From Yehuda’s perspective, this is the end. Binyamin is about to be taken, his promise to Yaakov is broken, and there is no…
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Vayeshev opens like a world falling apart. A boy torn from his father. A pit. A sale. A shattered family. A righteous soul imprisoned. It looks like collapse. But the Midrash reveals the opposite: “Everything that happened to Yosef happened to Tzion.” Yosef’s descent isn’t random pain — it’s the pattern of every exile we’ve…
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When we look at Yosef’s life in Parshat Vayeshev, he almost seems superhuman. Sold by his own brothers. Taken to a foreign country. Forced into slavery. Thrown into prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Anyone else would collapse under the weight of it all. Yet Yosef stays steady. The Torah doesn’t describe anger, despair,…
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Yaakov Avinu is finally returning home… Yaakov Avinu is finally returning home after twenty years in Lavan’s house. He has a family, wealth, and—most importantly—a clear promise from Hashem that He will protect him and bring him safely back to Eretz Yisrael. And then, just before the reunion with Esav, the Torah describes him with…
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Yaakov and Eisav enter the world together… Yaakov and Eisav enter the world together, yet their lives grow in opposite directions. Yaakov sees the spiritual as a way to serve Hashem. Eisav sees the physical as the goal itself. When they meet, Eisav says, “Yesh li Rav” — I have a lot, but “a lot”…
