Jan
5
January, 5th 2024
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
Two weeks ago, reflecting on Yehuda’s vigorous defense of his brother Binyamin when it seemed that he was about to be enslaved in Egypt, I wrote about Yehuda’s sense of…
Dec
29
December, 29th 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
Many of us bless our children each Friday night with the traditional ישמך אלוקים כאפרים וכמנשה, the words which Yaakov used to bless his grandsons and which he…
Dec
21
December, 21st 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
Parashat Vayigash begins with a continuation of the conversation between Yehuda and Yosef after Yosef’s chalice had been found in Binyamin’s saddlebag. Yehuda…
Dec
15
December, 15th 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
During the coming weeks we will read the last three parshiyot of Sefer Breishit which conclude the Torah’s account of the lives of our patriarchs and matriarchs. Many…
Dec
7
December, 7th 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
When Jews light Chanukah candles following the almost universally accepted pattern they are, knowingly or not, not only performing a Mitzvah but are also engaged in…
Dec
1
December, 1st 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
How many candles should each of us light this coming Thursday evening, the first night of Chanukah? The answer, of course, is based on the famous dispute between Beit…
Nov
17
November, 17th 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
I have always been puzzled by the account of the relationship between Yitzchak and his sons as it is depicted in Parashat Toldot. How could Yitzchak Avinu, a person…
Nov
9
November, 9th 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
Why did Avraham Avinu decide to send Eliezer back to the Old Country to choose a wife for Yitzchak? Yes, we know that Avraham adamantly refused to allow his son to…
Nov
3
November, 3rd 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
As every Jewish child learns in his/her first years of school, Avraham Avinu was the paradigm of Chessed. How did Avraham who, came to knowledge of God on his own also…
Oct
27
October, 27th 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community:
The Torah seems to be unusually preoccupied with Avraham's age in our Parasha and in the many Midrashim which comment upon it. We are told in the text that Avraham…
