Parashat Hashavua: The Visits in Beit El of Yaakov/Yisrael – part II

On Unity, Listening, and National Healing

On the Light of Hanuka and Israeli Independence

Are the Hanukah miracles of 2,000 years ago relevant to our generation? The answer is: Yes, more than ever before! Why is that? Let us begin the explanation at the beginning – from the first book of the Pentateuch...

Kingdom, Independence, and Chanuka

Fire on the Fire of Hatred

Yosef’s behavior in relation to his brothers raises many questions. In the first stage, we find that the brothers hated Yosef because of Yaakov’s preferential treatment. However, afterwards, the dreams that Yosef had, which demonstrated his expectation to have full leadership, and especially the fact that he shared these dreams with his brothers, just made things worse. Regarding the dreams, the matter happened in two stages – first, he told them that he had dreams; then, he specified their details (see Bereishit 37:3-8). Why did Yosef, who saw that his brothers already hated him due to the special cloak his father made for him, continue to do things that exacerbated the hatred?

The Ladder, Chanuka, and Israeli Independence

Are the miracles of Chanuka relevant in our generation? The answer is: more than ever. Let us start with this week’s parasha. Yosef’s sale into slavery, taking him from Eretz Yisrael to Egypt, could be described as the beginning of a period of exile – a long, painful path stemming from a loss of independence.

The Land of His Father’s Converts

It is well known that Avraham and Sarah converted many to monotheism, as the pasuk says: “the people he made in Charan” (Bereishit 12:5). The midrash (Bereishit Rabba 84:4) expands on this phenomenon regarding all the forefathers. It demonstrates that Yaakov was also heavily involved in it. Yaakov instructed those around him (“his household and all who were with him”) to remove the idols from their midst (Bereishit 35:2-4). They infer from the first pasuk of our parasha that Yitzchak was also involved in conversions: “Yaakov lived in eretz megurei aviv.” While as written, this means the land of his father’s inhabitation, they read it as the land of “giyurei aviv” (of his father’s conversions). So we see that conversion was something in which our patriarchs and at least one of our matriarchs invested much time and energy.

Fleeing in Vastly Different Directions

Big Dreams of Big People

What Type of Negligence?

The Dangers of Dominion

The Boiling Point

More on Free Will

The Road Back to Shechem

Parashat Vayeshev

Parashat Vayeshev

The Sun, the Moon ... and the King

Parashat Vayeshev

Parashat Vayeshev

Where Did the Troubles Start?

Parashat Vayeshev

Parashat Vayeshev