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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Vayeshev
Chazal say her name was Zulaicha. Her husband
Potifar, who bought Yosef from the Ishamelites,
was a eunuch (perhaps castrated by the angel
Michael when he cast his eyes on the handsome
Yosef). Zulaicha lusted for Yosef & waited until
an Egyptian holiday took everyone out of the
house, so that the two of them were alone. Yosef
wavers (note the back-and-forth shalshelet trop
note on the word "va’y’maen, and he refused.").
At the last moment, Yosef has a vision of father
Yakov who warns Yosef that his name will be
missing from the stones of the breastplate if he
succumbs to Zulaicha’s advances. He flees,
leaving his "beged, clothes" behind (note "beged"
can also mean "ba-gad, betrayal"). Yosef is then
thrown into prison rather than executed (Potifar
suspects his wife’s claim of rape is false). By
tradition, Zulaicha was the adopted mother of
Osnat, who would later marry Yosef, & so she
sensed that she and Yosef had some connection, but misread the "fine print."
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Israel and the Nations A Few Minutes & Many Innovative Ideas on Antisemitism & What to do About It
As we approach the High Holidays, this short lecture (18 minutes) deals with the unfortunate situation of how Israel and the Jewish People stand against antisemitism, analyzing its cause according to Rav Kook, and how to deal with the issue pragmatically & via our prayers.
Ha'azinu PURSUIT is PERFECTION
p. Ha'azinu, Shabbat Shuva
Rav Kook deals with the question of the seemingly hopeless nature of Tshuva. For G-d Himself knows that He created us with free will, which inevitably means we will sometimes make mistakes and choose wrong. This can easily be frustrating, freezing us into inaction and ye'ush (loss of hope). If one sins even once, does he chalila have no choice but suicide?! Moreover, our Godly conscience demands justice, righteousness and perfection, but we all know this is impossible, so what's the solution? Rav Kook's innovative thinking, strongly based on chazal (our sages), offers an inciteful and important aspect to this topic, especially this time of year!
Sukkot Bug-Free Sukkah: Essential Halachic and Practical Schach Guide
How to inspect, clean, and store bamboo mats and palm branches to protect your mitzvah and holiday meals.
