Articles in Parsha Insights
Why Ten Plagues?
This week we are introduced to the ten plagues. Seven plagues appear in our Torah portion and the last three appear in next week’s Torah portion. Have you ever noticed that there are ten plagues, ten commandments, and G-d Created the world with ten utterances? What is the common link?
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The Uniquely Jewish Cry
Is there a uniquely Jewish cry or do Jews cry like everyone else? On the surface, the Jewish cry is no different than the non-Jewish cry. But the Torah seems to say different. There is a uniquely Jewish cry.
When Batya, Pharoh’s daughter, was bathing in the Nile River, she noticed …
The First Diaspora Jew
This week we are introduced to the diaspora Jew. Until this point, the Torah was concerned with holy people who lived in holy places (except for Abraham who lived for a while in Mesopotamia). We read about Joseph’s sale to Egypt several weeks ago, but that is not a true …
Come Down
Today, I want to talk to you the time Joseph instructed his father to, “Come down to me.”
Joseph was viceroy of Egypt—the only country with food in a region otherwise plagued by famine. Joseph’s brothers came to procure food for their families, and Joseph tangled with them. After several days, …
G-d Is In Our Corner
Sometimes it is hard to feel that G-d is in our corner. It feels as if Murphy’s Law is G-d’s Law. Everything that could go wrong, does, and G-d does nothing to save the day. The baby is ill, the roof is leaking, the coffee maker is on the blink, …
Beware the Hypocrite
On his deathbed, King Yanai warned his wife Shelomtziyon to beware of the hypocrite. Fear not the Pharisee, though I have waged war against them all my life. Fear not the Sadducee, though you have waged war against them. Fear the hypocrite whose actions emulate the wicked Zimri yet they …
The Human Struggle
Life is a long human struggle. Animals don’t struggle. For them, life is simple. They have only one objective. To live and perpetuate their kind. Humans have an entire wrestling match. To be human is to struggle. To be human is to strive for kindness, compassion, devotion, honesty, justice, loyalty, …
The Jewish Sole
Have you ever heard of a Jewish sole? Not a Jewish soul, a Jewish sole. No, I am not talking about a fish, nor am I not talking about a sole individual. I am talking about the undersurface of a Jew’s foot.
On two occasions, the Torah tells us that G-d …
