Parsha Vayishev: A Torah of Leadership

Happy Hanukah everyone, This shabbat, we read the parsha (Torah portion) called Vayishev which means, “And he sat,” as in, “And Yaakov (Jacob) sat in the land of the journeys of his father, in the land of Cnaan,” which is the first verse of the parsha. I tend to look at the usage of the word sitting, in the way English uses the word squatting.  Squatting means more than just sitting.  It also means to sit in a place in … 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