Parsha Meekaytz: Torah T’shuvah (Bless You!)

Happy Hanukah and welcome to my world of Torah ideas.  This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is always read on the Shabbat of Hanukah.  One aspect of Hanukah is about bringing light into the darkness, and the parsha, and Yoseph (Joseph) in particular, is all about waking people up from their darkness, so they can fix the things that they need to fix.  In the parlance of the tradition, Yoseph is all about doing tshuvah (literally an answer or to turn, … Continue reading

Parsha Vayishev: A Little of the Torah Barleycorn

Hello from the heart of darkness… Ok, maybe I am exaggerating, but we are coming into the darkest week of the year, the week of the new moon closest to the winter solstice.  And what do the children of Yisrael (Israel) do during the darkest week?  They light candles! Now perhaps I should have saved this intro for the shabbat that falls during the week of Hanukah, but I couldn’t resist using it here.  We’ll see how it fits into … Continue reading

Parsha Vayishlach: Fear is a Man

Winter is coming.  The days are getting short and cold and the nights, long and cold.   It is the perfect time to go inside and work on oneself and face one’s demons.  Funny I should say that because in the parsha (weekly Torah portion) we are reading this week, Yakov (Jacob) does just that.  Before I satisfy your curiosity, however, I am going to give you a recap of the events in the parsha. If you recall from the end … Continue reading

Parsha Vayetze: The Torah of Leah

The parsha (weekly Torah portion) for this week is about going out,  at least if you go by the name of the parsha. The name of a parsha comes from the first significant word of the parsha, which in this case is a form of the verb, “To go out.” Our parsha starts with Yakov (Jacob) going out from Be’er Sheva to Haran where his uncle lives.  On the way he has a dream of a ladder, with angels going … Continue reading